Dalhousie University

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Dalhousie University
Motto: Ora et Labora (Latin: Pray and work)
Established: 1818
Type: Public
Religious affiliation: non-denominational
Endowment: $364 million[1] (as of December 31, 2007)
Chancellor: Richard Goldbloom
President: Tom Traves
Undergraduates: 12,060
Postgraduates: 3,460
Location: Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Campus: Urban
Colours:           black & gold
Nickname: Tigers
Affiliations: AUCC, IAU, ACU, CIS, CUSID, AUS
Website: http://www.dal.ca/

Coordinates: 44°38′13″N, 63°35′30″W Dalhousie University is a university located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

As the largest post-secondary educational institution in the Maritime Provinces it offers a wide array of programmes, including a Medical Programme and the Dalhousie Law School. The chancellor is Dr. Richard Goldbloom; Dr. Tom Traves serves as president and vice-chancellor.

Dalhousie is consistently named among Canada's top research universities. It is a member of the Group of 13, more commonly referred to as the G13, a group of the leading universities in Canada.

Contents

[edit] History

Dalhousie College is a Non-denominational university founded in 1818 by George Ramsay, 9th Earl of Dalhousie, the Lieutenant-Governor of Nova Scotia. It was founded by the ninth Earl of Dalhousie, lieutenant-governor of Nova Scotia. [2] Dalhousie University awarded its first BA in 1866.

Using money acquired from the duties collected during the occupation of parts of Maine in the War of 1812, Ramsay established Dalhousie as a college open to all people regardless of class or creed. At the laying of the cornerstone on May 22, 1820, Lord Dalhousie said that this University was "founded on the principles of religious tolerance." Dalhousie remained one of only three universities founded on secular constitutional premises until as late as the 1950s. Although it was technically founded in 1818, Dalhousie did not have its first students until November 1st, 1838. However, following the Death of the University's first principal, Thomas McCulloch, in 1843 the school was once again allowed to fall into inactivity. Dalhousie did not permanently open its door again until November 10, 1863.

Dalhousie was distinctive as an urban institution, situated in downtown Halifax on the site of the present City Hall. This status was seen not only, in the early days at least, in the use of much of the college's lowest floor as vault space for Oland Brewery, but also in the consistent drawing of about one-third of the student body from the city and in the college's ability to draw upon local professional populations in the establishment of professional faculties such as medicine (1868) and law (1883). Finances remained difficult into the 1880s, but by the end of that decade the accumulated donations of the George Munro, brother-in-law of Board of Governors member John Forrest, had provided the stimulus that led to growth in student numbers and the emergence of Dalhousie as a centre of scholarship acknowledged throughout the dominion.

The Halifax Conservatory became affiliated with Dalhousie in 1889. [3]

Henry Hicks building.
Henry Hicks building.

In 1920 the University of King's College in Windsor, Nova Scotia, English Canada's oldest degree granting institution, burned down. Through a grant from the Carnegie Foundation, King's College was able to relocate to Halifax and entered into a partnership with Dalhousie University. While often seen as a separate but integrated institution it shares Dalhousie's Arts and Sciences Faculty, but offers several interdisciplinary humanities degree programmes, such as Contemporary Studies, History of Science and Technology and Early Modern Studies.

Dalhousie expanded its presence in south-end Halifax during the 1960s and 1970s when it built the Dalplex athletic facility, the Killam Library, the Life Sciences Centre, the Dalhousie Student Union building and a district heating plant, all on what is referred to as the Studley Campus (the main campus). Also at this time, Dalhousie built the Tupper Building for its Faculty of Medicine and expanded existing buildings to house the Faculty of Dentistry and College of Pharmacy, all on the adjacent Carleton Campus, located immediately to the east of the Studley Campus, and co-located with two of Halifax's teaching hospitals (the Victoria General Site of the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre and the IWK Health Centre for Women, Children, and Youth).

Nova Scotia Technical College in Halifax launched its program in architecture in 1961. Nova Scotia Technical College was later the Technical University of Nova Scotia and now part of Dalhousie. [4]>

Departments:

[edit] Current Issues

Dalhousie's preliminary enrolment for 2007-08 consists of 10,254 full-time undergraduate students and 2,793 full-time graduate students[5]. Dalhousie has balanced 20 straight budgets, but like many of Canada's universities, facings long-term challenges in deferred maintenance.

The university is going through a building phase. A new building for the Faculty of Computer Science opened in October 1999 followed shortly thereafter by the Marion McCain Arts and Social Sciences Building. The Howe Hall residence was expanded with the addition of Fountain House and a new residence was also built, named John Risley Hall. The Kenneth C. Rowe Management Building opened in October 2005. The university is preparing to construct a new academic building shortly, and has received $15 million from the federal government towards the construction of a new Life Sciences Research Institute, which the university will share with project partners Capital Health and the IWK Health Centre.

