Say it again: UW is 'best overall'

From the Daily Buliten

Say it again: UW is 'best overall'. Waterloo has held onto its position as the
number one "comprehensive university" in Canada, as well as its number one "best
overall" ranking by reputation in the nation, in Maclean's magazine's annual universities issue. The magazine will hit newsstands across Canada later today.
UW has been "best overall" in Canada in the reputational rankings for 14 of the 15 years Maclean's has offered that title. Waterloo was also named "most innovative" in the national reputation survey, and swept all the reputation categories -- No. 1 Highest Quality, No. 1 Leaders of Tomorrow, No. 1 Most Innovative, and No. 1 Best
Overall -- among comprehensive universities (those with a broad range of
undergraduate and graduate programs, but without a medical school).
Coverage
in Globe
and Mail London
Free Press
Reaction from Laurier Toronto McGill "The University of
Waterloo community is very pleased with this wonderful news," said president
David Johnston. "This is testimony to our people -- our students, faculty, staff
and alumni around the world. We couldn't be more proud of them." In a news release
issued yesterday afternoon after universities got a preview of the Maclean's
issue, Johnston said the rankings reflect "a team approach at Waterloo that
involves thousands of talented and committed people on several campuses and
connected coast to coast and also around the globe."
Provost Amit Chakma
said the rankings "reinforce the university's strategy of recruiting and
admitting the highest quality students -- undergraduate and graduate -- and
recruiting splendid faculty members to bring top-quality education to our
students, in the classroom and the lab." He added: "Waterloo has been working
very hard the last few years as a university to add even more high-quality
individuals to our already strong faculty ranks, bringing in bright young
professors who are leaders in their areas of research. If you bring the very
best they become a magnet and draw others with similar aspirations, including
very accomplished students and staff."
On the way to topping the magazine's
list of 11 comprehensive universities, UW scored high in several individual
categories, placing first in six of them: student retention, student awards,
classes taught by tenured faculty, awards per full-time faculty, and alumni
support, as well as the reputation survey.
The reputation rankings --
traditionally UW's biggest boast -- are arrived at by surveying thousands of
people across Canada, including high school guidance counselors and principals
from every province and territory, chief executive officers and recruiters of
companies, heads of organizations and university officials.
Among the
comprehensive universities, Victoria is listed second behind UW, with Guelph and
Simon Fraser tied for third. McGill and Toronto are tied as the top
"medical-doctoral" university in the country, and St. Francis Xavier is the top
"primarily undergraduate" university for the fourth year in a row.