December 2, 1997 
     
    
   
   
    
     The Cadre 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     UPEI number one!? 
     
    
   
   
    
     1997 Maclean's survey once again 
     
     causes controversy around campus 
     
    
   
   
    
     By Suzanne Williams 
     
    
   
   
    
     The seventh annual uni- 
     
     versity ranking issue of 
     
     Maclean’s magazine has 
     
     swept up space in newsstands, 
     
     as well as the attentions of 
     
     educational institutions nation- 
     
     wide. UPEI took a dip in the 
     
     standings, moving from last 
     
     year’s ranking of twelfth place 
     
     in the primarily undergraduate 
     
     division to a placement at 
     
     number thirteen this year. 
     
    

    
     Since last year’s rank- 
     
     ing of Canadian universities, 
     
     four post-secondary institu- 
     
     tions have been added to the 
     
     survey: Moncton, Hull, 
     
     Rimouski, and Chicoutimi -- 
     
     the Francophone institutions. 
     
     If these schools had not been 
     
     added, UPEI would be in the 
     
     same place as last year. 
     
    

    
     There is conflict brew- 
     
     ing between the editors of 
     
     Maclean’s and the adminis- 
     
     tration of UPEI over the evalu- 
     
     ation of the school’s operating 
     
    
   
   
    
     budget. UPEI has once more 
     
     taken the number one slot in 
     
     this category. 
     
    

    
     According to the sur- 
     
     vey, UPEI has an operating 
     
     budget of $10,170 per full-time 
     
     student, yet in terms of student 
     
     services, the school received a 
     
     twentieth-percentile rating, and 
     
     atwenty-first percentile rating 
     
     was given in terms of library 
     
     expenses. This may lead stu- 
     
     dents to believe that they are 
     
     not receiving all they should. 
     
    

    
     The magazine conducts 
     
     their research by adding to- 
     
     gether the budget of the Atlan- 
     
     tic Veterinary Collegeand that 
     
     of the main campus. 
     
    

    
     Since the AVC has 
     
     about one-tenth of the student 
     
    
   
   
    
     body and almost one-third of 
     
    
   
   
    
     the budget of main campus, 
     
     this makes the total budget 
     
     seem high. Also, the budget 
     
     for the AVC is provided 
     
     through all four Atlantic prov- 
     
     inces, while the budget for 
     
     UPEI’smain campus is funded 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
     solely through this province 
     
    

    
     John Crossley, V.P. of 
     
     Academic Support, wrote to 
     
     Maclean’s editors last Decem- 
     
     ber, describing the incorrect 
     
     data and how “he believes that 
     
     the university's image is being 
     
     distorted.” Unfortunately, 
     
     nothing has been done to cor- 
     
     rect the situation forthis year’s 
     
     survey 
     
    

    
     “Ifthe survey were done 
     
     with only the main campus,” 
     
     explained President Elizabeth 
     
     Epperly, “ we would be right in 
     
     with all the other universities. 
     
     It seems as if this has started 
     
     to become a joke among the 
     
     presidents of other universi- 
     
     ties.” 
     
    

    
     Ifthe university were to 
     
     be judged on the main campus 
     
     only, it would be in eighth place 
     
     in terms of operating budget.. 
     
    

    
     Epperly further com- 
     
     mented, “we are working on 
     
     truly being number one for the 
     
     future.” 
     
    
   
   
    
       
     
    
   
   
    
        
     
        
     
        
     
       
     
       
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
       
     
        
     
       
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
       
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
       
     
        
     
        
     
        
     
         
     
    
   
   
    
     Big Brothers 
     
     Big Sisters 
     
     Fi of PEI 
     
    
   
   
    
     INT Ch 
     
    
   
   
    
     MN 
     
    
   
   
    
     HEUTE 
     
    
   
   
    
     TTP >, 
     
    
   
   
    
     URC 
     
    
   
   
    
     soe CS 
     
    
   
   
    
     tee Ce 
     
    
   
   
    
     Charlottetown 892-5979 
     
     Summerside 436-8122 Montague 838-0700.