University of Victoria

University of Victoria
Motto: "Let there be light" and "A multitude of the wise is the health of the world".
Established: 1903 Victoria College. Now named University of Victoria (1963-present)
Type: Public
Religious affiliation: non-denominational
Endowment: $155.4 million
Chancellor: Current: Ronald Lou-Poy, CM, QC. Chancellor-Elect: Murray Farmer[1]
President: Dr. David H. Turpin
Provost: Jamie Cassels, QC
Faculty: 790 faculty
Staff: 4,124 employees
Undergraduates: 16,961
Postgraduates: 2,514
Location: Flag of Canada Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Sport Teams: Victoria Vikes
Colours: Gold      Red      & Blue     
Nickname: Vikes
Mascot: "Thunder" the Viking, unofficially the Martlet and the UVic Bunnies
Affiliations: AUCC, IAU, CIS, CUSID, CWUAA
Website: www.uvic.ca

The University of Victoria (UVic) is located in Greater Victoria, British Columbia, Canada (northeast of Victoria). It is a medium-sized university, with approximately 19,500 students, as of 2006. The campus is famous for its beautiful gardens, mild climate and rabbit infestations. It attracts many students in part because of its size, its picturesque location, and its cooperative education program, which is the third largest in Canada. The university is the nation's lead institution in the VENUS project, and the Canadian leader of the NEPTUNE project.

The Coat of Arms of UVic has the longest history of all the post secondary institutions of British Columbia dating back to 1903, beating the runner up, UBC, by 12 years.[2][3]

Contents

History

University of Victoria was established in July 1 1963 in Victoria, British Columbia when an existing college of the University of British Columbia gained autonomy as a university. [4] The Non-denominational university had enjoyed 60 years of prior teaching tradition at the university level as Victoria College. This 60 years of history may be viewed conveniently in three distinct stages. Between the years 1903 and 1915, Victoria College was affiliated with McGill University, offering first- and second-year McGill courses in Arts and Science. [5] Administered locally by the Victoria School Board, the College was an adjunct to Victoria High School and shared its facilities. Both institutions were under the direction of a single Principal: E.B. Paul, 1903-1908; and S.J. Willis, 1908-1915.

The opening in 1915 of the University of British Columbia, established by Act of Legislature in 1908, obliged the College to suspend operations in higher education in Victoria. University of British Columbia a single, public provincial university created in 1908 was modelled on the American state university, with an emphasis on extension work and applied research. The governance was modelled 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 to provide a link between the 2 bodies and to perform institutional leadership.[4]

In 1920, as a result of local demands, Victoria College began the second stage of its development, reborn in affiliation with the University of British Columbia. [6] Though still administered by the Victoria School Board, the College was now completely separated from Victoria High School, moving in 1921 into the magnificent Dunsmuir mansion known as Craigdarroch Castle. Over the next two decades, under Principals E.B. Paul and P.H. Elliott, Victoria College built a reputation for thorough and scholarly instruction in first- and second-year Arts and Science. It was also during this period that future author Pierre Berton edited and served as principal cartoonist for the student newsletter, The Microscope.

The final stage, between the years 1945 and 1963, saw the transition from two year college to university, under Principals J.M. Ewing and W.H. Hickman. [7] During this period, the College was governed by the Victoria College Council, representative of the parent University of British Columbia, the Greater Victoria School Board, and the provincial Department of Education. Physical changes were many. In 1946 the College was forced by postwar enrollment to move from Craigdarroch to the Lansdowne campus of the Provincial Normal School (This is the current location of the Camosun College Lansdowne Campus). The Normal School, itself an institution with a long and honourable history, joined Victoria College in 1956 as its Faculty of Education. Late in this transitional period (through the co-operation of the Department of National Defence and the Hudson's Bay Company) the 284 acre (1,1 km²) now 385 acre (1.6 km²) campus at Gordon Head was acquired. Academic expansion was rapid after 1956, until in 1961 the College, still in affiliation with UBC awarded its first bachelor's degrees.

UVic sign at the northern campus entrance

In the early part of this century, professional education expanded beyond the traditional fields of 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. [4]

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. [4]

The university gained its autonomy in 1963 as the University of Victoria. [8] The University Act of 1963 vested administrative authority in a chancellor elected by the convocation of the university, a board of governors, and a president appointed by the board; academic authority was given to the senate which was representative both of the faculties and of the convocation.

The historical traditions of the university are reflected in the coat of arms, its academic regalia and its house flag. The BA hood is of solid red, a colour that recalls the early affiliation with McGill. The BSc hood, of gold, and the BEd hood, of blue, show the colours of the University of British Columbia. Blue and gold have been retained as the official colours of the University of Victoria. The motto at the top of the Arms of the University, in Hebrew characters, is "Let there be Light"; the motto at the bottom, in Latin, is "A Multitude of the Wise is the Health of the World."

