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University of Calgary

Coordinates: 51°04′39″N 114°07′59″W / 51.07750°N 114.13306°W / 51.07750; -114.13306 (University of Calgary)
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University of Calgary
MottoMo Shùile Togam Suas
(Gaelic: I will lift up my eyes)
TypePublic
EstablishedApril 29, 1966
Endowment$340.1M
ChancellorJim Dinning
PresidentDr. M. Elizabeth Cannon
Undergraduates19 801 full-time, 2,755 part-time[1]
Postgraduates4,340 full-time, 1,300 part-time[1]
Location
Calgary
,
Alberta
,
Canada
CampusUrban, 4.13 km(2)
Sport TeamsCalgary Dinos
ColoursRed, Gold, Black.      
NicknameDinos
AffiliationsACU, AUCC, CARL‎, IAU, G13, CIS, CWUAA, CUSID, CBIE
MascotRex
WebsiteUniversity of Calgary

The University of Calgary (sometimes abbreviated "The U of C") is a research-intensive public university in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The enabling legislation is the Post-secondary Learning Act.[3] The University is composed of 24,000 undergraduate and 5,500 graduate students.

Initially, the university was the Calgary Branch of the University of Alberta. In the first half of the 20th century, the University of Calgary separated from the University of Alberta, and was founded in 1966. The University of Calgary, or "U of C", is composed of 14 faculties including a teachers' college, law school, medical school and veterinary school. The campus is in the north-west quadrant of Calgary. The University of Calgary`s Arms and Badge were registered with the Canadian Heraldic Authority on October 15, 2006.[4]

The University of Calgary is one of the top research-intensive universities in Canada with seventh most Canada Research Chairs. It is a member of the G13 (Group of Thirteen), Association of Commonwealth Universities, International Association of Universities, and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. The university has a sponsored research revenue of $282 million, with total revenues exceeding $800 million. Being in Calgary, with Canada's highest concentration of engineers and geoscientists, both the Faculty of Science, Department of Geosciences and the Schulich School of Engineering maintain ties to the petroleum and geoscience industry.[citation needed]

Academics

Overview

Aerial view of the University grounds

The university offers 150 programs in post-secondary education awarding bachelors, masters, and doctorate (Ph.D.) degrees. The campus has an area of 2.13 km² and hosts 13 faculties, 55 departments and 36 research institutes and centers (see Canadian university scientific research organizations). The teaching staff is 2,596. The university employs 2,777 management, professional and support staff. This puts the staff at 5,363, making it one of Calgary's four largest employers. The university has Alberta's toughest entry requirements, and due to the higher demand in post-secondary education, the acceptance rate is around 50%.[citation needed]

With the economic boom in Alberta, the government has promised $4.5 billion to post-secondary institutions in the province.[5]

The university maintains a research partnership with the City of Calgary, the Urban Alliance.[6] This uses problems facing cities inter-disciplinary university innovation. Its purpose is to deliver quality of life and qualified people to the city, province and county. Early innovations are helping reduce GHG, integrate immigrant newcomers, reshape urban form, reduce youth crime, adapt to climate change, create alternate energy, support seniors, increase disaster resilience, improve mobility, water quality and other aspects.

Faculties

South entrance to MacEwan Student Centre

Several of the university's recognized faculties are the Schulich School of Engineering, the Haskayne School of Business, Kinesiology, a medical school (MD), a law school (LLB), and in 2008, Western Canada's second veterinary school.

The faculties are:

History

University of Calgary is a non-denominational institution established in 1966, when an existing college, the Calgary branch of the University of Alberta gained autonomy as a university.[8] The Calgary branch of the University of Alberta was founded in 1945. The University of Calgary has developed a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs.[8]

University of Alberta a single, public provincial university created in 1906 was modeled on the American state university, with an emphasis on extension work and applied research.[8] The governance was modeled on the provincial University of Toronto Act of 1906 which established a bicameral system of university government consisting of a senate (faculty), responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was a link between the bodies to perform institutional leadership.[8] In the early 20th century, professional education expanded beyond theology, law and medicine. Graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced.[8] The policy of university education initiated in the 1960s responded to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society.[8] The University of Calgary launched its program in architecture in 1971.[8] The University of Calgary has developed a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs.[8] The University of Calgary tartan is associated with the university and with its pipe band.[9]

Rankings and reputation

The School motto on display

Webometrics University Rankings,[10] which ranks universities on their presence on the Internet, ranks the University of Calgary 60th in the USA and Canada category and 78th in the world. It is ranked 5th in Canada.

