Carleton University

Carleton University
Motto "Ours the Task Eternal"
Established 1942
Type Public
Religious affiliation non-denominational
Endowment C$230 million[1]
Chancellor Rt. Hon. Herb Gray
President Dr Roseann Runte
Admin. staff 4,260
Students 25,262
Undergraduates 21,732[2]
Postgraduates 3,531[2]
Location Canada Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Campus Urban (0.62 km2)
Sport Teams Carleton Ravens
Colours            
Nickname Ravens
Mascot Rodney the Raven
Affiliations ASAIHL, APSIA, AUCC, CARL, IAU, COU, ACU, CIS, OUA, Fields Institute, Ontario Network of Women in engineering, CBIE
Website www.carleton.ca
Carleton University

Carleton University is a comprehensive university located in Canada's capital of Ottawa, Ontario. The enabling legislation is The Carleton University Act, 1952, S.O. 1952. Founded as a small college in 1942, Carleton now offers over 65 programs in a diverse range of disciplines, including public affairs, journalism, film studies, engineering, high technology, and international studies. More than 2000 faculty members instruct some 23,000 students drawn from over 147 countries, studying for a Bachelor's, Master's or Doctoral degree. The University is named after Carleton County, Ontario, which included the city of Ottawa at the time Carleton was founded. Carleton County, in turn, was named in honour of Guy Carleton, 1st Baron Dorchester, an early Governor-General of British North America.

Past chancellors include two Nobel laureates; pioneering scientist Gerhard Herzberg and Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, as well as six Order of Canada recipients. The Right Honourable Herb Gray, Canada's longest-serving continuous Member of Parliament, former Cabinet minister in the Trudeau, Turner, and Chretien governments, former Deputy Prime Minister, and acting Leader of the Opposition, is the current Chancellor of the University.[3] Dr. Roseann Runte was appointed the university's president on January 8, 2008, succeeding David W. Atkinson and his pro tempore (acting) successor Samy Mahmoud, the previous Vice-President (academic).[4]

Contents

History

I learned very early the life lesson that it is people, not buildings, that make up an institution. And if we put our hearts to it we can do something worthwhile. -- Henry Marshall Tory

Henry Marshall Tory, first President of Carleton College

Carleton College, a non-denominational college was founded in 1942 at the height of the Second World War by the Ottawa Association for the Advancement of Learning.[5] It was originally located in a rented building and only offered night courses in public administration and introductory university subjects. When the war ended in 1945, the College began expanding to meet the needs of veterans coming home. The Faculty of Arts and Science was established, which included courses in journalism and first-year engineering.

In 1946 the college moved to The Glebe neighbourhood along First Avenue at the former Ottawa Ladies' College. Its first degrees were conferred in 1946 to graduates of its programs in Journalism and Public Administration.[5]

For nearly a decade the College operated on a shoestring budget, funds raised mainly through community initiatives and modest student fees. However, due to the war, student fees were kept low as Carleton gave special grants to veterans returning home who wished to continue their studies. The faculty was composed largely of part-time professors who worked full-time in the Public Service; some of whom were convinced to leave for full-time tenure positions. However, full-time teaching staff were still mostly young scholars at the beginning of their careers.

Leslie Frost, Premier of Ontario, laying the cornerstone of the Tory Building in 1957

In 1952 the Carleton College Act was passed by the Ontario Legislature, changing the official corporate name to Carleton College and officially conferring the power to grant degrees. Carleton thus became the province's first private, non-sectarian college.[6] In the same year, the 62 hectare property nestled between the Rideau Canal and the Rideau River on which the current campus is located was acquired. Some of the land was donated by a prominent Ottawa businessman Harry Stevenson Southam. Construction began on the new campus in 1953.

Carleton was granted a university charter in 1957.[7] In 1957 the Carleton University Act, 1952 was amended, officially granting Carleton status as a university and thus changing its name to Carleton University.[8] Carleton's motto, "Ours the Task Eternal," is taken from Walt Whitman's poem, Pioneers! O Pioneers!.[9]

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.[7]

In 1959 construction was completed on the new Rideau River campus, and Carleton moved to its current location.[5] The original buildings included three that still stand today, the Maxwell MacOdrum Library, Norman Paterson Hall and the Henry Marshall Tory Building. Following this, Carleton rapidly expanded to meet the need for tertiary education in Canada.