Campus

Medical Sciences Building at UVic

The main Campus is located in the Gordon Head area of Greater Victoria. With a total area of 403 acres (1.6 km²), the campus spans the border between the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich. The original campus plan was prepared by the San Francisco firm of Wurster, Bernardi and Emmons, Architects and Planners. The general concept of the original design is still being followed with the academic portions of the campus located inside Ring Road which forms a perfect circle 600 m in diameter. Outside of Ring Road are the parking lots, Student Union Building, residence buildings, the sports facilities as well as some of the academic facilities that are more self contained (Law and Theatre for example). Some of the more prominent buildings on campus are:

William C. Mearns Centre for Learning, formerly known as the McPherson Library.
Rabbits on campus.

Construction is still underway on the Ocean, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences Building. Ground has been broken for the First Peoples House.

Future site of First Peoples House, looking north to the University Centre.

The university also offers on-campus housing for over 3200 students. A variety of housing is available, including single and double rooms, apartment-style housing with 4 people per unit (Cluster Housing) and family housing (Lam Family Housing). One of the buildings is named for General Sir Arthur William Currie.

Much of the university property has been dedicated to nature, notably Finnerty Gardens and Mystic Vale, a 44,000 m² forested ravine. The campus is home to deer, owls, squirrels, the occasional cougar and many other wild animals native to the area. The large population of domestic rabbits, which likely descended from abandoned house pets from the surrounding community, is a memorable feature of the campus.

Faculties and divisions

[10] Also offers a Software Engineering program, run jointly by the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Computer Science.

Rankings

Maclean's Magazine, a major Canadian news magazine, has ranked UVic as one of the top three comprehensive universities in the nation for three consecutive years. Its Faculty of Law has also ranked first in the country, 8 out of the last 11 years. Currently, they are ranked 4th by Canadian Lawyer Magazine. University of Victoria's MBA program is consistently ranked as the top 10 of its kind in the nation.[2] UVic is British Columbia's third largest research university after SFU & UBC, and is one of Canada's top 20 research institutions[3]. According to ScienceWatch, UVic is nationally ranked first in geoscience, second in space science and education, and third in engineering and mathematics for the period of 2000-2004.[4]

Athletics

The university is represented in the Canada West Universities Athletics Association (CWUAA), Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS), and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) by the team Victoria Vikes.

The university currently has teams in the following sports:

The university has a sports hall of fame. The Charter Inductees are as follows:

Canadian Inter-University Sports(CIS) Championships[7]
Men's basketball: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1997
Women's basketball: 1980, 1981, 1982, 1985, 1987, 1992, 1998, 2000, 2003
Men's cross-country: 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998
Women's cross-country: 1981, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002
Women's field hockey: 1985, 1988, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2003
Men's soccer: 1976, 1988, 1997
Women's soccer: 2005

Canadian University Championship Titles[8]
Men's rugby: 1998, 1999
Men's rowing: 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002
Women's rowing: 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004
Men's golf: 2003

Sport Clubs

UVic has 28 sport clubs which are administered by Vikes Recreation, and run by students. Some of those clubs include:

People

Presidents

Notable faculty (past and present)

Notable alumni

The university counts over 88 000 alumni some more notable alumni follow.

Government/Public sector

Entertainment and Arts sector

Athletes/Sports sector

Business sector

Student affairs

Honours

The asteroid 150145 UVic was named in the university's honour on 1 June 2007, the first university in BC to have an asteroid named after it. [21]

References

  1. ↑ Chancellor-elect has strong ties to UVic
  2. ↑ UVic Graphic Standards - Coat of Arms
  3. ↑ Visual Identity Usage Guidelines
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 University
  5. ↑ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm? PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0003541
  6. ↑ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm? PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0003541
  7. ↑ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm? PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0003541
  8. ↑ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm? PgNm=TCE&Params=U1ARTU0003541
  9. ↑ http://www.historicplaces.ca/visit-visite/affichage-display.aspx?id=1933 Army Huts Registry of Historic Places of Canada
  10. ↑ Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation - University List
  11. ↑ 2008 Macleans Comprehensive Ranking

See also

External links

Universities in British Columbia
Public universities
Capilano University · Emily Carr University of Art and Design · Kwantlen Polytechnic University · Royal Roads University · Simon Fraser University · Thompson Rivers University · University of British Columbia · University of the Fraser Valley · University of Northern British Columbia · University of Victoria · Vancouver Island University
 Flag of British Columbia
Private universities
Quest University · Trinity Western University  · University Canada West