No commute, no crowds, no worries

As sprawling, research-intensive urban campuses struggle to serve their customers, thousands of students are finding many good reasons for choosing universities that put undergrads first

KATHERINE LAIDLAW

Oct. 23, 2008 12:00 AM EDT

In August, 2007, Jessi Fry left the small town of Castlegar, British Columbia, with as many belongings as she could pack into two suitcases and a bad case of nerves. Just 17 years old, she was hopping a plane to start business studies at a university on the other side of the country, a school she had read about and talked about, but never seen. While she was in high school, Montreal's McGill University was her dream destination. But a recommendation by her sister, followed by an encouraging alumni phone call, sent her on her way to St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish, Nova Scotia.

Jessi Fry of St. Francis Xavier

Jessi Fry chose the undergrad-focused St. Francis Xavier university in Antigonish, N.S.

Jessi Fry of St. Francis Xavier

Jessi Fry chose the undergrad-focused St. Francis Xavier university in Antigonish, N.S.

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Ms. Fry is one of thousands of Canadian students attending what are dubbed "undergraduate universities"—schools with an intense focus on the undergraduate experience and few, if any, graduate programs. Set in small towns and concentrated for the most part on the East Coast, schools such as Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Mount Allison University in Sackville, New Brunswick, and St. Mary's University in Halifax consistently do well in student surveys. Along with receiving high grades for their quality of teaching and education, the schools are also lauded for their overall excellence in student satisfaction. In this year's survey, St. Francis Xavier and Mount Allison each received an A, while St. Mary's and Acadia followed with grades of A- for overall university satisfaction.

Boasting vibrant residence communities, small classes and strong student-professor interaction, they offer an alternative to large, urban, research-driven universities, which critics say often penalize their undergrads' experiences in favour of revenue-generating graduate programs.

Ms. Fry decided to find out for herself whether a school with only 4,200 full-time students could live up to her expectations for a fulfilling university life."I did want a school that wasn't just a prestigious name, I wanted an atmosphere, too. You always want to go to a school you feel you'd be proud of," she says. "It's not just a place to get your degree." That's why despite St. Francis Xavier's small size and relative remoteness, its international focus and sense of worldliness drew her back for her second year. "Here, there's a huge sense of belonging to something that's bigger than me, and that's good," she says. "I encountered people who are just really good people, people I really respect."

Kate Clark, a third-year St. Francis Xavier student, cites the variety of her experiences—from partying with the university's president in residence to leading a team of students to Kenya to do volunteer work with Free the Children—for her sense of satisfaction. Ms. Clark, a political science student, is news editor for the campus paper, has been a resident assistant for two years, and this term will also work for the campus police. On small, tight-knit campuses, such student involvement is not only possible, it's encouraged. "We actually have too many extracurricular things," she says with a laugh. "There's always a lot to do. If there's something people want to do, it'll happen." Ms. Clark, whose smallest class last year was 15 students, says that along with an academically rigorous program comes professors who are passionate about teaching and give freely of their time: "They do know who I am, because they've had contact with me."

More than 90% of the university's faculty members have PhDs, and the school does not employ teaching assistants, meaning professors' teaching abilities play a big role in their recruitment. "We expect professors to be in their offices and available throughout the week, throughout the term," says school president Sean Riley. "We tend to attract people who realize we're focused on our students, we're focused on teaching."

The university offers undergrad degrees in arts, science, business and education, and a two-year diploma in engineering. (It does offer eight master's degree programs, but no doctoral studies.) St. Francis Xavier brags that it offers "Canada's premier undergraduate experience," and Dr. Riley says it's not an idle boast. "We're really the direct opposite experience that the majority of Canadian students have, which is a large, commuter school," he says. "At any particular time, we have about 50% of students living on the campus. The experience is really much more of a total immersion experience, and that has impact on the relationships among students and the relationships between students and faculty."

What sustains those relationships, Dr. Riley says, is attracting not only top-quality teachers, but also top-quality students. The school employs a holistic entrance admissions process, asking applicants to submit not only transcripts, but also essays about their future aspirations and letters of reference.

Dr. Riley says he makes it a point to meet every student at the unviersity. "The first day we open, I literally meet every single student. The next two or three days, I meet them all again in their academic faculties. Then I do crazy stuff with the orientation committees." For business student Evan Van Roon, the one-on-one interactions with professors is enhanced by the vibrant campus life (especially given the rather limited social scene in Antigonish). The residences offer traditional single and double rooms, as well as apartment-style units with kitchen areas and common spaces, and it's not uncommon for students to live on campus the whole four years. "You know everyone in residence, everyone knows everyone," says Mr. Van Roon, an Ottawa native. "There are inter-house rivalries. It kind of brings the houses closer together."

