Maclean's magazine and UNBC are developing a love-hate relationship.
On one hand, there are the benefits that come with UNBC consistently being ranked by Maclean's in the top-five of Canada's best small universities. On the other hand, Prince George tops the Maclean's list as Canada's most dangerous city -- for the third straight year.
That kind of national exposure is a university recruiter's nightmare. Owning the crime podium is not what Rob Van Adrichem envisions for his hometown, a city preparing to host the 2015 Canada Winter Games.
"The crime survey comes up [in conversations] and to say it has no impact is not true," said Van Adrichem, UNBC's vice-president of external relations. "An interesting question would be what has more impact, our good ranking in Maclean's or our bad ranking in Maclean's. It's not like those are the only two things students are considering. But this doesn't help at all. It is a factor."
In interviews with students who have decided not to come to Prince George, Van Adrichem said UNBC has learned the city's isolated location, a day's drive from any major city, is more of a factor than anything else.
"We tend to believe there is an overall negative perception of Prince George, and that's partly true, but it's more just the location," he said. "In Canada, as there becomes an increasing concentration in a few cities, we become more remote to more people and that's as much a challenge for us as a perceived belief about the city and the crime, the weather, and that people still believe that it stinks [from the pulp mills]."
It was only a month ago UNBC was ranked No. 2 in the country in Maclean's 22nd annual university poll. For the 17-year-old school, a great report card like that helps attract new students in an increasingly-competitive market and is a tool headhunters use to recruit faculty. But the city's size and remoteness plays more of a factor than its crime rate.
"In the case of professors often leaving big cities, there's a perception that excellence occurs in big cities," said Van Adrichem. "This [crime survey] doesn't negate the positive story about our Maclean's university ranking. There are many positive things about the community that are out there. [UNBC president] George Iwama and I were in Ottawa a month ago and no one says, "Oh, you're from Prince George,' with a look of pity on their face. They've heard about all the industrial development happening in northern B.C. and they're hearing about the university more and more and they're curious. I don't think people here feel crime is terrible and I think they are surprised we are Number 1."
