Last week I spoke at a Bishop’s University recruitment event – I was one of three alumni who were tasked with answering questions from prospective students and their parents about the Bishop’s Experience.

Most of my conversations wound up with me talking about size – how it matters and how small is beautiful. And I talked about size because Bishop’s University – with 2,300 learners – is one of the smallest universities in Canada.

I kid you not, in alumni circles around the world we debate whether 2,300 is “ridiculously large” or “a bit too big” or “just pushing it” in terms of student numbers at BU. For the record, I graduated when the school had 1,945 students, which felt like a really good number.

So, the evening combined community-building with a genuine personal touch – more on that in about 150 words…

Earlier this week I read a post by Seth Godin called “What’s the right size? The quantum mechanics of growth” – the marketing guru explored ways in which organizations can know their size:

The physics and economics of a business determine whether it’s the right size or not, whether it ought to get bigger or smaller. Starbucks, for example, was not the right size when it had 11 stores. That’s too many stores for just one senior manager to handle, but not enough stores for centralized purchasing and marketing and organization. The cash flow from an eleven-store chain just doesn’t easily connect to the staff requirments necessary to make it efficient.

Also earlier this week, I read an article from the Academica Group about how some of Canada’s research intensive universities are endeavouring to “pull a Bishop’s” [Editor’s note: ©Copyright John Horn 2012] and make the big small. Check this out:

How Ontario institutions are wooing top applicants: Last week, a York University recruiter drove to an admitted applicant’s high school to deliver the student’s $24,000 scholarship in person — it’s one of the ways York U has upped its game in the competition for the best and brightest students. University of Waterloo faculty send handwritten letters to top applicants to their faculty, and the personal touch pays off, says uWaterloo’s director of undergraduate recruitment. Ryerson and Western Universities are among institutions that court top students with the promise of an exclusive inner circle “where membership has its privileges — mentoring, advising, invitations to networking events with the president,” says a Ryerson spokeswoman. Other examples of PSE schools wooing applicants include Brock University stuffing confetti into its offer packages and Collège Boréal sending offers in the form of a packing box that says, in French: “Get packing; you’re going to college!” ParentCentral.ca

Size does matter. And Bishop’s University does all the things above with inclusiveness – as opposed to a priviledged inner circle building – in mind and with a sense of community at heart. This is funny, too, because I’m not sure if Bishop’s even teaches quantum mechanics, but I’m pretty sure that York does…

While Bishop’s searches for its sweet spot of size in an ever more competitive post-secondary landscape, I hope its leaders keep in mind that when you make the big small – or keep things small – there exists a natural setting for a vibrant and inclusive sense of community to be built. And this becomes an edge in the marketplace.

Stay small and stay beautiful, Bishop’s. You’re clearly doing something right when so many of higher educations giants are trying to emulate what you’ve been doing for over 150 years.

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Masthead photo – of a small puppy – courtesy of RLHyde’s photostream on Flickr