Nipissing University’s Assistant Vice President of Students says it’s no fluke or accident that the school was ranked first in Ontario with student satisfaction.
Casey Phillips says Nipissing pays attention to its students and they are not treated as numbers.
“You are known by your name,” Phillips said.
Phillips spoke to Moose News following annual rankings by Maclean’s magazine that placed Nipissing in first place when it comes to student satisfaction.
Nipissing was ranked first in five of 10 categories as measured by Maclean’s.
Phillips says the outcome gives Nipissing “a significant advantage over other universities” when attracting students.
“We can go out there and tell students this is the experience you’ll have at Nipissing,” Phillips said.
However Phillips says it’s not simply university staff who promote the school to other prospective students, it’s the current students at the school.
“Our students that are here, they are our best recruiters,” he said.
“These are students who have been through the system, spent their time here and they’ve experienced these services. They are the ones rating us this high. It’s not us putting something out in a publication saying we have good services.”
Phillips plans to use the Maclean’s results when Nipissing holds its next open house for potential students October 27th.
Phillips believes Nipissing’s smaller size compared to other institutions plays a role in the student satisfaction.
He says the smaller student base allows the school to be more agile in terms of services it provides.
As an example he points out Nipissing was the first Ontario university to introduce a student intervention specialist.
In this instance if a student was in the hospital going through the mental health system, Phillips says the specialist would help the student transition back to the university.
“They would work with the discharge nurse to make sure there’s a plan in place for them,” Phillips said.
“Our size allows us to do this because we can do that individualized approach.”
Mental health services was one of the 10 areas where Nipissing placed first among all Ontario universities.
Phillips says when students decide to enroll at Nipissing they’ll hear back that one reason is the high ranking within the student satisfaction rate.
And the feedback isn’t just from the students.
Phillips says the school also hears from parents, grandparents and the students’ siblings that student satisfaction at Nipissing was a motivator in deciding to enroll at the post-secondary school.