Nova Scotia Agricultural College

In the heart of the central Nova Scotia village of Bible Hill sits a post-secondary treasure - the Nova Scotia Agricultural College (NSAC). Founded on Valentine’s Day in 1905, this small research-intensive university has proven to be as valuable as any precious jewel.

“We really are a gem on top of a small hill,” says NSAC co-president Dr. Bernie MacDonald. “Although we’re small, we have a large capacity to solve big problems.”

That problem-solving capacity draws strength from the students, faculty and staff who come from near and far to work together at NSAC. Dr. MacDonald and his colleague and co-president Dr. Leslie MacLaren demonstrate the range of the university’s drawing power. Dr. MacDonald grew up just down the road in Shubenacadie, while Dr. MacLaren, who has travelled widely during her academic career, is originally from Guelph, Ontario. While the majority of students are from Nova Scotia and the Atlantic provinces, the university also hosts students from around the world each year and has established programs in locations such as Finland, Ghana, Ethiopia and China.

“We work very hard to have what we call exchange and mobility programs for our students and for our faculty on a global basis,” says Dr. MacDonald. “We have some pretty important relationships with various institutions around the world, including FAFU, the Fujian Agricultural and Forest University in China.”

The administration believes very strongly that NSAC students benefit from the interactions and the relationships that develop between people from all over the global community, he says.

Students also benefit from one of the best scholarship-to-student ratios of any university in the region. One in three students at NSAC receives a scholarship, bursary or other academic award. On top of that, the school boasts an enviable 12-to-1 student-instructor ratio, which translates to individual attention from faculty and customized learning programs. At a time when demographics indicate enrolment numbers should be going down, Dr. MacLaren says they have actually been increasing at NSAC these last few years.

“We often attract people who have known somebody who has gone here and been encouraged to come here because of the small size, the applied science education and the quality of education,” she says. “This is a place for students who want to come where they have a good chance of knowing their professors. By fourth year, they’re having a conversation with their professors; they’re not one of a large number of people just listening.”

NSAC also ranks first in research intensity among all of the other 16 Atlantic Canadian universities. That’s according to Canada’s Top 50 Research University list, published by Research Infosource Inc. NSAC ranks second out of all undergraduate universities in Canada for the number of publications per faculty member. With these distinctions, it is no surprise that NSAC has one of the highest student satisfaction ratings of any post-secondary institution surveyed in North America.

And what do students come here to study? NSAC offers programs in aquaculture, environmental studies, engineering, and plant and animal science. Scholars have hands-on access to an on-campus greenhouse, aquaculture facilities, a modern farm complex and the $9.8 million Atlantic Poultry Research Centre. The campus is also home to the Organic Agriculture Centre of Canada.

While there is an agricultural focus to the research conducted at NSAC, the scope of that research frequently extends beyond agriculture.

“We have faculty that work, for example, with Stella Jones [which produces and markets industrial pressure-treated wood products] on environmental remediation,” says Dr. MacLaren. “They in turn provide us with an opportunity to give hands-on experience to our students in environmental assessments. We also work with several other industry partners in the region.”

Years ago, NSAC took it upon itself to become a small research-intensive institution, says Dr. MacDonald.

“Roughly 10 years ago, we were doing less than a million dollars of activity in research and trying to solve problems related to the food and environmental industries,” he says. “Today, we’re doing about $8.6 million and I’m very optimistic that we can double that figure in the next five to 10 years.”

The research opportunities available to NSAC students confirm the university’s status as one of the most innovative institutions in the country. The administration fosters industry-sponsored research and industry partnerships, for example, and all students are asked to be involved in an independent research project in their fourth year.

“That’s one of the most exciting connections between the research and the teaching,” says Dr. MacLaren. “These students get involved with researchers and add a whole new dimension to a project because they’re so fresh to it. As they work together, the new approach blends with the more established disciplinary approach, and they often come up with something new and innovative. They’re able to develop something together that they wouldn’t have been able to do on their own.”

A great deal of research conducted at NSAC addresses global concerns. Much of it also serves to protect and enhance local rural communities.

“One of the really special things about Nova Scotia is that so many people still live in small communities around the province,” says Dr. MacLaren. “I think that being such a small province and having the opportunity to have an agricultural university that is really interested in preserving that and developing the rural economy is really a strength.”

These small but vibrant communities and the excellent quality of life they offer are a big part of Nova Scotia’s overall draw, says Dr. MacDonald. “Our faculty often find that attractive, whether to raise families or to reflect while conducting their own teaching and research,” he says. “I have friends in the military and military folks move around quite a bit. A number of them are waiting until the day they can retire and return to our province.”

It’s no wonder, with gems like NSAC and the communities it serves filling the treasure chest that is Nova Scotia.