University of Alberta

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University of Alberta
Motto	Quaecumque Vera (Whatsoever things are true)
Established	1908
Type	Public
Endowment	$645M[1]
Chancellor	Eric P Newell
President	Indira Samarasekera
Staff	3,353[2]
Undergraduates	28,158 full-time, 2,204 part-time[2]
Postgraduates	4,356 full-time, 1,717 part-time[2]
Location	Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Campus	Urban, 50 square city blocks
Sports teams	Golden Bears (men) Pandas (women)
Colours	Green and Gold
Mascot	GUBA (men) Patches (women)
Affiliations	ACU, AUCC
Website	www.ualberta.ca

The University of Alberta (U of A) is a public coeducational research university located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

Contents 1 Overview 1.1 Laboratories 1.2 Faculties 1.3 Newspapers 2 Early History 2.1 Location 2.2 Battle of Alberta 2.3 Six Faculties 2.4 New Faculty of Agriculture 3 Academics 3.1 Profile 3.2 Faculties and Colleges 3.3 Library System 3.3.1 Specialty Libraries 3.3.2 School of Library and Information Studies 3.4 Reputation 3.4.1 Best Overall 3.4.2 Top 5 4 Campuses 4.1 Main Campus 4.2 Campus Saint-Jean 4.3 Augustana Campus 4.4 Future Campuses 4.4.1 South Campus 4.4.2 Enterprise Square 4.5 Residences 4.6 Construction 4.6.1 Centre for Interdisciplinary Science 4.6.2 The Edmonton Clinic 4.6.3 Health Research Innovation Facility (HRIF) 5 Research Overview 5.1 Medical Research 5.2 Nanotechnology Research 5.3 Group of Thirteen 6 Student life 7 Athletics 8 Alumni 8.1 Academics 8.2 Authors 8.3 Politicians 8.4 Other notable alumni 8.5 Honorary degree recipients 9 References 10 See also 11 External links

[edit] Overview

Founded in 1908 by Alexander Cameron Rutherford^[3], the first premier of Alberta and Henry Marshall Tory^[4], the first president, the university's current enrolment is over 36,000, placing it among the five largest universities in Canada. The main campus covers 50 city blocks with over 90 buildings directly across the North Saskatchewan River from downtown Edmonton.

[edit] Laboratories

The University of Alberta has over 400 distinct research laboratories and the second largest university library in Canada.^[5] The university's strong medical and engineering programs include several world-class research facilities under construction or recently completed for medical research, nanotechnology, petroleum engineering, and communication technology such as the Heritage Medical Research Centre, National Institute for Nanotechnology, Allan P. Markin Natural Resources Engineering Facility, and TRLabs [3]. The University of Alberta is consistently ranked among the top research universities in Canada.^[6][7][8]

[edit] Faculties

The university's major faculties include arts, science, engineering, medicine and dentistry, law, education, agriculture, pharmacy and pharmaceutical science, business, and physical education as well as special programs such as the Campus Saint-Jean and the Faculty of Native Studies.

[edit] Newspapers

The university has two main newspapers, Folio [4] and The Gateway [5]. Folio is the official newspaper published by the "Office of Public Affairs" every two weeks from September to June. The Gateway is the official student newspaper (published "most tuesdays and thursdays").

[edit] Early History

The University of Alberta was chartered in 1906 with a new University Act, then with the hiring of Henry Marshall Tory in 1907 started operation in 1908 using temporary facilities, while the first building on campus was under construction. In a letter from Henry Marshall Tory to Alexander Cameron Rutherford in early 1906, while he is in the process of setting up McGill University College in Vancouver, Tory writes "If you take any steps in the direction of a working University and wish to avoid the mistakes of the past, mistakes which have fearfully handicapped other institutions, you should start on a teaching basis."^[9] The Act creating the university had been passed two years earlier in the first session of the new Legislative Assembly, with Premier Alexander C. Rutherford as its sponsor.