On March 6 and 7 2007, the Dalhousie Student Union held a referendum on a plan from the university administration which proposed the addition of new student areas and the renovation of existing spaces across the Dalhousie campus[6]. The final vote was No, with 57.3% of voters agreeing that the proposed improvements were unnecessary or should not be funded solely by student dollars. Had the referendum succeeded, the construction and renovations would have been funded through an increase in student fees of $10.00 per course, reaching a maximum of $100 per year, for several decades.

Dalhousie is noted as one the top research facilities in Canada and was ranked number 8 for its category in Maclean's for the year of 2007.[citation needed]

[edit] Trivia

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

[edit] Notable Dalhousie University people

Further information: List of Dalhousie University people

[edit] Faculty members

View of park in front of Dalhousie main entrance
View of park in front of Dalhousie main entrance

[edit] Alumni

(See Dalhousie Law School for law school alumni.)

[edit] Athletics

The University’s Department of Athletics and Recreational Services are represented in Atlantic University Sport (AUS) competition by the Dalhousie Tigers. Dalhousie has 14 varsity teams including men’s and women’s teams in cross country, soccer, track and field, basketball, hockey, volleyball and swimming. Representing these teams are over 300 athletes, coaches, trainers and managers.

Since 1990, the Dalhousie Tigers have brought home 127 AUS championships, five Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) team championships and numerous individual national medals. During the 2007-08 varsity season the Tigers captured six AUS championships including: men’s cross country, men’s volleyball, men’s swimming, women’s swimming, men’s track and field, and women’s track and field.

Dalhousie also has dozens of intramural and club sports, from rock climbing and rugby to field hockey and sailing.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Vice-President (Finance and Administration) Investment Performance Notice (June 28, 2006). [1]. Retrieved February 20, 2008.
  2. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0000872
  3. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0000872
  4. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0009565 <ref> Following a period of government-mandated consolidation of post-secondary institutions during the 1990s, the [[Technical University of Nova Scotia]] was merged with Dalhousie University in 1997. It was initially known as Dalhousie University Polytechnic, or DalTech, but in 2000 the DalTech nickname was dropped and the engineering, architecture and computer science faculties of TUNS are fully integrated into Dalhousie University. The Faculty of Engineering and the Faculty of Architecture and Planning are located on the Sexton Campus, east of the Carleton Campus and closer to downtown Halifax. The [[Dalhousie Faculty of Computer Science|Faculty of Computer Science]] moved to its own building on Studley Campus in 1999. == Faculties and Departments == [[Image:DalhousieWinter.jpg|thumb|275px|Dalhousie University, January 2005]] Dalhousie comprises eleven faculties:
    • [http://architectureandplanning.dal.ca/index.shtml Architecture and Planning]
    • [http://artsandsocialsciences.dal.ca/index.html Arts and Social Sciences]
    • [http://www.cs.dal.ca/ Computer Science]
    • [http://www.dentistry.dal.ca/ Dentistry]
    • [http://engineering.dal.ca/index.htm Engineering]
    • [http://www.dalgrad.dal.ca/ Graduate Studies]
    • [http://healthprofessions.dal.ca/ Health Professions]
    • [http://law.dal.ca/index.html Law]
    • [http://management.dal.ca/ Management]
    • [http://www.medicine.dal.ca/ Medicine]
    Dalhousie Medical School is home to some of Canada's top scientists, clinicians and students. It's a centre of excellence that contributes much to the world's medical knowledge base. Through a collaborative environment, Dalhousie Medical School provides students with hands-on experience and direct access to world-class physicians and researchers. The medical school's efforts in education, research and patient care are truly integrated, resulting in steady progress toward the goal of better health care for its Maritime community and beyond.
    • [http://science.dal.ca/index.html Science]
      • Dalhousie offers a Master of Science in Agriculture. <<ref>> http://tools.canlearn.ca/ <</li>
    <li id="cite_note-4">'''[[#cite_ref-4|^]]''' [[Association of Atlantic Universities]] (2007). [http://www.atlanticuniversities.ca/AbsPage.aspx?siteid=1&lang=1&id=1086 Survey of Preliminary Enrolments as of October 1, 2007]. Retrieved [[December 11]], [[2007]].</li> <li id="cite_note-5">'''[[#cite_ref-5|^]]''' [[Dalhousie News]] (2007). [http://www.dal.ca/news/2007/02/26/referendum.html Dalhousie News - A chance to shape Dalhousie for the better].</li></ol></ref>

    [edit] See also

    [edit] Histories of the University

    • Heather Alder 'The Lives of Dalhousie University, Vol. 1: Lord Dalhousie's College, 1818-1925' (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, January 6, 1994)
    • Dr. Peter B. Waite, PhD. Professor Emeritus 'The Lives of Dalhousie University' Vol I (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1994)
    • Dr. Peter B. Waite, PhD. Professor Emeritus 'The Lives of Dalhousie University' Vol II (Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press, 1998)

    [edit] External links

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