A portrait of Guy Carleton

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.[7]

In 1967 the Catholic school Saint Patrick's College was incorporated into Carleton. Up to that time, it had been granting its diplomas via the University of Ottawa. Both schools had been inaugurated by the Catholic order Oblates of Immaculate Mary (OMI). The college existed on EchoDrive, near the Pretoria Bridge. Around 1973, a new building was erected on the Carleton campus proper. The college was dissolved as a separate entity after the 1979 academic year. Its final dean was Gerald Clarke who had been a professor from 1954. it had been known for its school of Social Work.

Carleton University launched its program in architecture in 1968.[10]

Academics

Faculty of Public Affairs

Lester B. Pearson, Carleton's Nobel Peace Prize winning Chancellor from 1969 until his death in 1972

The University's Faculty of Public Affairs offers a number programs. Indeed, Carleton's first degrees were awarded in Journalism and Public Administration. Carleton's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs (NPSIA) offers Canada's only graduate programs in the field —an MA, a combined MA and LLB (offered in conjunction with the University of Ottawa Law School), and a PhD in International Affairs. In a survey of 110 Canadian foreign affairs scholars published in Foreign Policy, Carleton's Norman Paterson School of International Affairs ranked 1st in Canada and 2nd in North America in schools offering Masters degrees in International Relations.[11] Carleton has a long standing tradition of conferring an honorary doctorate on each of the Secretaries General of the United Nations, beginning with Dag Hammarskjöld in 1954. The two shades of blue in Carleton's doctoral gown are in fact those of the UN and are meant to recognize the University's long-standing interest and expertise in international affairs. Carleton's unique Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs offers the honours Bachelor of Public Affairs and Policy Management degree. It offers a BA (Honours) in European and Russian Studies and an MA in European, Russian and Eurasian Studies. In September 2006 Carleton was designated a European Union Centre of Excellence by the European Commission in Brussels. The Department of Law offers a BA (Honours) in Law; one of only three in Canada that takes an epistemic approach to legal studies. The Department of Political Science was ranked 1st in 2006 amongst Canadian comprehensive universities based on total publications and citations by Research Infosource Inc.[12] Additionally, they have been noted as having a strong Department of Social Work, which grants Honours and Master's level degrees.

Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences

The Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences offers degrees in all the standard areas, including Film Studies, Philosophy, Art History, Psychology and Sociology. Some of the more specialized offerings include a Combined BA (Honours) interdisciplinary degree in Human Rights. This degree leads to a Major in Human Rights, as well as second Major in another field, such as Law, Philosophy, Political Science or Sociology and Anthropology. The Bachelor of Humanities (Honours) program is also Canada's most comprehensive four-year Liberal Arts degree in the Great Books.[13] Carleton's Institute of Cognitive Science is currently offering the first dedicated, fully structured BA and PhD program in Cognitive Science in the country.

Sprott School of Business

BIB year abroad in Shanghai

The Sprott School of Business was the first in Canada to offer a Bachelor of International Business (BIB). This program includes a mandatory language component and the third year is spent abroad. Possible year-abroad locations include Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Chile, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Peru or Spain. Sprott's principle undergraduate offering, however, is the 4-year Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) degree. It is designed to be flexible, allowing a variety of concentrations and opportunities for Co-operative education (Co-op). It offers students the choice to specialize in either one or two concentrations through a range of subjects (e.g.: Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, International Business, Human Resource Management, Marketing, Operations Management). Students also have the opportunity to study abroad in conjunction with their Honours Bachelor of Commerce degree Exchange Partners. Sprott has two MBA programs: In addition to the standard Canadian-taught MBA are two international MBA programs designed for international students. This special program are offered to students in Tehran, Iran and Shanghai, China in collaboration with a local university. Most courses are taught by Carleton professors who travel to Tehran and Shanghai. There is a study abroad portion of this program, which is taught in Ottawa at the Sprott School of Business.

Faculty of Engineering and Design

The Faculty of Engineering and Design includes four departments: Systems and Computer Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Civil and Environmental Engineering and Electronics,[14] and three schools of architecture and industrial design. Students can choose to specialize in the following disciplines:[15][16][17]

Note: **Recent additions that are currently going through the accreditation process with Professional Engineers of Ontario.