[edit] Location

The location of the university was to be decided along the same lines as that of Saskatchewan. (The province of Saskatchewan shares the same founding date as Alberta, 1905.) Saskatchewan had to please two competing cities when deciding the location of its capital city and provincial university. Thus, Regina was designated the provincial capital and Saskatoon received the provincial university, the University of Saskatchewan. The same heated wrangling over the location of the provincial capital also took place in Alberta between the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. It was stated that the capital would be north of the North Saskatchewan River and that the university would be in a city south of it. In the end the city of Edmonton became capital and the city just south of the river, Strathcona was granted the university, much to the chagrin of Calgary, for many years to come.

[edit] Battle of Alberta

Main article: Battle of Alberta

In 1912 the two cities of Edmonton and Strathcona were amalgamated under the name of the former; Edmonton thus became the political and academic capital. To this day this event marked the first major step in the rivalry, often called the "Battle of Alberta" between the two largest communities. Alberta is the richest province of Canada and home to two cities, Calgary and Edmonton which are ranked in the top five in Canada by population, size and economic power. (The others being Toronto, ON, Montreal, QC, and Vancouver, BC.)

[edit] Six Faculties

By 1920, the university had six faculties (Arts and Sciences, Applied Science, Agriculture, Medicine, Dentistry, and Law) and two schools (Pharmacy and Accountancy). It awarded a range of degrees: Bachelor of Arts (BA), Bachelor of Science (BSc), Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA), Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Bachelor of Pharmacy (PhmB), Bachelor of Divinity (BD), Master of Arts (MA), Master of Science (MSc), and Doctor of Laws (LLD). There were 851 male students and 251 female students, and 171 academic staff, including 14 women.^[10]

[edit] New Faculty of Agriculture

The College (Faculty) of Agriculture accepted students who had completed a two-year course at one of the six provincial Schools of Agriculture at Claresholm, Gleichen, Olds, Raymond, Vermilion and Youngstown. Then they followed a further three-year course to gain the degree of Bachelor of Science in Agriculture (BSA).

[edit] Academics

[edit] Profile

The U of A has approximately 36,000 students, more than 6,000 of them in graduate studies,^[2] while about 2,000 are international students from 110 countries.^[11] The university has 3,353 academic staff along with about 6,000 support and trust staff.^[2] The university's professors have won more 3M Teaching Fellowships (Canada's top award for undergraduate teaching excellence) than any other Canadian university, 26 awards since 1986.^[12] The university offers post-secondary education in about 200 undergraduate and 170 graduate programs. Tuition and fees for both fall and winter semesters are slightly more than $5,000 for a typical undergraduate student, although they vary widely by program.^[2] The University of Alberta switched from a 9-point grading scale to the more common 4-point grading scale in September 2003.

The continued economic boom in Alberta, driven mainly by high energy prices, has resulted in multi-billion dollar government fiscal surpluses.^[13] This has led to the introduction of Bill 1 by the provincial government, which promises to create a $4.5 billion endowment for Alberta's post-secondary institutions.^[14] Given the rosy economic conditions in Alberta, it has been suggested that as the University of Alberta enters its second century it should aim to be one of the top twenty universities in the world by the year 2020.^[15][16]

[edit] Faculties and Colleges

The university has eighteen faculties and two affiliated colleges.

• Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics [6] is focusing on natural, biological, and human resources.
• Faculty of Arts [7] is home to the spectrum of Arts programs and departments, from Anthropology to Women's Studies.
• Augustana Faculty [8] is located in a satellite campus in Camrose, Alberta. It comprises the departments of Fine Arts, Humanities, Physical Education, Science, and Social Sciences.
• School of Business [9] offers MBA, BCom, PhD, ExecEd, and Exec MBA degrees.
• Faculty of Education [10] offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in Elementary, Secondary Education, or combined.
• Faculty of Engineering [11]
• Faculty of Extension [12] is focusing on the life-long Continuing Education and Professional Development.
• Faculté Saint-Jean [13] is a francophone faculty with programs in Sciences, Fine Arts and Languages, Social Sciences, and Education.
• Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research [14] maintains graduate studies.
• Faculty of Law [15]
• Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry [16]
• Faculty of Native Studies [17]
• Faculty of Nursing [18]
• Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences [19]
• Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation [20]
• School of Public Health [21]
• Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine [22]
• Faculty of Science [23]
• St. Joseph's College [24]
• St. Stephen's College [25]

