U of S Goes Up Four Places In Maclean's Rankings
Posted November 13, 2001
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - November 12, 2001 2001-11-10-OTHER
U of S Goes Up Four Places In Maclean's Rankings
The University of Saskatchewan has improved its Maclean's ranking by four
places according to the university survey released today.
President, Peter MacKinnon responded to the news by revealing that the U of
S had worked hard in the last year to ensure an improvement in its ranking.
But he also emphasized that the U of S, while responsive to the rankings, is
not governed or led by them.
"As a medical-doctoral university, responsive to national and international
standards, we have adopted, and will continue to adopt, policies and
practices which invest in a quality education for students regardless of our
position in the Maclean's rankings. Right now, we are benefiting from the
considerable groundwork laid down over the past few years," he said.
Successes have involved effort from all levels at the University of
Saskatchewan. They include:
- a systematic review of all academic programs was launched to guarantee
that the quality of programs offered at the U of S met and exceeded national
and international standards;
- the U of S's Canadian Light Source was a major recipient of research
funding ($36.7m) and has attracted, and will continue to attract,
top-quality researchers to the university;
- eight new Canada Research Chairs were established on campus which has
given the U of S a tremendous boost in academic creativity. The U of S is
building on its deployment of Canada Research Chairs to recruit tenure-track
faculty and attract top graduate students and additional research resources;
- substantial progress was made in the use of information technology which
has improved services for students, faculty and staff. Year three of a
five-year project to renew classrooms and lecture theatres with multimedia
technologies was completed.
- significant work was completed on the new chemical engineering wing, the
sixth floor addition to the Agriculture Building. While many other
renovation and maintenance projects still need to be addressed, the U of S
is heading in the right direction;
- completion of a priority determination process which was designed to
identify priorities that will help shape the future direction of the
University;
- initiated the development of an enrolment plan to substantially increase
the number of graduate students. The future of the university as a research
centre depends on attracting these students.
"The U of S has a clear vision for the future. Our goal is to attract even
more leading students, researchers and industrial partners from across the
nation and around the world. It will not happen over night, nor without
continued effort, but it is a worthy goal to strive for. We have made a
great deal of progress so far," concluded President MacKinnon.
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For more information, please contact:
Peter MacKinnon
President
University of Saskatchewan
(306) 966-6612
