University of Alberta

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University of Alberta
Image:UAlberta Coat of Arms.png
Quaecumque Vera
"Whatsoever things are true"
President Dr. Indira Samarasekera
Established 1908
School Type Public
Location Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Campuses Edmonton and Camrose
Campus Size 50 square city blocks (~100 buildings)
for Edmonton campus
Enrollment 35,421<ref name="enrolment">{{cite web year = 2006 url = http://www.registrar.ualberta.ca/sosfiles/2005-2006/SOS_2005_06.pdf title = Summary of Statistics 2005-2006 publisher = University of Alberta accessdate = 2006-03-20

}}</ref>

University Colours Green and Gold
Sports Teams Golden Bears (men)
Pandas (women)
Mascot GUBA (men)
Patches (women)
Member of ACU, AUCC
Website University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is situated along the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River in the heart of the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. A satellite view of the campus can be seen on Google maps.

Contents

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History

The University of Alberta was founded in 1908. 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.

As the story goes, 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. In the end, Edmonton was designated as the capital of Alberta. A city south of Edmonton did end up with the provincial university. However, it was not Calgary. Instead, the city of Strathcona, located south across the river from Edmonton, received the provincial university. The municipalities of Edmonton and Strathcona were later amalgamated in 1912 into what is now known as the city of Edmonton. To this day, Calgarians feel frustated by this political sleight of hand.([1])

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Academics

The U of A has approximately 35,000 students, 5,800 of them in graduate studies, while about 3,000 are international students from 121 countries. The university has 3,200 academic staff along with about 5,000 support and trust staff. The university's professors have won more 3M Teaching Fellowships (Canada's top award for undergraduate teaching excellence) than any other Canadian university. Its library is the second largest among western Canadian universities, (University of British Columbia has the largest library collection in Western Canada. University of Toronto has the largest library collection in Canada). Moreover, the U of A ranks first in volumes per student with over 6 million items. It offers post-secondary education in about 200 undergraduate and 170 graduate programs. Tuition and fees for both fall and winter semesters total more than $5200 for a typical undergraduate student. The University of Alberta recently switched from a 9-point grading scale to the more common 4-point grading scale.

The university today has twenty faculties:

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Campuses

The university has three distinct campuses: the Riverside (or Main) Campus (which is the original location of the University of Alberta, located on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River), the Campus Saint-Jean (a satellite campus located about 10 km to the east of the Riverside Campus), and the Augustana Campus (located in Camrose, Alberta, a small city in rural Alberta about 100 km southeast of Edmonton). The Faculté Saint-Jean, based on the Campus Saint-Jean, is the only francophone post-secondary instution west of Manitoba. In 2004, the former Augustana University College in Camrose merged with the University of Alberta, thus creating the Augustana Faculty, based on the Augustana Campus. It is the satellite campus of the University of Alberta.

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Future

Two future campuses are planned within the city of Edmonton. The South Campus will be located a few km to the south of the current main campus, with a link via Light Rail Transit. This will be near the current Foote Field and Saville Sports Centre. A downtown campus will also open on the north side of the North Saskatchewan River in downtown Edmonton. It will be located in the historical building previously occupied by the Hudson's Bay Company.

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Reputation

Image:U of A.jpg 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.

The Times Higher Education Supplement ranks the top Canadian schools among the world's top 200 in this order ([2]) (world rankings in brackets):

    1. McGill University (24)
    2. University of Toronto (29)
    3. University of British Columbia (38)
    4. University of Montreal (132)
    5. University of Alberta (149)
    6. University of Waterloo (159)
    7. McMaster University (184)


Academic Ranking of World Universities ([3]) Top 6 Canadian universities (world rankings in brackets):

    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)
    6. Queen's University (153-202)

Webometrics Ranking of World Universities ([4]) Top 6 Canadian universities (world rankings in brackets):

    1. University of Toronto (22)
    2. University of British Columbia (38)
    3. University of Alberta (42)
    4. McGill University (60)
    5. University of Calgary (62)
    6. University of Waterloo (66)

Research Infosource ([5]) ranks Canadian universities by research criteria:

    1. McGill University
    2. University of Toronto
    3. McMaster University
    4. University of British Columbia
    5. University of Alberta
    6. Université Laval

Maclean’s, a leading Canadian news magazine, ranks Canadian universities according to reputation ([6]):

    1. University of Waterloo
    2. University of Toronto
    3. McGill University
    4. University of British Columbia
    5. University of Alberta
    6. McMaster University
    7. Queen's University

The continued economic boom in Alberta, driven mainly by high energy prices, has resulted in multi-billion dollar government fiscal surpluses ([7]). This has led to the introduction of Bill 1 by the Progressive Conservative government, which promises to create a $4.5 billion endowment for Alberta's post-secondary institutions ([8]). 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 ([9]).

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Research

Housing over 400 distinct research laboratories, the University of Alberta is one of the leading research universities in Canada. Since 1988, the University of Alberta has received more than $2.6 billion from external sources for research. The university's medical researchers developed the Edmonton Protocol, which is a new treatment for type one diabetes that enables diabetics to break their insulin dependence. Currently under construction is the new $52 million National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), a joint project between the Government of Canada, the National Research Council of Canada, the Government of Alberta, and the University of Alberta. Once completed, the 21,086 square-meter building will be one of the world's most technologically advanced research facilities. Furthermore, the U of A is a member of the G10 universities. The G10 universities are composed of the leading research universities in Canada.

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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. They have won the Canada West Conference 7 times out of 8 years of competition. In addition, they have claimed the championship five times in the last seven years. Their previous gold medals coming in 2006, '04, '03, '02, and '00. They also boast a pair of silver medals ('05, '99) 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).

The Golden Bears hockey team has played in the CIS University Cup finals, winning an unprecedented 12 times. Their most recent victory against the Lakehead University Thunderwolves. Every fall the team plays against the Edmonton Oilers rookies. In 2005 they won the game 5-4, making it five wins in a row for the Bears.

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Alumni

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References

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See also

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External links



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