Research Infosource ranks the top 50 research universities in Canada each year. In its 2008 ranking Calgary was 9th.[11]

In 2010 the QS World University Rankings[12] ranked Calgary 165th in the world.

Academic Ranking of World Universities ranks the university 7-8 in the national category. It is given a regional rank (encompassing the Americas) of 77-100.

Calgary's Haskayne's School of Business has for years dominated the Inter-Collegiate Business Competition, hosted annually by Queen's University. For much of the competition's lifetime, the teams representing Haskayne have come out on top each year by winning first in the majority of the competition's case study categories, including accounting, business policy, debating, ethics, finance, human resources, marketing, and MIS. .[13]

In 2010, The Economist ranked Haskayne's MBA program 3rd within Canada, 43rd in North America, and 82nd worldwide.[14]

The University of Calgary ranks 7th in the medical-doctoral category of Maclean's annual university rankings.[15] However, the rankings have been met with criticism. The University of Calgary and other universities have argued that Maclean's Magazine takes data out of context and is an inaccurate reflection of performance. In 2006, 21 Canadian universities along with the University of Calgary, many being part of the leading group of research universities known as the G13, opted out of the rankings.[16] Other universities opting out in 2006 included Alberta, British Columbia, Carleton, Dalhousie, Lethbridge, Manitoba, McMaster, Montréal, Ottawa, Simon Fraser, Toronto and Queen's, rendering the ranking useless for all intents and purposes.

Facilities

The Olympic Oval

The university is home to MacEwan Hall Ballroom, a concert venue holding 1000 people. The Ballroom is also used for conferences, dinners, and political debates, and recently the 2006 Alberta PC leadership debate.

The university also has the Rozsa Centre, a theatre and concert hall on the south west side of campus, off 24th Ave NW. The Rozsa Centre has a Bach organ built by Jürgen and Hendrik Ahrend. The Rozsa Centre hosts wind ensembles, choirs, and other fine arts. Musical competitions are held at every year and can host 384 people. The University Theatre, beside the Rozsa Centre, is designed for drama and dance with seating for 505 .[17]

The campus is home to the Black Lounge. Throughout most of the 1990s, the room was a music venue. Its capacity for live music entertainment is 350.

The Olympic Oval ice arena was site of the 1988 Winter Olympic Games, the fastest ice in the world. It has a 400m track oval as well as a short track and two ice hockey rinks.[18] The campus also has the Jack Simpson Gymnasium, consisting of three gymnasiums with bleachers that cover the outer two courts capable of seating 2,700 people.[19] The University campus also covers the McMahon Stadium, which is home to the Dinos Football Team and the Calgary Stampeders.

Athletics

The university is represented in Canada West, a division of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, and in the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference by the Calgary Dinos. The Dinos compete in 12 varsity sports: basketball, cross-country, field hockey, football, golf, hockey, soccer, swimming, tennis, track and field, volleyball, and wrestling. The Dinos also have 2 club teams: Men's Baseball and Men's Rugby

The football team plays home matches at McMahon Stadium, home of CFL's Calgary Stampeders. It has won the Vanier Cup on four occasions, 1983, 1985, 1988 and 1995.

Residence

Kananaskis Hall

The residence buildings on campus house 1800[20] students, situated in eight buildings named after mountains in the Canadian Rockies. The two traditional buildings are Rundle Hall and Kananaskis Hall[21] and were built in the early 1960s when the university relocated to its present campus. Five newer buildings named Glacier, Olympus, Norquay, Brewster, and Castle Halls[21] were built prior to the 1988 Winter Olympics as the athletes’ Olympic Village. However, each is smaller than the traditional buildings, being three or four stories tall and housing 10 to 30 students on each floor. The newest, Cascade Hall, is five stories and is the third largest residence building, its floors being able to house more students. The newest six buildings are all designed in the style of apartments with a hallway on each floor with sets of rooms that can accommodate up to four people each. This is in contrast to the traditional buildings which have hallways on each floor, each having rooms accommodating two, along with a common area at the centre of the building on each floor.

A new building, International House houses 200 international students, instructors and conference attendees. This is part of the university's $1.5 billion capital program. With the completion of this new building the number of beds on campus will increase to 2000.[20]

Leadership on campus

In 2009, the U of C's Office of the Student Experience launched their own co-curricular record, the first of its kind in western Canadian universities.[22] The co-curricular record is an official university document to be coupled with a student's academic transcript, that recognizes out-of-classroom experiences that are still connected to the university.