See also: Faculties and departments of the University of Alberta

[edit] Library System

The University of Alberta library system[26], received a tremendous boost with the opening of the Rutherford Library in May of 1951, and now has one of the largest research libraries systems in Canada. As of 2004, according to the Association of Research Libraries, the library system is the second-largest, by the number of volumes held, among all Canadian universities, after the University of Toronto Library.^[17] In 2006, the university library was rated 20th in North America by the Association of Research Libraries (up from only 28th a year earlier).^[17] Moreover, the library system ranks first in Canada in terms of the number of volumes per student, and important index, with over 5.7 million volumes, and also provides access to more than 400,000 full-text electronic journals, and more than 600 electronic databases.^[18]

[edit] Specialty Libraries

The library system is comprised of the following libraries:

• Augustana Faculty Library [27]
• Bibliothèque Saint-Jean [28]
• Book and Record Depository (BARD) [29]
• Cameron Library (Science & Technology) [30]
  • Knowledge Common [31]
• H.T. Coutts Library (Education & Physical Education) [32]
• J.A. Weir Memorial Law Library [33]
• J.W. Scott Health Sciences Library
• Dr. Josephine M. Mitchell Mathematics Library
• Rutherford Library (Humanities & Social Sciences) [34]
  • Bruce Peel Special Collections Library [35]
  • Data Library [36]
  • Music Listening and Reserve
• St. Joseph's College Library [37]
• Winspear Business Reference Library [38]

[edit] School of Library and Information Studies

The university is also home to the School of Library and Information Studies [39]. Notably the university offers a Master of Library and Information Studies (MLIS) degree,^[19] accredited by the American Library Association,^[20] and hosted in Rutherford South, the original four story brick, marble and oak main campus library, opened in 1951.

[edit] Reputation

The University of Alberta consistently ranks as one of the top five universities in Canada, along with the University of Toronto, McGill University, and the University of British Columbia.

[edit] Best Overall

In its 2006 survey, Maclean’s, a leading Canadian news magazine, rates the University of Alberta the best overall by National Reputational Ranking.^[21][22] The top five in this category were:^[23]

1. University of Alberta
2. University of Waterloo
3. McGill University
4. University of British Columbia
5. University of Toronto

[edit] Top 5

The Times Higher Education Supplement rates the top 5 Canadian universities (world rankings in brackets):^[24]

1. McGill University (21)
2. University of Toronto (27)
3. University of British Columbia (50)
4. University of Alberta (133)
5. McMaster University (155)

Academic Ranking of World Universities rates the top 5 Canadian universities (world rankings in brackets):^{[citation needed][25]}

1. University of Toronto (24)
2. University of British Columbia (37)
3. McGill University (67)
4. McMaster University (90)
5. University of Alberta (101-152)

Webometrics Ranking of World Universities rates the top 5 Canadian universities (world rankings in brackets):^[26]

1. University of Toronto (23)
2. University of British Columbia (36)
3. University of Alberta (49)
4. Université de Montréal (58)
5. University of Calgary (59)

Research Infosource rates the top 5 Canadian universities by research criteria:^[27]

1. University of Toronto
2. Université de Montréal
3. McGill University
4. University of Alberta
5. University of British Columbia

Newsweek (International Edition) rates the top 5 Canadian universities (world rankings in brackets):^[28]

