After falling to second place last year, Mount Allison is back in first place among schools that focus on undergraduate education.
sam mCwow, A fourth-year biochemistry student at Mount Allison University recently discovered something key to the heart health of brook trout, a species of freshwater fish native to North America. McGaw spent the summer at the university’s MacCormack Laboratory, under the supervision of biochemistry professor Tyson MacCormack, exploring the effect of the amino acid taurine on cardiovascular function. It turns out that taurine deficiency leads to poor results for brook trout. It is a finding that could be translated into human health.
College students helping conduct complex research are a regular occurrence at Mount Allison. “We trust them,” says MacCormack. “There are a lot of researchers at Mount Allison publishing high-impact peer-reviewed studies, and most of them are working with undergraduate students.”
The university in picturesque Sackville, New Brunswick, is back at the top of the Primarily Undergraduate rankings after falling to second place last year. In addition to its strong research opportunities, the university offers a growing set of services for students. In response to criticism of its handling of sexual violence on campus, Mount Allison has introduced a secure online platform for reporting incidents, which is available 24/7. It also hired a full-time sexual violence prevention and education coordinator, as well as a sexual violence response and equity, diversity, and inclusion consultant. Students can talk to the consultant about what a formal complaint process looks like, says Anne Comfort, Mount Allison’s vice president of international and student affairs. They can also make an anonymous report.
Over the past year, Mount Allison has also hired a multi-denominational chaplain and spiritual care coordinator, expanded the school’s Writing Center to include writing for science, and, as an extension of its COVID response, continued to offer counseling services. and online accessibility.
The pandemic did not stop the development of new programs at Mount Allison. In 2021, the university opened the Pierre Lassonde School of Fine Arts, a 50,000-square-foot state-of-the-art facility that includes studio space dedicated to drawing, sculpture, photography, and printmaking. And last April, Mount Allison introduced a new undergraduate degree and certificate options in Indigenous Studies, as well as an interdisciplinary degree in health studies.
Meanwhile, a series of interior and exterior infrastructure investments are being made at the university, with $100 million allocated to renovating facilities such as the Athletic Center, the Charlotte House residential building and the RP Bell Library. The library will include a “flip classroom,” which replaces the standard reading model. for solving immersion problems in class. Think colorful, mobile furniture arrangements (no bolt-on chairs here) and tech features like LED screens and tablets.
For Mount Allison President Jean-Paul Boudreau, the improvements signify one of Mount Allison’s greatest strengths as a small liberal arts institution: the ability to respond nimbly to changing tides. “We’re reinventing the liberal arts for 21st century learning,” he says. “Innovation is not just a buzzword here.”
