The University of Toronto Mississauga made gains in this year’s Canadian University Report published in The Globe and Mail on Tuesday, but still received mixed reviews in the annual undergraduate survey.
The medium-sized campus on Mississauga Road North scored well on recreational and athletic programs, facilities and services, reputation among employers, library resources, sense of personal safety and quality of public transportation.
However, UTM scored poorly in other categories similar to other research-intensive post-secondary institutions in the GTA, such as availability and affordability of off-campus housing, internship opportunities and sense of community.
Higher Education Strategy Associates president Alex Usher said he’s been involved in the report for seven years. He said UTM students are among many in Toronto who have mixed feelings about their school’s focus.
“What you tend to see in these institutions is some inverse relationship between the research intensity and how students feel about it,” he told YourMississaugaBiz.com.
Usher also said commute times affected students’ views of their universities. “That’s right across Canada,” he said. “That affects Mississauga, York, Scarborough and it affects Ryerson and U of T [St George].”
Usher also cited his company’s multi-part blog series on “Why are Toronto Students so Friggin’ Miserable” as providing some clues to why UTM’s survey results were so mixed. “Toronto students are just a little more crotchety than other students,” he said.
Karen K. Ho 