UBC Okanagan

See also: University of British Columbia (disambiguation)

The University of British Columbia Okanagan
Coat of Arms of the University of British Columbia
Motto	Tuum est (Latin)
Motto in English	"It Is Yours" / "It is up to you"
Established	1963 B.C. Vocational School (1963-1965); Okanagan College (1965-1990); Okanagan University College (1990-2005), absorbed into UBC Okanagan (30 June 2005-present)
Type	Campus of University of British Columbia (Public University)
President	Stephen J. Toope
Provost	Wesley Pue (Okanagan)
Vice-Chancellor	Douglas Owram (deputy)
Undergraduates	7,901
Postgraduates	710
Location	Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada
Campus	Suburban
Nickname	Heat
Affiliations	AUCC, CIS, CWUAA
Website	University of British Columbia's Okanagan Campus

The University of British Columbia Okanagan is a campus of the University of British Columbia, located in Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada. The official name for the campus is simply UBC's Okanagan Campus^{[citation needed]}, although it is frequently called 'UBCO.'

Prior to 2005, the campus itself belonged to the former Okanagan University College. Smaller than the older campus in Vancouver, Okanagan campus presently has approximately 10,500 undergraduate and postgraduate students enrolled.

Faculties and Schools

Main article: Faculties and Schools of the University of British Columbia

• The Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences
• Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies
• Faculty of Education
• School of Engineering (under the UBC Faculty of Applied Science)
• Faculty of Health and Social Development
• School of Health and Exercise Sciences
• Faculty of Medicine, Southern Medical Program (one of four sites for the UBC Faculty of Medicine)
• The Faculty of Management
• College of Graduate Studies

History

Okanagan University College

Main article: Okanagan University College

The current campus for UBC Okanagan was originally used by Okanagan University College. That college was founded in 1989 as a part of a plan by the government to improve access to post-secondary education in Canada. Originally degrees were awarded in partnership with other universities, but by 1995, the university began granting degrees in its own name. Starting in the late 1990s, Okanagan University began lobbying efforts to gain full university status.

University of British Columbia Okanagan

Adding a 3rd Floor to the Science building

In December 2002 the British Columbia Progress Board submitted a report to the provincial government, recognising the need to expand postsecondary opportunities in Okanagan. The progress board, chaired by then University of British Columbia president Martha Piper, recommended that the province extend “the mandate of an existing provincial University to Kelowna. . .”.

In March 2004, BC Premier Gordon Campbell and the University of British Columbia President Martha Piper held an invitation only press conference at the Grand Hotel in downtown Kelowna, announcing that OUC would be dissolved. Okanagan University College’s university operations would be consolidated at its North Kelowna Campus and would come under the control of the University of British Columbia. The other programs and campuses of Okanagan University College would form a new community college, which would later take on the name Okanagan College. The OUC Board was not invited to the press conference and had not been told in advance of the imminent demise of OUC and removal of the termination of the majority of the OUC board members.^{[citation needed]}

According the Ministry backgrounder released at the same time as the announcement was made, the affiliation between UBC Vancouver and UBC Okanagan would be “based on the highly successful University of California model” and that “UBC Okanagan and UBC Vancouver will each have an independent senate to set academic priorities for their respective institutions, based regional needs and priorities. At the same time, they will share a common board of governors, with strong representation from each region.”

A view of the campus construction from the temporary parking lot.

Campus expansion

New construction of a Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research.

As of 2011 UBC's Okanagan campus is undergoing a rapid CAD 450 million expansion. A new science building (The Charles E. Fipke Centre for Innovative Research), University Centre and Arts and Sciences buildings were completed. Engineering and management building and medical school buildings are planned to be completed by end of the year 2011. The second Arts and Science building will include a new live animal testing facility. In addition, there are various student residences in various stages of construction. All construction was originally set to be complete by September 2010, later projected to be completed about a year and a half past that date.

An additional site for the UBC Medical School is projected to be complete in June 2011, for the opening of the Southern Medical Program in the Okanagan.

A view looking down through the residences.

Along with the physical expansion of the campus, UBC's Okanagan campus has also seen many improvements from the former OUC days. The campus' Collegia program has gained national attention as a home-away-from-home for its large commuter population.

Student Life

The Students Life at the UBC Okanagan campus is extremely inviting to all students from different faculties, nationalities and ideals. With the "Campus Life" and other offices maintaining great levels of activities for students constantly.

Greek Life

The Okanagan campus currently has two sororities and one fraternity. The sororities are Theta Phi and Alpha Omega Epsilon. The Fraternity is Sigma Phi Delta. Alpha Omega Epsilon and Sigma Phi Delta are both International Organizations and have membership restrictions based upon faculty (Engineering students for Sigma Phi Delta, Engineering and Technical Science students for Alpha Omega Epsilon). Theta Phi is a local sorority open to all faculties. The Okanagan campus does not allow Greek housing, so none of these organisations have an official house or room on campus.

Campus Media

The Phoenix

The Phoenix (website), is the bi-monthly student newspaper at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan campus. It was established in 1989 at former Okanagan College.

UBCO.TV

The UBCO.TV creates videos about teaching, research, current events and campus life at the Okanagan campus. Videos are available on the UBCO.TV website.

Statistics

Full Time Faculty

Faculty	2005	2006	2007	2008
Applied Science	3	10	17	26
Barber School of Arts & Sciences	108	113	124	129
Creative & Critical Studies	47	48	50	53
Education	15	15	14	18
Health & Social Development	40	35	39	38
Management	1	1	5	11
TOTAL	214	222	249	275

Full-Time Equivalent Students

	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Undergraduate	2,811	3,278	4,073	5,325	6,015	7,075	7,901
Graduate	19	77	155	220	337	531	710
Medical Students	0	0	0	0	0	0	32
Totals	2,829	3,451	4,228	5,545	6,352	7,606	8,643

References

• Capital News (1990–2005). Kelowna, British Columbia.
• Daily Courier (1990–2005). Kelowna, British Columbia.
• Freake, R. (2005). OUC Memoirs. Okanagan University College, Kelowna.

External links

• The University of British Columbia Okanagan Campus
• The Phoenix Newspaper
• UBCO.TV