Carleton's bachelor of engineering in aerospace was the first in Canada[19] and its Industrial Design program is among one of the oldest in Canada. Carleton is still one of only two fully dedicated Aerospace Engineering Bachelor's degree programs in Canada. The program avails itself of an extensive network of well-equipped laboratories encompassing the entire scope of mechanical and aerospace engineering sciences, including rapid prototyping facilities and a fully operational wind tunnel. In 2006, Carleton became one of only three Universities in Canada to offer both a Bachelor's (Honours) and a Master's degree in Biomedical Engineering. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering features a state-of-the-art structures lab, a High Performance Computing Laboratory and is home to the Advanced Geotechnical Research Laboratory, which is one of the most comprehensively equipped geotechnical research facilities in Canada. The Department of Electronics features an Anechoic chamber, Photonics Research Laboratory, NeuroModeler Laboratory, Sun/Unix Network and an Integrated Circuit Fabrication Laboratory housed in an ISO 5 cleanroom.

Faculty of Science

Carleton University campus as seen from the south.

The Department of Biology is equipped to allow students to carry out contemporary procedures in experimental biology including all aspects of molecular genetics such as gene splicing, polymerase chain reaction, and DNA sequencing; ultracentrifugation; various types of electrophoresis, tissue culture; phase contrast, polarizing, interference and fluorescent light microscopy among others.

The Department of Earth Science maintains its own Camebax MBX electron microprobe, ThermoFinnigan Triton TI thermal ionization mass spectrometer and a Philips X-ray powder diffractometer.

The Department of Physics is home to the KEG research computing system, which consists of a 100+ CPU Linux cluster complete with multiple storage arrays totalling more than 10 Terabytes. The Department of Physics was also ranked 1st in Canada in citations per paper (highest impact) from 2000-2004 by Science Watch newsletter, published by Thomson Scientific, which uses university science indicators to examine the research of 46 Canadian universities in 21 different scientific fields. The Herzberg Laboratories building is equipped with roof-top observatory housing a 14 inch reflecting Celestron telescope which is used in first-year Astronomy courses.

The Department of Chemistry is located in the Steacie Building and its primary teaching lab recently underwent a major renovation, winning special mention in R&D Magazine's worldwide Lab of the Year architectural design competition for 2009.[20] This world-class teaching facility, dubbed "The Superlab", is home to general chemistry, organic chemistry, and environmental chemistry labs. The Department of Chemistry is home to a Bruker Avance III 300 MHz and a recently upgraded Bruker AMX 400 MHz nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. The Steacie Building also houses the Faculty's scanning electron microscope facility, including Tescan Vega-II and Jeol JSM-6400 instruments. The Department of Chemistry is also home to many high performance liquid chromatographs, gas chromatographs, mass spectrometers, microwave reactors, ultraviolet, visible, infrared and Raman spectrometers.

The mineral Carletonite is named after the university.

Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs (FGPA) manages the academic activities of all graduate students at Carleton. The FGPA defines and administers regulations for over 100 graduate programs at Carleton, but shares responsibility for graduate studies with graduate departments and schools. its office provides advice and support to students pertaining to registration, awards, thesis preparation, admission, orientation, teaching and research assistantships, and more.

Book publishing

Carleton University Press, which was founded in 1982, focused on Canada's history, society and institutions. Carleton University Press is now managed by McGill-Queen's University Press. All titles published by Carleton University Press can be ordered through McGill-Queen's University Press.[21]

Centres

High Performance Computing Consortium (HPCVL)
Educational Development Centre (EDC)

The Educational Development Centre is dedicated to the support of teaching excellence at Carleton University.

Located in 410 Dunton Tower, the Centre was established in 2002 with the amalgamation of Carleton University TV] (previously iTV) and the Teaching and Learning Resource Centre (TLRC). Two years later, the Centre's activities expanded with the addition of Instructional Media Services (IMS).

The EDC provides technological and pedagogical teaching tools and resources to faculty, instructors and Teaching Assistants.

Carleton's campus was the subject of art exhibit conceived by local artist Adrian Gröllner. The MODERN U. project sought to highlight the late modernist architecture exemplified by many of Carleton's early buildings.

