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*[http://www.twu.ca Trinity Western University main web site]
*[http://www.twu.ca Trinity Western University main web site]
*[http://www.twu.ca/magazine Trinity Western Magazine]
*[http://www.bccla.org/othercontent/00twusccfactum.html Trinity Western University v. British Columbia College of Teachers]
*[http://www.bccla.org/othercontent/00twusccfactum.html Trinity Western University v. British Columbia College of Teachers]
*[http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/2001/2001scc31/2001scc31.html Trinity Western University v. British Columbia College of Teachers]
*[http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/2001/2001scc31/2001scc31.html Trinity Western University v. British Columbia College of Teachers]

Revision as of 17:53, 27 April 2009

For other schools with similar names, see Trinity University and Trinity College.
Trinity Western University
MottoTurris Fortis Deus Noster (A Mighty Fortress Is Our God)
TypePrivate
Established1962 Trinity Junior College (1962-1972), Trinity Western College (1972-1985), Trinity Western University (1986-present)
AffiliationChristian
PresidentDr. Jonathan S. Raymond
ProvostDr. Dennis Jameson
Undergraduates2700[1]
Postgraduates603 (2005-2006)
Location
Langley
,
British Columbia
,
Canada
CampusSuburban Rural
Sport TeamsTrinity Western Spartans
Coloursgold  & blue  
NicknameSpartans
AffiliationsATS, CIS, CHEC, UACC, CIS, CWUAA, CUP.
MascotSpartan
Websitewww.twu.ca

Trinity Western University (TW or TWU) is a private, Christian liberal arts university located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The school was founded in 1962 as Trinity Junior College, and now enrolls approximately 2,700[1] students and sits on a 157-acre (0.64 km2) campus.[2] TWU is known for its broad-based arts and sciences curriculum. TWU offers 42 undergraduate majors and 16 graduate and post-graduate programs.[1] Trinity Western’s travel studies and exchange program enables students to study at Trinity’s partner institutions or universities across the world for a few weeks in the summer, a semester, or a year.

History

The Evangelical Free Churches of America established a committee in 1957 to consider the feasibility of a liberal arts college on the Pacific coast. Trinity Junior College was formed as an arts institution associated with Evangelical Free Churches of America soon after, and enrolled its first freshman class in the fall of 1962. In 1972 TW Junior College became TW College and in 1980 it awarded its first baccalaureate degrees. It was granted its present status as a privately funded Christian university in 1985 and became known as Trinity Western University.[3]

Trinity Western University's motto is "A Mighty Fortress is our God" and its colours are gold and blue. [4]

Campus

The main TWU campus consists of 157-acres on the outskirts of historic Fort Langley. Nearby is the Langley City, and the Trans-Canada Highway. The university has a significant presence in the area. The Langley campus contains several residential dormitories, of which most TWU students live. These dormitories include Douglas Hall, Fraser Hall, The Northwest Building, Robson Hall, and McMillan Hall.

Organization

University

Trinity Western University is governed by a Board of Trustees and the president who are in charge of managing the institution as a whole and providing a vision for the future. The current president of TWU is Dr. Jonathan Raymond.

Academics

Undergraduate

The University offers undergraduate majors in 100 programs (ranging from Biotechnology to European Studies to Nursing to Aviation), with over 1200 courses from which to choose.[5] The academic structure of the university is as follows:

Northwest Building - School of Business
  • Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
  • Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences
  • Faculty of Professional Studies and Performing Arts
  • School of Business
  • School of Human Kinetics
  • School of Education
  • Redeemer Pacific College – TWU’s constituent college of Catholic studies

Graduate

The School of Graduate Studies offers 16 programs of study ranging from Interdisciplinary Humanities, to Business Administration, to Nursing, to Korean Studies, to Theology, and awards the following degrees: MA, MBA, MSN, MC, MSt, MTh, MTS, MDiv, DMin. Within these faculties and schools the University awards the following degrees: BA, BSc, BBA, BEd, BHK, BScN. Honours programs are also available in a number of majors.

