Ryerson piles on to Maclean's

Ryerson University is the latest to refuse to cooperate with the Maclean's magazine university rankings. That brings the total schools to 23 (we're beginning to lose count), including most of the biggest universities in the country. Maclean's insists it will carry on, but it must be asked whether this is whistling in the dark and whether the study will have any credibility with the public when it comes out in November.

Sheldon Levy, the president of Ryerson issued a statement which, while it held out some small prospects for further talks, reflected the general view of the university presidents who are now feeling their power in this matter:

We have been reserving judgement on Ryerson's participation in the 2006 survey until the Maclean's response to the recent wave of university withdrawals became clear. It was our hope that Maclean's would respond this year to the concerns of many Canadian universities by beginning to make major changes to the rankings ("league tables") in this fall's annual University edition, and by offering to discuss other possible revisions to the survey.

Regrettably, Maclean's continues to insist that the rankings will be compiled as usual, using the present system.

Survey methodologies have come a long way since Maclean's started to publish the university rankings issue.  Like other universities we now publish our own indicators, including NSSE and CUSC surveys. We believe deeply in accountability to our students and the public, and we recognize that students make comparisons.  However, the information they use must be meaningful.