UWO Update!!!
Western's affiliated colleges receive high marks in survey
Fri, February 15, 2008
Huron University College places first in three categories in a Maclean's magazine annual survey of Canada's universities.
Huron topped the list for having a supportive campus environment and led two categories involving student satisfaction, based on a survey of senior-year students.
It also garnered high marks for its academic challenge level, student-faculty interaction and enriching educational experience.
The University of Western Ontario's other two affiliate colleges -- Brescia and King's -- also received high marks.
Brescia placed second in three categories: student satisfaction, supportive campus environment and active and collaborative learning.
King's came in second for another student satisfaction category.
It's the first year Maclean's has included university affiliate colleges in its student issue, which hits newsstands Feb. 18. The issue should not be confused with the magazine's fall annual university rankings issue.
UWO itself received second-place nods in two categories involving student satisfaction, but placed middle of the pack in most other categories.
Huron principal Ramona Lumpkin said she's "delighted" with the results.
"We feel we've been invisible in the past. We do have a strong sense of what we're doing with our students, but it's always gratifying to get that external recognition."
The results came from the National Survey of Student Engagement, which looked at 41 Canadian universities. Only the University of Manitoba didn't participate.
Lumpkin attributed Huron's success partly to the smaller class sizes at the college.
"Typically over 50 per cent of our students go on to graduate or professional schools," she said.
Marty England, a UWO senior policy adviser, said the figures are "extremely useful," not for their rankings, but for internal use by departments to decide where improvement is needed.
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