By Jim Coggins

Michelle Sudden didn't need a survey to know "Redeemer does a really good job at meeting students' needs."

The most recent Maclean's rankings, published December 19, examined a wide variety of criteria, including library holdings, faculty credentials, research grants and faculty/student ratios. However, the magazine "does not rank schools with fewer than 1,000 full-time students or those that are restrictive due to a religious or specialized mission." There are 94 institutions in the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (AUCC), but only 47 were included in the Maclean's survey.

On February 4, Maclean's also reported the results of two independent surveys which included three Christian schools, all of which did extremely well.

The National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) is a US-based survey that was begun in 1999 and asks students over 150 questions about the education they have received. Forty-seven Canadian institutions participated in the survey in 2008, but, by including some scores from pervious years, Maclean's was able to rank 53 schools.

In the five main areas of evaluation, Trinity Western University (TWU) in Langley, BC ranked fifth in level of academic challenge, fourth in student-faculty interaction, 11th in active and collaborative learning, first in enriching educational experience and second in supportive campus environment. Maclean's also reported the results of two general NSSE questions. TWU ranked third among both first and fourth-year students who were asked to "evaluate their entire academic experience." TWU ranked fourth among first-year students and third among fourth-year students when the students were asked if they would choose the same institution again.

The Canadian University Survey Consortium (CUSC) began in 1994 and measures general student satisfaction; in 2008, it asked about 100 questions of students at 31 Canadian institutions, including many of the smaller schools. Maclean's published the results from two general questions from that survey. On general satisfaction with the quality of education received, Redeemer University College in Ancaster, Ontario finished first, Tyndale University College & Seminary in Toronto finished second, and TWU was 11th. On satisfaction with the decision to attend the institution, Tyndale was first, Redeemer third and TWU 14th.

The Maclean's news story suggested that, unlike the Maclean's survey, these surveys measure undergraduate teaching, and smaller institutions do much better in this area.

Tony Keller, Maclean's managing editor for special projects, told CC.com that in excluding religious schools from its annual rankings, the magazine is not suggesting that they are not good schools, but that, like art colleges and military colleges, they have a different focus.

Maclean's briefly considered excluding the religious schools from its NSSE and CUSC reporting, said Keller. However, the magazine concluded that the Christian schools were accepted by the surveying bodies, the surveys were "comprehensive and methodologically sound" and it would have been "petty" for Maclean's to exclude them. The surveys contain "what students and parents want to know" and Maclean's thought it better to let them make up their own minds about religious schools.

Al Hiebert, executive director of Christian Higher Education Canada (CHEC), said both NSSE and CUSC were created and supported by academic institutions partly due to some dissatisfaction with rankings by Maclean's in Canada and US News and World Report in the US.

Institutions pay NSSE and CUSC to survey their students, which is one reason institutions choose not to have a survey done every year. The prime motivation is for the schools to find out how they are doing and to remedy areas of weakness, said Hiebert.

However, the surveys and other types of accreditation and recognition can also be useful for other purposes. Schools can use them to recruit new students. They surveys can also "open doors" for a school's graduates to be accepted by graduate schools or get a job. They can even help institutions get donations and grants.

Hiebert suggested that Maclean's could hardly exclude Trinity Western University from another agency's statistics, especially since TWU has been "at the forefront of CUSC." TWU's Ken Kush was a long-time board member of CUSC.

The inclusion of the Christian schools by Maclean's could represent "a strategic shift from a secular fundamentalist position" regarding higher education in Canada, said Hiebert.

Nevertheless, one of the first online comments by readers on the Maclean's website was that the magazine "should remove Trinity Western University from its reporting" because TWU students must sign a "commitment contract." This generated a discussion on whether Christian institutions should be included because they do not allow academic freedom and critical thinking.

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This has been a longstanding charge, Hiebert said, and one that is unfounded. There are 34 institutions in CHEC, but only four have been accepted into the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. TWU was accepted in 1984 after a two-year process, and this paved the way for Redeemer and King's University College in Edmonton to be accepted. Canadian Mennonite University in Winnipeg was one of two new applicants to be accepted last year. However, Providence College in Manitoba, Tyndale and some other Christian schools have not been accepted. Only AUCC schools can participate in the NSSE survey.

