A+ coming too easy for MRU
When we’ve shut our mouths long enough to stop complaining about parking, and we’ve stepped out of the glow of our deservedly fancy centennial celebrations, we’re going to realize there’s something else that’s really important here at Mount Royal University.
Education.
Last fall, the Globe and Mail published their annual Canadian University Report. 2010 was Mount Royal’s debut in the rankings and impressed judges (i.e. students) enough to earn nearly straight-As in categories including “Most Satisfied Students,” “Quality of Teaching” and “Food Services.” At the Reflector, we’ve been sure to make this fact known amongst our peers, particularly those outside our campus (yes, the Other University in town was all kinds of average in the report).
But now, a few months after publication of the report, we’re stepping back to think about how representative the survey really is. The A grade students gave the university for “Quality of Education” should be taken with a grain of salt.
What are we comparing our Mount Royal education to? Some MRU students have likely studied elsewhere, but the majority of us don’t have much to honestly make that distinction between an excellent education and one that is just OK.
Who is making sure we’re getting the most out of our hours spent here? To a great extent it’s up to each of us to make sure we get our money’s worth out of school. But what if we’re missing out on opportunities because we don’t know what we’re missing and we’re not forcing faculty to raise the bar?
Push aside all the stellar classes you’ve had. Now think about how many classes you’ve sat through without being pushed to any limit other than your ability to stay awake. Think about how many times you’ve written a paper in 48 hours but still received a solid grade for.
Make sure that when you cross the stage at the end of your time at Mount Royal, you do so with more than a diploma to show for it.
Were students sent out a survey for this or something? I never got one. I wish I had. MRU’s education is not necessarily better than that of the Other Uni in town. As a student of both institutions both have their advantages and disadvantages. Honestly, for my degree, I prefer the University of Calgary but am too far into my degree to switch. they offer more classes (which at this point is to be expected), but they offer more relevant classes. MRU is trying way to hard to be unique and getting lost in that is what is best for students. Our advanced courses across the board are being offered in the profs pet classes instead of advanced classes that should be thought about first- another disadvantage to trying to be unique. Grad schools don’t give a crap about unique they care about relevance.
MRU also makes it extremely hard to take classes at UofC and transfer classes at UofC. As far as I am concerned I should be able to take any class at UofC I want if they will allow me. If It won’t fit into my degree program than it is an extra class. the argument from registration is “if it doesn’t fit you don’t need it”. However, this is not necessarily true. for students that are looking at grad school it is very beneficial (especially in social sciences) to take the special topic classes at UofC to have an edge when applying. But the morons in registration don’t care about that, ultimately they just care about $$$$
MRU also doesn’t offer many night classes that would benefit people who are trying to get degrees part time well working, and when they ask about it they get responses like “you’ll have to take our day class or go to uofc” <—- nice, what do you thinks students will quit their full time jobs just to attend MRU, not a hope in hell.
I could go on but I think this is long enough 😉 Bottom line is the results of this A+ audit is BS.
Thanks for sharing, Nic. I know there are people out there listening to our concerns, so whenever you can spread the word about your experience and how to make things better, go for it!
Here is a link to the Globe & Mail report: http://www.globecampus.ca/in-the-news/globecampusreport/university-report-e-zine-includes-the-latest-survey-results-on-which-schools-made-the-grade/
A percentage of students filled out the survey, but I don’t know how many or when it happened.
Oh, don’t worry about whether or not I am sharing my concerns. It is widely known how I feel about this issue. Maybe not the A+ thing but the issues that MRU has with actually doing the education part is no secret. I take a lot of flack about it from profs and other students. No one seems to care to look at it until it directly starts to effect them *sigh*
I have studied at U of C, MRU and SAIT. I am currently studying for my marketing degree at MRU. What a difference and breath of fresh air MRU is. All teacher s must have “worked” in their field of study for a minimum of 2 years and have practical knowledge not just theory. They actually have you working on real life projects from within the community. Class sizes of no more than 30 where you actually get to know your prof, unlike the auditorium style classes at U of C where the only person you are talking to is the prof’s assistant – and that’s if you can get an appointment in time to get your questions answered before next class. Many of U of C’s profs have never worked a day in their profession b/c they are working on getting their doctorate. Perhaps you should do a little more checking into what an actual degree involves at MRU. It has been the best bang for my buck and I’m in my 30’s working in the industry already. MRU teaches knowledge that is actually applicable to what you’ll be doing in the workforce. They continue improving every year on their programs. The program I’m in you have to have a 3.5GPA to get in. There was over 20,000 applicants last year and only a little 6,000 admitted. It is no an easy A in the classes. It is an A school in my opinion.
I visited several sites except the audio quality for audio songs existing at this web page is really excellent.