Reputation

Carleton President and Vice-Chancellor Murdoch Maxwell MacOdrum, left, with Dag Hammarskjöld, Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Laureate

The mean admission grade for 2006 undergraduate entry was 81.7% or an A- in high school studies. Carleton has been included in a number of Canadian and international college and university rankings. Such studies must necessarily make subjective judgements as to criteria and methodology. As such they should be read with a certain level of statistical literacy:

Carleton was historically known for admitting a high portion of undergraduate applicants, earning it the derogatory moniker of "Last Chance U"; however, since the early 1990s the admissions focus has changed considerably. William Edwin Beckel, President and Vice-Chancellor of Carleton from 1979 to 1989, had faith that many high school students with poor academic records, who often came from underprivileged backgrounds, would blossom at university. Beckel believed that "Every student should have the right to fail."[29] Today, the mean undergraduate admissions average is just under 82%, or an A- in High School studies.[30]

Many undergraduates find it difficult to retain their scholarship, adding to their financial burden. Only 18 percent of Carleton students retain their scholarship which has prompted Carleton's administration to consider lowering the CGPA necessary to maintain an award from year to year, although this is common among other universities.[31] At Carleton, a CGPA of 10 out of 12 points (equivalent to an A-), is necessary to maintain a scholarship.

Carleton has also turned around its financial situation, resulting in many improvements on campus. These include, inter alia, the $30 million construction of new athletics facilities and the $22 million, 9,011 m2 (97,000 ft2) Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Institute Facility and Centre for Advanced Studies in Visualization and Simulation (V-SIM). More well-known, perhaps, is the $17 million upgrade and expansion to the University Centre. More recently a green globe designed residence was added named Frontenac House.

Resources

Carleton is home to a number of specialty libraries, including The MacOdrum Library, named after former Carleton President and Vice-Chancellor Murdoch Maxwell MacOdrum, which includes more than three million items. Other libraries include The Government Documents Collection, The Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Collection, and The Special Collections & Archives.

There are two resource centres: an audio visual resource centre, and a European and Russian Studies resource centre.

Student life

Dunton Tower, the tallest structure on campus

The school mascot is the Raven and the student newspaper is The Charlatan, which celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2005. CUSA, the Carleton University Students' Association puts on programming for students every year including Pandamonium, which was started in 2006 by then President, Shawn Menard. The school also publishes a newspaper for residence students, The Resin. During the school year the Carleton School of Journalism publishes a community newspaper, Centretown News, which reports on the Centretown neighbourhood of Ottawa, and an online newspaper, Capital News Online, as well as producing Midweek, a 90-minute current affairs radio show which is broadcast to the city. There is also the student-run writers' zine, In/Words, which is sponsored by the Department of English Language and Literature, as well as The Iron Times, published by the Carleton Student Engineering Society. Carleton is home to a community radio station, CKCU-FM. Broadcasting for the first time on 14 November 1975, CKCU-FM was the first licensed community-based campus radio station in Canada. While Carleton does not have a theatre department, its Sock 'n' Buskin Theatre Company[32] was founded two years after the founding of the university, in 1943.

Carleton has ten Houses of Residences. The Houses — all named after counties in Eastern Ontario - are inter-connected and linked to the rest of the University by Carleton's tunnel system.

Fraternities and sororities

Carleton is home to a number of fraternities and sororities, both local and international. There is no "Greek row" on campus, nor are the fraternities/sororities formally acknowledged by the university. However, the Carleton University Greek Council (of which nearly all fraternities and sororities are members) is recognized as a student organization by CUSA. Fraternities and sororities are active on campus, participating in fund raising events, campus clean ups, days of service and more. As well, many fraternity and sorority members hold high positions on CUSA, CASG, RRRA and other campus organizations, controlling many of the schools social events.

Fraternities
Sororities

Athletics

The Carleton University Physical Recreation Centre (PRC), the largest facility of its kind in Canada, is a multi-use complex that offers a wide variety of training programs and services to accommodate every athlete—from beginner to professional.

Carleton is home to Keith Harris Stadium where the Ottawa Fury Soccer team plays.

The University is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Carleton Ravens. The men's basketball team has won the CIS championships for five consecutive years (2002–2007). Carleton is second only to the University of Victoria for the most wins. The Vikes have seven consecutive wins in the 1980s.