The university's remote location is its biggest challenge. "Our students are perhaps not as diverse a background as you would find in some of the urban centres," Dr. Riley says, adding: "It's not simply a question of which population group one identifies with. I think it's very important not to develop a sort of preppy, elite culture." He says his school, and others such as Acadia and Mount Allison, are drawing more students from urban centres, students who are looking for richer university experiences than they might find at big-city schools. "About half our students are in-province, the other half is coming from across the country or internationally," he says.

He acknowledges that smaller Atlantic universities have higher tuition fees than other parts of the country, and says the problem is government financing. "The reason why tuition is a little bit higher in Nova Scotia than it is elsewhere is the government was not funding universities as well," he says. "The sense we get from students is that the value is there." This year, academic and student fees for out-of-province students at St. Francis Xavier total about $6,950, while fees at Mount Allison (with 2,250 students) are about $6,900, and $7,500 at Acadia (3,390 students).

Smaller schools may have higher fees, and may not have the research connections larger schools do, but one of their biggest selling points is their teaching staff, says Tim Woolstencroft of the Strategic Counsel, the firm that tabulates results for the annual Canadian University Report survey of university students. "Students feel their personal interests are being enhanced," he says.

At smaller schools, the student-prof relationship often extends beyond the classroom. Jennifer Bleakney, who did her undergraduate degree in history at Acadia University and her master's at York University in Toronto, says she would have been lost without her thesis supervisor's help in getting into graduate school. Her supervisor not only recommended schools with strong history programs across Canada, but also edited her application essays and put her in touch with connected colleagues at five Ontario schools. "He told me all the universities in Canada I should apply to for what I wanted to do," recalls the Moncton native. "He told me if I got accepted to York, that was where I should go." Ms. Bleakney says her undergrad education was a success thanks to the small classes and personal attention from professors, but when she got to York she realized her small-school degree may have put her at a disadvantage.

"The first semester I felt like I was really trying to adapt. The way we examined books was done in a way I hadn't really done before," she explains. "There's a lot of discussion in the York master's program—I got some of that in fourth year but not before that; I might have had that if I had a TA or a tutorial in some courses." She also found that her York classmates had enjoyed wider course selections in their undergrad programs and were better prepared. "At the time [at Acadia], I didn't think there was anything lacking. But when I got there, some of them had been able to take more in-depth classes in fourth year," she says. Still, she says that moving from a small undergrad school to a larger school for her master's was the right path for her. "At some bigger universities, students get robbed of a university experience," she says. "I would think going to a big school [at a young age] would be a little isolating."

But Mr. Woolstencroft notes that a downside of tight-knit, small schools is that they can be sheltered bubbles. "At larger universities, there's an argument that they're closer to the real world. A small university is really only an extension of high school," he says, but notes that "some people like that and don't want to make a big jump."

And although small schools consistently perform at an "all-star" level for student satisfaction, they lack the variety of courses and international reputations provided by schools such as the University of Toronto or McGill, Mr. Woolstencroft says.

Still, there's no question that big schools are taking lessons from smaller ones. In April, for example, University of Toronto president David Naylor announced that he wants to reduce student numbers at the downtown campus, which has a full-time undergrad population of nearly 35,000. Mr. Woolstencroft says Dr. Naylor's decision indicates that small, undergrad-focused schools are doing something right. "U of T is trying to replicate that [small-school] experience," he says. "If they could do anything to enhance that experience...it would be something of the best of both worlds."

GOOD FOR GRADS?

How do Canada's major graduate schools asses applications from students who attend small undergraduate universities? It depends, administrators say.

"It could go either way," says Susan Pfeiffer, dean of graduate studies at the University of Toronto, which has 5,000 spots in master's programs—and drew more than 22,000 applications this year. "On the one hand, many

of our faculty are favourably disposed toward the sort of attentive undergrad training they would have received [at a small school]," she says. "On the other, in some of our programs, there's a strong emphasis on letters of recommendation. When they come from faculty members who are well-known as researchers, that's favourable. If they're coming from faculty who aren't as well-known, that could work against the students."

Nicholas Kasirer, dean of McGill University's Faculty of Law says: "They very often have a broad, liberal education where they've had excellent contact with professors, smaller classes, and an all-around strong education. It's a double-edged sword coming out of those programs." Students from small schools often miss out on key factors needed for the rigours of graduate work or law school, he says; for example, smaller schools may lack sophisticated laboratory, library and research resources. He says that among grad school applicants, those who do well tend to be mainly from "research-intensive universities such as U of T and McGill."

Students from smaller Atlantic Canada schools make up a slim percentage of McGill's entering law class each year. But that's not to say they don't succeed when they get there, he says, or that it impedes their job prospects.

Employers are "looking for someone who has a well-rounded CV." The bottom line when landing a job, or going on to further studies, is to show you have gone from one place of excellence to another, and had diverse experiences along the way, he says.

