Murray Knuttila remained reflective this fall when the new National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) showed that senior Brock students rate their university more favorably than the Ontario and Canadian averages for students at other universities.<\/p>\n
Likewise, when the Maclean\u2019s University Rankings<\/em> this week placed Brock at the bottom of its Overall Ranking list for comprehensive universities, Knuttila says it was not a surprise.<\/p>\n This year, Maclean\u2019s<\/em> moved Brock, Ryerson and Wilfrid Laurier universities from the primarily undergraduate to the comprehensive category. Comprehensive universities are defined as having significant research activity and a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs. Brock recently passed 18,000 in total enrolment, and has more than 40 masters and doctoral programs.<\/p>\n \u201cYou have to be realistic in expectations,\u201d said Knuttila. \u201cIt\u2019s our first year being compared in this senior category.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re proud to be positioned alongside leading comprehensive universities, but the calculation for Overall Ranking is influenced by total amounts of research funding, and other universities have longer histories as research-intensive institutions. They have more professional programs, some have engineering schools. These activities make it easier to attract major research funding from both government and private sources.\u201d<\/p>\n