Canadian Forces

Ceremonial Guard marching in Ottawa

Each summer, Canadian Forces use Carleton residence facilities—notably Russell and Grenville Houses and the Residence Commons cafeteria—to house and feed the Ceremonial Guard. The Guard performs daily parades on Parliament Hill, and mounts sentries at Rideau Hall, and the War Memorial. This agreement is beneficial both to the university and the military, allowing the military to use cost-effective facilities, while Carleton profits during the otherwise slower summer season.

The Guard marches and drills at Carleton between June and August, and it is possible to watch formations carrying rifles in full ceremonial uniform marching to parking lots 6 and 7 to prepare for their daily parade.

Carleton University joined Project Hero, a scholarship program cofounded by General (Ret'd) Rick Hillier for the families of fallen Canadian Forces members.[33]

Notable alumni and faculty

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tam, Pauline (January 8, 2008). Carleton taps woman to lead university. The Ottawa Citizen.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Quick Facts | About Carleton". http://www2.carleton.ca/about/quick-facts/#students-november-1-2008. Retrieved September 1, 2009. 
  3. ↑ The Right Honourable Herb Gray, P.C., C.C., Q.C. Named Carleton University Chancellor
  4. ↑ "Carleton University Newsroom » News Archive » New President Appointed". http://www2.carleton.ca/newsroom/news-releases/new-president-appointed/. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Carleton University
  6. ↑ Excellence Accessibility Responsibility > Ministry of Education
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 University
  8. ↑ Carleton University Act (1957)
  9. ↑ Fast facts about Carleton University and Convocation: - November-Convocation 2005 - Carleton NOW
  10. ↑ Architectural Education
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Carleton tops Harvard for foreign relations MA
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 "Carleton University Newsroom » News Archive » Carleton’s Political Science Ranked #1". http://www2.carleton.ca/newsroom/news-releases/carletons-political-science-ranked-1/. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  13. ↑ Undergraduate Programs
  14. ↑ "Departments and Schools | Faculty of Engineering and Design". .carleton.ca. http://www2.carleton.ca/engineering-design/about-the-faculty/departments-and-schools/. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  15. ↑ Canadian Engineering Memorial Foundation - University List
  16. ↑ Carleton University Department of Systems and Computer Engineering
  17. ↑ Carleton University Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
  18. ↑ "Bachelor of Information Technology". Bit.carleton.ca. http://www.bit.carleton.ca/index.php?Section=Admissions&Item=Programs&Page=NET. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  19. ↑ "Faculty History | Faculty of Engineering and Design". .carleton.ca. http://www2.carleton.ca/engineering-design/about-the-faculty/faculty-history/. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  20. ↑ Best projects chosen in 2009 Lab of the Year competition
  21. ↑ University Presses
  22. ↑ "Queen's News Centre | Queen's University News Centre". Qnc.queensu.ca. http://qnc.queensu.ca/story_loader.php?id=3cd4c2811b9c5. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  23. ↑ Innovation in Canada: Innovation Performance—Central Eastern Ontario
  24. ↑ http://oncampus.macleans.ca/education/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/comprehensiveflat.pdf
  25. ↑ Top 500 World Universities (301-400)
  26. ↑ "Top Universities". http://www.topuniversities.com/university/100/carleton-university. Retrieved 2010-08-07. 
  27. ↑ eearank97.dvi
  28. ↑ Gourman Report Ranking of Canadian Universities
  29. ↑ [1] History of Carleton 1979-1990: Coming to terms with a different world
  30. ↑ http://oirp.carleton.ca/pi-2006/tables/hs-grades-update_hpr.htm>
  31. ↑ Symons, Courney (2006-10-05). "Admin to rethink scholarship policy". The Charlatan. http://www.charlatan.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17742&Itemid=26. 
  32. ↑ Sock 'n' Buskin Theatre Company
  33. ↑ Project Hero
Bibliography

External links

Carleton University
Academics
Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (The College of the Humanities) • Faculty of Science • Faculty of Engineering and Design • Faculty of Public Affairs (Arthur Kroeger College of Public Affairs • School of Journalism and Communication • Institute of Criminology and Criminal Justice) • Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research • Sprott School of Business
Athletics
Government
Carleton University Students' Association • Graduate Students' Association • Carleton Student Engineering Society • Sprott Business Students' Society
Media
The Charlatan • CKCU-FM • Carleton University Press
Universities and colleges in Ottawa
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See also: List of schools in Ottawa
Post-Secondary Institutions in Ontario
 
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