University profile

Trinity Western University is a privately funded public Christian university. The TWU focus is on total student development and education. TWU is a member of the AUCC, and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and is recognized by the United States Department of Education.The university's seminary was accredited by Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada in 1997.[6]

Trinity Western’s 2,700 students[1] hail from all 10 Canadian provinces, 37 U.S. states, and 33 foreign countries: 61% Canadian,[1] 28% USA,[1] and 11% international.[1] The University employs a faculty of over 300 instructors and professors,[1] enabling a student/faculty ratio of 11 to 1, and an average class size of 16. Over 85% of the University's professors have doctorates.[5]

Programs

TWU offers a liberal arts and sciences curriculum in over 35 undergraduate and 12 graduate programs within 5 faculties: arts and religious studies, business and economics, natural and applied sciences, social sciences and education. It also offers extensive seminary training whereby students can receive graduate theology degrees. Other programs include Trinity Western Educational Services and Training (TWest-Continuing Studies), cooperative education and aviation studies. Research institutes include the Dead Sea Scrolls Institute, the Ethics Institute and the Family Research Institute.[4]

Travel studies

Trinity’s international programs offer students the ability to study all over the world during the summer: studying Kinesiology while attending the 2008 Olympics in China, Coral Reef Biology in Hawaii, Johannine literature in Turkey, or Cross-cultural communications in Guatemala, among others.

Additionally, the University offers 15 semester programs which take place during the Fall and Spring terms. Trinity’s research and exchange partnership with the University of Oxford enables students to study as a visiting student at Oxford for either a semester or year.

Library

Norma Marion Alloway Library at sunset

The Norma Marion Alloway Library is the main library for undergraduate students, holding a circulation of over 300,000 books, 12,000 periodical subscriptions, and computer access to thousands more titles. The University Archives house several special collections: the Mel Smith Archives, the Robert N. Thompson Archives, and the Lyle Wicks Papers, which chronicle Canada’s political history through the works and personal documents of these three political figures. The library also has a Korean collection.

The graduate school and seminaries each maintain their own individual libraries.

Satellite campuses

Laurentian Leadership Centre – Ottawa
Main article: Laurentian Leadership Centre
The Laurentian Leadership Centre, in Ottawa

Trinity’s Laurentian Leadership Centre certificate program offers the rare opportunity for third and fourth year TWU students to experience a fully-credited semester of study as well as a prestigious Parliamentary, business, communications or NGO internship in Canada's national capital Ottawa. Although the program is open to students of any major, it is primarily designed for those who plan a career in political science, business, communications, history or international studies, all of which are majors at TWU. It also welcomes visiting students from other educational institutions.

Students live in a restored heritage mansion, the Booth House, just minutes from Parliament Hill, taking classes in Canadian Governmental Leadership, Ethics & Public Affairs, and Law, whilst participating in an internship in business, communications, government or non-governmental sectors.

TWU Bellingham

Located just across the US border, classes at TWU Bellingham are taught by TWU professors and count toward a degree.

TWU Richmond

Recently announced by President Jonathan Raymond in his 2008 State of the University Address was the grant of a rent-free 40,000-square-foot (3,700 m2) space to be used toward university education in Richmond.[7]

Recognition

  • Trinity Western University has consistently ranked higher than any other university in Canada in the category "Overall Quality of Education" in the Globe and Mail's University Report Card, an opinion poll of Canadian undergraduate students. It also ranked highest overall in its size category. TWU consistently scored the highest rank awarded in several other categories of the report:
    • Quality of Education (A+)
    • Student-Faculty Interaction (A+)
    • Class Size (A+)
    • Overall University Atmosphere (A+)
    • Most Satisfied Students (A)
    • Quality of Teaching (A)
  • For two consecutive years, Trinity Western University alumni (Dorothy Peters & Matthew Thiessen) have earned the University of Oxford's prestigious "Best Dissertation" award for their graduate work.
  • Professor Peter Flint, Ph.D, of TWU has been appointed a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, granting the University $1.4 million for research. Dr. Jens Zimmermann (Philosophy) has been appointed to a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Interpretation, Religion, and Culture from 2006-2010. Dr. Eve Stringham (Biology) has also been granted a $500,000 Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Genetics and Disease.
Trinity Lake
  • Trinity Western University is the first B.C. University, and one of six in all of Canada, to obtain Certified Financial Planner registered status, offering a bachelor-level CFP education program.
  • Canada's leading conservation organization, the World Wildlife Fund, has awarded Professor Karen Steensma a $10,000 grant to complete research on the endangered Oregon Forest Snail.
  • In 2008, the Ministry of Agriculture and BC Blueberry Council awarded Professor Karen Steensma $20,000 to study agricultural impacts of the European Starling.
  • As of 2008, the men's volleyball team is the current CIS national championship team. Other recent national championship titles for the Spartans include: Men's Soccer (Silver, 2006), Men's Soccer (Bronze, 2005), Men's Volleyball (Silver, 2005), Women's Soccer (Gold, 2004).
  • Spartan women's volleyball assistant coach Ryan Hofer was named Male Coach of the Year by Volleyball Canada, the National Association for Volleyball in Canada.
  • The TWU student newspaper, Mars' Hill, won first place out of all four-year universities in North America, in the bi-weekly category.
  • Trinity Western University was granted exempt status from detailed reviews of its programs by the Minister of Advanced Education, becoming the first non-public institution in the province granted this standing.
  • In 2002, Trinity Western University president Dr. Neil Snider, was presented with the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (also called the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award). Senator St. Germain described TWU as a University which is “recognized worldwide for the excellent calibre of education that it produces.”