Aboriginal

Through the university’s Native Ambassador Program Initiative, aboriginal students act as role models to younger students in their home communities. To assist with transition to a career, the university is leading an Aboriginal Lynx Career and Employment Project with other universities including University of Saskatchewan and University of Winnipeg.[23]

Qatar Campus

In 2007, the University of Calgary established a campus in Doha, Qatar, the University of Calgary - Qatar, which currently focuses upon nursing education. Current programs include the Bachelor of Nursing Regular Track (BNRT) and the Post-Diploma Bachelor of Nursing (PDBN), with graduate programs to be phased in.

Media

Order of the University of Calgary

The Order of the University of Calgary, developed in 1994 resulting from a suggestion brought forward from the University's Senate, honours worthy recipients who have a record of exemplary and distinguished service to the University. Individuals who have been admitted into the Order have included faculty, staff, students, alumni and volunteers.[25]

The Order of the University of Calgary includes numerous personalities of note including the likes of Dr. Eldon R. Smith. As of November 2009, a total of 114 individuals had been admitted into the Order.[26]

Student Life

The Den and Black Lounge

The Den and Black Lounge is the campus bar located in MacEwan Hall, the student centre in the middle of campus. Occupying two floors, with the Den located on the lower floor and the Black Lounge on the upper, the bar is a popular destination for students to relax between and after classes. In the warmer months of the year, a large outdoor patio on the second floor is a popular location for students.

Notable alumni

Histories of the university

  • V Jones, CS Lane 'A History of the Faculty of Management at the University of Calgary (1967–1981), in: Administrative Sciences Association of Canada - Annual Conference 19, no. 24 (1998), pp. 56–66
  • Geertje Boschma 'Faculty of Nursing on the Move: Thirty Years of Nursing Education, Research and Science at the University of Calgary, 1969-2000' (Calgary: University of Calgary Press, September 30, 2005)
  • Anthony Rasporitch 'Make no small plans: The University of Calgary at forty' (Calgary: The University of Calgary, 2007)
  • Historical essays and materials on the Medical Faculty in particular and the history of medicine in Southern Alberta in general are also provided through the Calgary History of Medicine and Health Care Program [visit their website for further publications and activities: History of Medicine and Health Care Program (www.homhcp.ucalgary.ca)]

Scholarships

The University joined Project Hero, a scholarship program cofounded by General (Ret'd) Rick Hillier, for the families of fallen Canadian Forces members.[37]

See also

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b Student Enrollment Counts
  2. ^ Faculty/Staff Counts
  3. ^ http://www.qp.alberta.ca/574.cfm?page=p19p5.cfm&leg_type=Acts&isbncln=9780779737932 Post-secondary Learning Act
  4. ^ http://archive.gg.ca/heraldry/pub-reg/project.asp?lang=e&ProjectID=1084 Arms and Badge
  5. ^ Bill 1 to secure Albertan's access to the future
  6. ^ Urban Alliance - a University/City Research Partnership
  7. ^ Faculty of arts now official - The Gauntlet
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h The Canadian Encyclopedia
  9. ^ http://www.scottish-tartans-world-register.com/tartan.aspx?record=2723
  10. ^ Webometrics University Rankings
  11. ^ Research Infosource
  12. ^ "QS World University Rankings 2010 Results".
  13. ^ Inter-Collegiate Business Competition 2006 Rankings
  14. ^ http://haskayne.ucalgary.ca/home/news-media/web-stories/haskayne-mba-makes-top-100-economist-rankings
  15. ^ Maclean's 2008 Rankings
  16. ^ U of C Gauntlet - Opting out of Maclean's ranking
  17. ^ About the University
  18. ^ Olympic Oval Facility Info
  19. ^ Jack Simpson Gymnasium
  20. ^ a b International House bed numbers
  21. ^ a b Addresses for the Residence Buildings, showing the names
  22. ^ [1]
  23. ^ The University of Winnipeg
  24. ^ On Campus retires as online communications ramp up
  25. ^ http://www.ucalgary.ca/senate/order Order of the University of Calgary
  26. ^ http://www.ucalgary.ca/senate/node/245 Order of the University of Calgary - past recipients
  27. ^ University of Calgary press release
  28. ^ Forbes.com article
  29. ^ [2]
  30. ^ U of C On Campus article
  31. ^ Space Facts page
  32. ^ Prime Minister of Canada: Prime Minister Stephen Harper
  33. ^ TransCanada Profile.
  34. ^ Robert Thirsk bio - Government of Canada website
  35. ^ D. George Wyse article - Arch Awards website
  36. ^ D. George Wyse citation - University of Calgary distinguished alumni
  37. ^ http://www.accc.ca/english/services/cdnforces/hero.htm Project Hero

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Calgary.

51°04′39″N 114°07′59″W / 51.07750°N 114.13306°W / 51.07750; -114.13306 (University of Calgary)

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