One of the roadblocks to membership is that the AUCC recently increased the required number of full-time students to 500, which excludes most CHEC members. However, the real sticking point is questions about "academic freedom," said Hiebert. The AUCC says it is not a credentialing body, but it often functions as "a social club of the presidents of institutions" that decides who can and who cannot join.

Hiebert added that sometimes mainline Christian schools are accepted more readily than "conservative Protestant" or evangelical schools.

Chima Adiele, director of policy, planning and research at TWU, said the fact that Maclean's has published the survey results will not make a huge difference for TWU since it is already "the premier Christian higher education institution in Canada." TWU has 3,000 students and plans to grow to 6,000 students.

The prejudice is not so much in favour of secular schools against Christian schools, said Chima, but in favour of publicly funded schools against privately funded schools. He suggested the situation will change and become more like the situation in the United States as governments realize they cannot meet all of the needs for higher education.

For Tyndale, which only became a university college in 2003, the recognition in Maclean's is more significant, according to Phil Kay, senior director of admissions and marketing. This was the first time Tyndale had participated in CUSC.

Tyndale leaders knew their students felt positive about the education they were receiving, said Kay, but it was still very affirming for Tyndale to place at the top of the rankings in some categories. Tyndale participated in CUSC mainly to find areas where it could improve; for instance, the survey revealed that students wanted better information flow from the school's administration, so TV screens with announcements have been placed around campus.

However, Tyndale will use the survey and the publicity to recruit students. Tyndale has plans to double its enrollment to about 2,000 students, but Kay said the school doesn't want to grow too large. "We don't want to give up the things where we scored well on the survey."

That is one of the reasons Kay is pleased the other Christian schools also did well on the surveys. "Redeemer and Trinity Western are not competitors. The better they do, the better we all do."

Jacob Ellens, academic vice-president at Redeemer, said Redeemer has participated in CUSC and other surveys before and has scored well in rankings in the Globe & Mail. However, he said prejudice against Christian schools is still a problem.

Neither Tyndale nor Redeemer is allowed into the Council of Ontario Universities, although they are sometimes invited to be guests on some committees. Ellens said he sees the surveys as being very beneficial for small schools, and they may also help overcome prejudice against Christian schools. "Slowly but surely, our reputation is growing, and we are being taken seriously."

Redeemer is hoping to grow from 850 to 1,000 students, but the school is determined not to grow beyond its ability "to do a good job," said Ellens.

One reason recognition matters, said Ellens, is that several Canadian Christian institutions are transitioning from the Bible college model to the Christian university model -- partly to provide an alternative to secular universities that may be less welcoming to Christian students. "As culture changes, it becomes more difficult to hold a Christian position in a secular university," said Ellens.

The surveys are having some impact on students.

Michelle Sudden, a fourth-year psychology and sociology student at Redeemer, said she had attended public elementary and high schools, so she didn't expect to be "judged" at a secular university, but she chose Redeemer because it was a smaller school with a stronger sense of community.

The surveys may encourage high school students to attend Christian universities but will have little impact on current students, said Sudden. Redeemer students were "pretty pleased" with the survey results, but not surprised -- they already knew "Redeemer does a really good job at meeting students' needs."

Will Kinchlea, a third-year religious studies student and student council president at Tyndale, called the surveys "a validation for a school like Tyndale."

He said he was initially surprised at Tyndale's "ridiculously high numbers" in the CUSC survey, but then realized that they reflected reality. "My philosophy professor from first year still knows my name." At a large university, he would hardly ever talk to professors and "you're essentially teaching yourself."

Kinchlea said he could have handled a secular university, although "some programs are more militantly anti-Christian than others." He chose Tyndale because he wanted a "real BA" that would be accepted at graduate schools and in the job market and because he wanted to study the Bible "with people who believed it."

February 19/2009