The results of last week's Maclean's rankings of universities certainly was welcome news throughout the Trent University campus, in the Peterborough community, and among our friends and alumni. As reported on in the Examiner in two separate stories, Trent ranked first among primarily undergraduate universities in Central Canada. At the national level, this young university that I take so much pride in regained third place position. Most remarkable, Trent was first in Ontario for the 11th straight year in a row among universities in its class - a distinction that we in this region need to celebrate a lot more. The survey singled out Trent in two areas for which it has become renown. Trent's class sizes are generally recognized as the most enviable in the university system. Our first place ranking in this category reflects our attention to the individual student. On the research side, Trent is number one for awards per full time faculty. On average, each faculty member brings in $30,000 annually in federal research grants alone. These dollars bring benefits to both the university and the broader Peterborough community. The Maclean's rankings have come a long way, much like our beloved Trent University since its inception 38 years ago. When Maclean's first announced their intentions to conduct their post-secondary surveys over a decade ago, their plans were received with skepticism and in some cases outright hostility on some university campuses. Today, I suspect the reactions to the survey's findings, both good and bad, are more reflective and tolerant. I think Trent student Susie Reiss, who was quoted in an Examiner article, got it right when she said, "The ranking is nice but its just one magazine's point of view."

Trent President Bonnie Patterson is pleased with the report from Maclean's.

Just as the Maclean's survey has grown in popularity and sophistication, so too have other accountability tools to measure the post-secondary sector's performance. In 2001, an independent report by The Impact Group revealed Trent is number-one among all primarily undergraduate universities in Canada for garnering new research. The same study confirmed Trent had moved from 36th spot on a national ranking to 30th spot in one year for obtaining research funds.

This summer, the Laurier School of Business and Economics examined universities' accountability disclosure practices and reported that Trent University had moved its financial disclosure accountability ranking from 36th place to 7th in one year. This measure does not focus exclusively on the academic side of our university's operations and it is a tribute to the superb work of our administrative staff who do so much to support student learning. It validates the importance that's been placed on transparency and accountability as measured for public consumption.

Trent's own key performance indicators round out the findings of the many external studies we willingly participate in. Third party survey results confirm that over 94 per cent of our graduates are employed six months after graduation; after two years, this figure rises to 97 per cent. While we are not complacent about these figures we are generally pleased to see so many Trent graduates emerge as full contributing members of society.

This performance and our ability to report on our graduates' success have become important to the university's bottom line as the province increasingly ties funding to performance outcomes. Trent has embraced these new expectations for public accountability and external studies show that our operations are indeed more transparent.

As both the post-secondary environment and our organization evolve, Trent is embarking on a new era of unprecedented growth and success.

Through the province's SuperBuild program we will experience the benefits of over $31 million in much needed capital investments as we prepare to receive 1,295 additional students in the next three years as a result of the elimination of grade 13.

More success stories abound. Trent's Beyond Our Walls capital campaign exceeded its campaign goal and raised $17.2 million. Our operating budget was balanced for the first time in five years. Through rigorous processes of peer review, Trent professors continue to be recognized for their world class research. Recently, Professor Donald Mackay, this year's winner of the prestigious Honda Award, received a special award of excellence from NSERC and was selected as one of three finalists for the 2001 Gerhard Herzberg Canada Gold Medal.

These are the successes that are real and tangible and remind us about our sense of purpose as a centre of arts and science excellence. While the Maclean's surveys, questionnaires, performance indicators and awards remain important ­ the most reliable measure we can take stock of is the immeasurable interactions between our dedicated faculty and students in our classrooms and labs.

To them, we owe our national reputation.