1. University of Toronto (18)
2. University of British Columbia (31)
3. McGill University (42)
4. University of Alberta (55)
5. University of Waterloo (84)

It should be noted that the University of Alberta (along with 22 other universities) has declined to participate in the 2006 Maclean's annual university rankings issue, due to a concern that past rankings have been inaccurate.^[29]

The Globe and Mail's University Report Card reflects the opinions of 32,700 current undergraduates who responded to some 100 questions about their respective universities.^[30] The University of Alberta received high (A- and above) grades in the following categories:

• overall academic reputation of the university, reputation of university among employers, reputation for conducting leading-edge research, reputation for undergraduate studies, reputation for graduate studies
• overall quality of education, faculty members' knowledge of subjects
• overall university atmosphere, sense of personal safety/security, tolerance for diverse opinions/ideas, availability of quiet study space
• overall library, library services, online library resources, availability of journals/articles/periodicals, total number of library holdings
• computer accessibility on campus, availability of up-to-date computer equipment, on-campus network for Internet/email, overall quality/availability of technology on campus, access to course/teaching materials online

[edit] Campuses

The university has several distributed campus facilities including, other than the Main Campus, two auxiliary satellites; Campus Saint-Jean in south east Edmonton, and Augustana Campus in Camrose plus a refurbished Hudson's Bay department store in downtown Edmonton, to be called Enterprise Square. Notably the university owns a large full section of relatively undeveloped land slightly south of the main campus, called South Campus, in which an entire new university complex will eventually be constructed of similar magnitude to the Main Campus.

[edit] Main Campus

The Main Campus is the original location of the University of Alberta. It is located on the southern banks of the North Saskatchewan River. It has 145 buildings on 92 hectares of land.^[31]

A satellite view of the main campus can be seen on Google maps.

[edit] Campus Saint-Jean

The Campus Saint-Jean is a francophone campus located about 10 km to the east of the Main Campus in Bonnie Doon. It is the only French-language university faculty west of Manitoba. Due to increasing enrolment, the Campus Saint-Jean in currently undergoing expansion, acquiring new laboratory and classroom spaces. Students at the Campus Saint-Jean may pursue Bachelor Degrees in General Sciences or Arts, or may complete their first year of Engineering, after which they transfer to the University of Alberta's main campus.

[edit] Augustana Campus

The Augustana Campus is located in Camrose, a small city in rural Alberta about 100 km southeast of Edmonton. In 2004, the former Augustana University College in Camrose merged with the University of Alberta, thus creating the satellite Augustana Faculty. Students at the Augustana Campus may pursue four-year Bachelor Degrees in Arts, General Sciences, or Music.

[edit] Future Campuses

Two future campuses are within the city of Edmonton.

[edit] South Campus

The South Campus is located a few kilometres to the south of the Main Campus, with a link via Light Rail Transit (this link is under construction, as of December 2006). The station will be near the current Foote Field and Saville Sports Centre.

[edit] Enterprise Square

Enterprise Square will open on the north side of the North Saskatchewan river in downtown Edmonton.^[32] It will be located in the historical building previously occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company. As of November 2006, the building is undergoing major renovations. Enterprise Square will house the Faculty of Extension, the professional development activities of the School of Business, the Alberta Business Family Institute, and the Design Gallery.

[edit] Residences

The University of Alberta offers a wide range of residences on its campuses.

While a majority of the university's students live off-campus, a significant number of students from outside Edmonton in early years of their post secondary education opt to live in residences operated by the university's Residence Services [40].