Student life

The Canada Institute of Linguistics

TWUSA

Trinity's students are represented by the Trinity Western University Students Association.

Athletics

Main article: Trinity Western Spartans

The university is represented in the CIS league, the top university athletics league in Canada, by the Trinity Western Spartans.

Other teams, not part of the CIS, also compete for Trinity Western University including the TWU Titans hockey team, who compete in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League, and the Trinity Western University Bombers hockey team. TWU Titans, Soccer Male and Female team.

Fine Arts

Members of TWU’s chamber choirs are often invited to guest perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, performances which have been broadcast on a number of occasions on CBC Radio; as well, TWU's choirs have performed frequently with the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and at venues including Carnegie Hall in New York City and frequent performances at the Orpheum, Vancouver, and the Chan Shun Concert Hall. TWU's Director of Choral Activities is Wes Janzen, D.M.A., a recognized choral expert at the international level[citation needed] and an adjudicator at numerous Choral Olympics events, now known as the World Choir Games.

Student Media

The official student newspaper, "Mars' Hill," is a member of Canadian University Press (CUP) and the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP). In 2006 it was a finalist for the ACP's National Pacemaker Awards for best non-daily newspaper, and won the Pacemaker in 2008.[8]

Responsibilities of Membership

From time to time TWU has garnered publicity due to the University's policy known as the "Responsibilities of Membership." As a private university, Trinity has made the decision to enact certain “responsibilities" which the University believes accompanies an atmosphere more conducive to learning and community. The University makes it clear that not all of these responsibilities are meant to be reflections of biblical principles, but particular lifestyle choices made in the interest of the perceived benefits which campus-wide acceptance would promote:

"This application of the Responsibilities of Membership is not offered as a legalistic definition of right and wrong. Certain expectations may not be commanded by Scripture, but nonetheless, they are desirable and essential if all members of the community are to achieve their personal goals."[9]

Regarding harassment, the University insists that all students, staff, and faculty "follow biblical principles of lifestyle and conduct and refrain from biblically prohibited practices. The Responsibilities of Membership statement expresses some of the lifestyle and conduct expectations which contribute to...providing a community in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity."[10] Notably more restrictive than standards imposed by Canadian law and public universities, members of the TWU community are restricted from:[10]

TWU vs. BC College of Teachers

Main article: Trinity Western University v. British Columbia College of Teachers

In 1995, TWU launched a teaching certification program, but the British Columbia College of Teachers denied accreditation of TWU's program, arguing that the agreement students must sign is discriminatory and that those graduating from Trinity Western's program will discriminate against gay students. The lower courts in British Columbia and, later, the Supreme Court of Canada, ruled in favour of Trinity Western University, stating that there was no basis for the BCCT's decision, and, moreover, that "the concern that graduates of TWU will act in a detrimental fashion in the classroom is not supported by any evidence."

The final analysis of the case, as reported by the Factum of the Intervener, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, was that "In the circumstances of this case the Council of the B.C. College of Teachers failed to conduct such an enquiry and erroneously concluded that equality of rights on the basis of sexual orientation trump freedom of religion and association. They do not."

Notable alumni

Main article: List of Trinity Western University people

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h Fast Facts about TWU. Accessed March 3, 2009.
  2. ^ Langley Times - Your Best source for Local Community News delivered in print or online
  3. ^ "What Trinity Western University is All About" (PDF). Retrieved February 2009. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ a b Trinity Western University
  5. ^ a b Academic Calendar 2007-2008
  6. ^ "Member Schools". Associated Canadian Theological Schools. Retrieved 2006-11-14.
  7. ^ "Richmond Campus Announced at University Address". TWU. Retrieved 2008-06-01.
  8. ^ "2008 ACP Newspaper Pacemaker Winners". National Scholastic Press Association/Associated Collegiate Press. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
  9. ^ http://www.twu.ca/academics/calendar/ac0708-general-university-policies.pdf
  10. ^ a b "University Policies". Student Handbook. Retrieved 2006-11-14.

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