"It might actually be a nice way for someone who has gone to a place that's less well-known, like St. Francis Xavier, which has an excellent reputation in Canada but not so much internationally, [and] marry that with a school like U of T or McGill, which have excellent international reputations. Suddenly there's a recognizable passport for an international degree."

COZY AMBIENCE, BIG-TIME DEGREE

University-affiliated colleges can offer the best of both worlds.

Huron University College had everything Geoff Cork wanted in a university. Never heard of it? He hadn't either, until he visited the University of Western Ontario for a campus tour.

A graduate of a Toronto alternative school, the School of Liberal Arts, the 19-year-old says Huron reminded him of his high school's intimate, supportive atmosphere."It's more about smaller classes, one-on-one time with the professors. I wanted that," says Mr. Cork, now in his second year at Huron, which has about 1,100 students.

Canada's degree-granting university colleges, modelled after liberal arts colleges in the United States and Great Britain, are often touted as the best of both worlds: tight-knit communities partnered with some of the country's largest, most prestigious schools.

Canada has 18 of these degree-granting university colleges, most of which are affiliated with a religion, and some which focus on a specific group, such as mature students or aboriginal students. Students take the college's courses and often live on separate campuses and have their own student services. But they receive their degree from the affiliated parent university and can also take courses at the university and use its services.

The country's oldest affiliated university college, Trinity, joined forces with the University of Toronto in 1851 and has ties to the Anglican Church, as does Huron, one of three colleges partnered with the University of Western Ontario, in London.

Other such schools include the adult-focused College of Extended Learning at the University of New Brunswick; the First Nations University of Canada and Campion College on the University of Regina campus; and University of Sudbury, federated with Laurentian University. Brescia University College at UWO, founded by the Ursuline Sisters, is Canada's only all-female university college.

UWO's third partnered school is King's University College, which is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church. Principal Gerry Killan says offering students a faith- or group-based learning environment doesn't mean small colleges are insular or isolated; in fact, being under the umbrella of a large university opens the students to a wider world.

"What you're doing here is dealing with diversity in a way that's representative of Canadian political culture and tradition. It's a win-win situation for both the larger universities and the colleges and the students," Dr. Killan says. "Catholicism does define our mission, our character and our identity at King's," he says. "We're fiercely proud of it. We're also fiercely proud of being open and having different cultures."

Religious affiliation does influence King's course offerings, he says, noting that the school offers programs such as Catholic studies, world religions, and social justice and peace studies. Its 3,000 full-time students are also free to take courses at one of UWO's other colleges or at the university itself, as long as they meet program requirements.

Dr. Killan says that King's entrance averages keep pace with Western's, and that none of the school's classes are larger than 95 students. King's offers its own residence services but pays fees to UWO so the students can use the athletic and recreation facilities on the larger campus, about a kilometre away.

When it comes to King's student services, Dr. Killan says the focus is on "the development of the whole person." The school has a chapel and students can do volunteer work through a number of social organizations. Students are not required to attend church services.

"We're denominationally Catholic, but not in a sectarian way. We're publicly funded, through Western," Dr. Killan says. "The stuff we offer is of interest to all religions."

Mr. Cork says religion hasn't been a factor in his experiences at Anglican-affiliated Huron, which was founded in 1863 and is known for its theology and divinity programs. "The closest we have to a religious kind of thing is a theology course," he says, who doesn't identify with a specific religion. "There's no religious pressure in any direction." He says one of the best things about Huron is the small class size and strong professor-student relationships. His biggest class last year was 70 students, the smallest only 13.

Still, he says that he struggled to meet the academic demands of that first year, but that an experience with his business professor made all the difference. "He came up to me, and wanted to know why I was doing so poorly in the course," he recalls.

"I told him I wasn't doing my homework and wanted to get back on track." The professor helped him prepare for the exam with private study sessions and open office hours.

Along with individual attention from teachers, Mr. Cork says smaller schools have less administrative red tape and offer accessible guidance programs: "They seem to understand that students coming in first year can struggle."

So far, he hasn't taken any classes at UWO, but says he doesn't feel isolated from the main university. "For actual academic purposes, there wasn't a lot of point to going to campus, but for everything else about the university experience, if you want to get involved in the clubs and stuff, it draws you in."

NEW Us ON THE BLOCK

These former colleges graduated to full university status this year:

University Of The Fraser Valley, Abbotsford, B.C Formerly University College of the Fraser Valley

Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Surrey, B.C. Formerly known as Kwantlen University College

Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, B.C. The former Malaspina University College.

Capilano University, North Vancouver, B.C. Formerly known as Capilano College

Emily Carr University Of Art + Design, Vancouver, B.C. Previously Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, this is its sixth name change since its 1925 incorporation

MEANWHILE...

The Ontario College Of Art And Design in Toronto, which already has university status, is awaiting approval to change its name to OCAD University.

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