• Lister Centre [41] is a large residence complex, located in four towers, mainly occupied by first and second year students. It provides an excellent full care boarding package, with hospitality programs to help integrate new students into university life. The complex offers a large number of furnished single and double dormitory style rooms with common kitchens and living areas. There is a large scale cafeteria, in the central building of the complex.
• HUB International [42] houses a combination of international students and Canadians with a selections of very high quality bachelor suites and also single, double and quadruple bedroom apartments.
• International House [43] is a new residence specifically designed for international students and a few Canadian students, interested in living with international students. It offers modern well equipped single bedrooms with common kitchens and living spaces, both furnished and unfurnished.
• Newton Place [44] is a high rise offering older students an apartment-style facility.
• East Campus Village [45] comprises walk-up townhouses offering older and married students a modern multi-room facility.
• Michener Park [46]. Offers older students another apartment-style facility.
• St. Joseph's College Residence [47] operates an all-male residence, independent of the university's official residence service.
• La Residence Saint-Jean [48].
• Augustana Faculty Residences [49] are comprised of two distinct compounds. The 300-room First Year residence complex is similar in style to, although much smaller than, Lister Centre, and is comprised entirely of double rooms. Across a small ravine from the rest of the campus there is another compound of seven smaller buildings (six residences and a common area) known collectively as the "Ravine Complex" that house almost exclusively upperclassmen. The Augustana Faculty is the only faculty in the University with a residence requirement whereby, with certain exceptions, all students are expected to spend their first year in residence on campus.

[edit] Construction

As part of the University of Alberta's expansion,^[33] several construction projects have recently been completed on campus, and many more are either in the process of being completed, or are slated to begin in the near future. Expansion of the already extensive facilities of the University of Alberta Hospital is also included in current construction projects. Many of the new buildings recently completed now stand where either older university buildings once stood, or on former parking lots.

[edit] Centre for Interdisciplinary Science

One of the major projects underway is the construction of a new 180 million dollar state-of-the-art facility, scheduled for completion in 2010 and to be known as the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science (CCIS)^[34], a facility for interdisciplinary research groups, as well as the Department of Physics. Already three buildings have been demolished, or are currently undergoing demolition to make way for CCIS. The three buildings are the V-Wing (a large one-floor building composed of 10 lecture halls, of which two will remain), the Avadh Bhatia Physics Building (a six-storey building formerly housing the Department of Physics offices and laboratories), and the old Centre for Subatomic Research.^[35]. Many of the classes and labs that were held in these buildings have now been relocated to other new or recently renovated buildings, such as the building now known as the Civil Electrical Building (CEB), which currently holds the Department of Physics offices, undergraduate labs, and classrooms^[36], plus the first phase of the CCIS facilities which presently house the Condensed Matter labs.

[edit] The Edmonton Clinic

Construction on a $577,000,000 multidisciniplary health science facility surrounding the new Health Science LRT Station will begin soon. The Edmonton Clinic (formerly the Health Science Ambulatory Learning Centre) will house most medical and dental clinics at the University of Alberta.

[edit] Health Research Innovation Facility (HRIF)

Two new buildings adjacent to the Medical Science building on the main campus will contribute to research by doubling funding by 2014, and allow the University to hire more than 100 additional health researchers. [50]

[edit] Research Overview

Housing over 400 distinct research laboratories, the University of Alberta is one of the leading research universities in Canada. In the period from 1988 to 2006, the University of Alberta received about $3.4 billion for research from external sources, with $404 million in 2005-2006 alone.^[37] The University of Alberta is the national scientific and administrative headquarters for the

• Sustainable Forest Management
  • Network of Centres of Excellence
• Prairie Centres of Excellence
  • Research on Immigration and Integration

Notably the asteroid 99906 Uofalberta is named in the university's honour, in part because the initials of its motto Quaecumque Vera ("Whatsoever things are true") appeared in the object's provisional designation 2002 QV₅₃.^[38]

[edit] Medical Research

Medical researchers are developing the Edmonton Protocol, which is a new treatment for type one diabetes that enables diabetics to break their insulin dependence. The project was originally developed by Drs. James Shapiro, Jonathan Lakey, and Edmond Ryan.^[39] The first patient was treated in 1999. As of 2006, the project is developed through the Clinical Islet Transplant Program.

