UNBC Makes Prestigious List
UNBC – image courtesy UNBC
Prince George, B.C. – Already ranked number one in Canada for small universities by Maclean’s Magazine, UNBC has made it to another list, although there is still plenty of room to move up.
For the first time, UNBC is ranked on the Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
The list includes 1,000 universities from 77 countries around the world which are active in research and have a global focus.
UNBC is featured in the group of universities ranked 601st to 800th. While it placed 24 out of the 26 Canadian universities that made the list, it is the only university of its size in Canada to make the list.
Although it is in a grouping of between 601 and 800, UNBC President, Daniel Weeks says there is still cause for celebration “It’s our debut, we’ve never been ranked in the Times Higher Education ranking. You might think it’s low on the list, but remember, there are about 20 thousand universities in the world, we ranked in the area of 600 to 800, an amazing debut when you consider they only rank 1,000 of the 20 thousand, so that puts us amongst the top 4% of the universities in the world.”
President Weeks says it is amazing when you realize most of the universities that ranked higher are much larger, much older, in some cases hundreds of years old “So in the 26 short years UNBC has been in the higher education scene, it’s an amazing launch on the international scene.”
There is a lot of data associated with the ranking, and President Weeks says UNBC will be combing through that data for details.
The number one University in the world? According to the list it is Oxford, followed by Cambridge. Cal. Tech and Stanford were tied at third, and M.I.T sits in the fifth position.
President Weeks says in this rankings case, it’s not about catching up to the top five, “It’s about making sure we are in the conversation, that’s really what it’s about. Being on this list means that when students are looking around the world, as they do now, the world is the higher education market place, when they look at these things, it’s really important UNBC be part of that conversation as a place they might consider going to.”
Comments
Congratulations UNBC!! A good news story for sure.
Excellent!! I agree totally with President Weeks’ point of view about being on the list.
I have been looking at the Times rankings every now and then for over a decade to find out where UofT and UBC sit on it. The two are consistently the top Canadian Universities.
This year, U of T is in 22nd place with 69,427 students and UBC in 34th place with 51,889 students. McGill is in 42nd place with 30,940 students.
For those who think that UNBC is too small to even make the top, say 100, in the rankings, here is a selection of small universities near the top:
Cal Tech, USA 2,209 students ranked 3rd
Princeton, USA – 7,955 students, ranked 7th
Karolinska Institute, Sweden, 7,723 students ranked 28th
École Normale Supérieure, France 1,548 students ranked 66th
Dartmouth, USA, 6,109 ranked 82nd
Rice, USA, 6,447 ranked 87th
UNBC is listed as having 2,752 students (I assume at the PG campus); 60 females to 40 males; 10% international students; 11.4 students to 1 staff
Here is what is written about it.
timeshighereducation.com/world-university-rankings/university-northern-british-columbia-unbc#ranking-dataset/629337
I always tell people that this is our hidden gem, and am proud of that!
This is great news for PG and IMHO, it’s a big opportunity as well. There are many places across Canada and the US that identify as “college or university towns”, many of them much smaller than PG and with less to offer. That said, they really embrace their post secondary institutions and leverage them for maximum benefit.
I think PG could do allot more to sell UNBC. Be aggressive about it. Don’t be shy. It’s a partnership. If UNBC grows, PG grows. There’s no reason that it can’t become a major component of PG’s identity. I think it’s already there for the local population, but why not aim higher?
Lien says that UNBC is PG’s hidden gem, and I would agree. I’d suggest it would be great for the city and region to make sure it’s not so hidden anymore.
Look at all of the stuff that has been talked about in PG over the years. Chopstick factories, airport runway expansion, oil in the Nechako basin, etc. Here you have an institution that already exists and is getting recognized pretty consistently. I’d say it’s high time to go full steam ahead on making it the true show piece for PG!
well said.
PG grew up in one big step when the university opened.
In a recent online survey, 56% of UNBC’s staff voted that UNBC was NOT a good employer. From personal experience, most former UNBC employees do not have a good word to say about the place.
Don’t believe everything that you read in the news.
It’s a toxic environment with a lot of “work place bullies” and unqualified managers that allow it to happen. But that really has little to do with a student’s experience or level of amazing research being conducted there! Yes it’s a political nightmare for a lot of staff (not faculty or students) but it’s clearly a great institution for education. I get anxiety just thinking about that place as a former employee.
Don’t believe everything that you read in the news
===============
Would that extend to online surveys as well?
Comments for this article are closed.