[edit] Nanotechnology Research

In June 2006, a new 120 million dollar building for the National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) was opened on campus. The NINT complex is one of the world’s most technologically advanced research facilities, housing the quietest, and cleanest, laboratory space in Canada.^[40] NINT occupies five floors of the new building with the top two floors being reserved by the university for nanotechnology-related research. Recently some staff members have been jointly recruited by the NRC and the University of Alberta.

[edit] Group of Thirteen

The U of A is a member of the G13 universities. The G13 universities are composed of the leading research universities in Canada.

• Mizar system

[edit] Student life

• University of Alberta Students' Union

In 1946 the university student council met for the first time to consider possible blueprints for a new building, including a large auditorium, during a time when veterans were returning to complete their interupted studies. The new building was financed by a series of mechanisms, and the completed structure, after a series of additions, now with the large auditorium, named after Myer Horowitz, opened in 1967.

[edit] Athletics

The University of Alberta is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Alberta Golden Bears (men's) and the Alberta Pandas (women's).

The Pandas are a dominant force in women's university hockey. As of November 2006, they have won the Canada West Conference 7 times in the 8 year history of competition.^{[citation needed]} In addition, they have claimed the national championship five times in the last seven years. Their gold medals come in 2006, 2004, 2003, 2002, and 2000. They also boast a pair of silver medals (2005, 1999) since the inception of the CIS championship in 1997-98. When the Pandas lost the CIS championship game in March 2005, it ended a 110-game undefeated streak (109-0-1).^{[citation needed]}

The Golden Bears hockey team has played in the CIS University Cup finals, winning an unprecedented 12 times.^{[citation needed]} Every fall the team plays against the Edmonton Oilers rookies. In 2006 they lost 6-3, ending their five game winning streak against the rookies.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Alumni

[edit] Academics

• Regius Chair of Medicine, University of Oxford's John Bell
• Princeton University's professor of philosophy Bas van Fraassen
• President of Nanyang Technological University Su Guaning
• Chemistry pioneer Raymond U. Lemieux, winner of the Wolf Prize in Chemistry (1999) and the Albert Einstein World Award of Science (1992)
• Molecular biologist Tak Wah Mak
• Dean of Harvard Medical School Joseph B. Martin
• Nobel Laureate Richard E. Taylor

[edit] Authors

• Canadian author and activist Nathan Braun
• Governor General's Literary Award winner and playwright Vern Thiessen
• Canadian author Timothy Taylor
• Canadian author W.O. Mitchell
• Canadian author Candace Savage

[edit] Politicians

• Former Prime Minister of Canada Joe Clark
• Former Premier of Alberta Peter Lougheed
• Current Premier of Prince Edward Island Pat Binns
• Founder and former leader of the Reform Party of Canada Preston Manning
• Chief Justice of Canada Beverley McLachlin
• Former Governor General Roland Michener
• Minister of International Trade David Emerson
• Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Rona Ambrose
• Minister of Indian Affairs Jim Prentice
• Premier of Alberta Ed Stelmach (Attended, did not graduate)

[edit] Other notable alumni

• Soap opera creator, Ted Corday (Days of our Lives)
• Designer of the Canadian flag, George Stanley
• Former International Paralympic Committee President, Robert Steadward
• Canadian Actor, Paul Gross
• Discovered gold in Yellowknife, Neil Campbell
• DJ Wilsocrazy, real name Wilson Tso

[edit] Honorary degree recipients

See also: List of University of Alberta honorary degree recipients

• Former Deputy Prime Minister Don Mazankowski
• Former National Hockey League player Wayne Gretzky

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• Faculties and departments of the University of Alberta
• Presidents of the University of Alberta
• Chancellors of the University of Alberta

[edit] External links

• University of Alberta
• List of Faculties and Departments
• Students' Union
• Graduate Students' Association
• University of Alberta International
• University of Alberta Calendar
• University of Alberta Athletics