Calgary University

It is a public research university situated in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. In the year 1944, the University of Calgary was established as a branch of the University of Alberta, which was established in 1908. It became a separate, autonomous university in the year 1966. There are 14 faculties as well as 85 research institutes and centres. It has two campuses, one main campus near the Bow River and a south campus situated in the city Center, which is a smaller campus compared to the main campus. The main campus is spread over 490 acres of land.

History

Though the University of Calgary was formally established in the year 1966, the roots of its origin may be traced back to the establishment of the Calgary Normal School in 1905, more than half a century earlier. In Calgary, the Alberta Normal School was established to train instructors for the new province's elementary and secondary schools.

The University of Alberta and the City of Calgary negotiated a one-dollar lease for 121.4 hectares of property in July 1957. The University of Alberta renamed the branch campus "University of Alberta in Calgary" in 1958 and announced plans for new permanent facilities on the leased site. The University of Calgary was instrumental in organising and staging Canada's first Winter Olympics, the XV Olympic Winter Games, in 1988.

In May 2001, the director of the Register of All Publicly Known Tartans and the President of the Scottish Tartans Society presided over a ceremony in which the University of Calgary was accredited. The university's tartan received its approval for the first time in Canada. The black, crimson, and gold tartan are only used for formal occasions, conferences, and a restricted number of university-sold merchandise. The university's pipe band also wears tartan.

Administration

The governance of the University of Calgary is governed by a board of governors and a senate. The Post Secondary Learning Legislation governs the board of governors and the senate, provincial legislation passed by Alberta's Legislative Assembly. The university's conduct, management, and control of its property, revenues, business, and other affairs are looked after by the board of governors. The board of governors includes the President, Chancellor, two alumni chosen by the alumni association, a member of the university senate, nine members of the general public, three students, and three staff members nominated by their respective groups.

Academics

The University of Calgary has a wide scope of options for undergraduate and graduate programmes to choose from. The institution provides 250 bachelor's, master's, and doctorate (PhD) programs in post-secondary education. The 490 acres campus has 14 faculties, 55 departments, and 85 research institutes and centres. With Alberta's economic boom in 2005, the government pledged $4.5 billion to the province's post-secondary schools.

Libraries and cultural resources

In 1966, the University of Calgary's MacKimmie Library became the university's first library. Since then, five new library branches have opened to give students a wider range of literary options in various areas. In addition, the library system of the University of Calgary is home to the first video game library in North America. The institution has over 3.7 million physical volumes and online access to over 300,000 full-text electronic journals and over 800 electronic databases.

Innovate Calgary

The University of Calgary announced the launch of a dedicated university-based incubator in 2010, which will give working space and access to laboratories for university spin-offs. The resulting incubator is housed in the Alastair Ross Technology Centre, which is part of the innovative research park, and covers 170,000 square feet. The research park is next to the main campus and is open to all university-affiliated businesses.

Over $8.5 million was contributed by the Opportunity Calgary Investment Fund (OCIF) to help provide programs and support for university-affiliated entrepreneurs. Innovate Calgary serves as the university's tech transfer office, providing intellectual property (I.P.) assistance and services in addition to startup programs and services.

Rankings

Several post-secondary rankings have included the University of Calgary. The university was ranked 151-200 globally and was ranked 7-8 in Canada in the Academic Ranking of World Universities for 2021. In their list of Canadian medical-doctoral universities for 2022, Maclean's ranked Calgary 12th.

Campuses

Main campus

The university grounds are located around 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) northwest of Downtown Calgary and directly south of the Varsity neighbourhood. The University of Calgary campus covers 213 hectares, which is greater than the entire city of Calgary. The architecture of the campus is distinguished by a mix of Brutalist and Postmodern structures, the majority of which were constructed between 1960 and 1980. The university began repairing the ageing MacKimmie Complex in 2017. At University Station, the main campus is connected to Calgary's C-Train light-rail system.

West campus

The University of Calgary received a significant parcel of land west of the Main Campus from the Province of Alberta in 1995. It will be used in the future to further the university's mission, vision, values, and objectives. The site, which is about a third the size of downtown Calgary and spans 80 hectares east of Shaganappi Trail between 16th and 32nd Avenues N.W., overlooks the Bow River valley. The western campus is situated near the Bow River on generally mountainous terrain. It is located next to the university's main campus and houses the Alberta Children's Hospital.

Health sciences campus

The University of Calgary Board of Governors decided to establish a medical school in the late 1960s. The Health Sciences Building, which opened in 1972, was the first physical structure to house this undertaking. The Health Sciences Building was next to the Foothills Medical Centre, south of the Main Campus.

Downtown campus

On September 13, 2010, the new downtown campus of the University of Calgary, located at 8th Avenue and 8th Street S.W., opened. The building houses the Haskayne School of Business, the School of Public Policy, Continuing Education, and energy and environment classes. It also housed the Development and Alumni Engagement division's administrative offices and the main office of the University of Calgary Alumni Association; however, most of these employees were relocated to the Main Campus beginning in 2020. There is also a meeting centre on the premises. It used to house a branch of the university library, but that was decommissioned in 2016 and transformed into more student study space.

Media

Newspaper

UToday and The Gauntlet are the university's two primary newspapers UToday, which began in September 2008, covers university research, key events and milestones, campus occurrences and personalities, and opportunities to participate in learning or activities. Every day throughout the year, it is published. Students, teachers, staff, alumni, news media, donors, community leaders, partners, and the general public are among the readers of UToday. The Gauntlet is a monthly magazine published by the University of Calgary covering the school and the Calgary community.

Radio

The university's campus radio station is CJSW, which broadcasts on 90.9 MHz FM. CJSW is a non-profit organisation run by a group of four staff people and over 200 volunteers from the University of Calgary student body and the greater Calgary community. Aside from the F.M. broadcast, the station may also be heard on cable FM at 106.9 MHz and via an Ogg Vorbis stream from its website.

Television

The University of Calgary is one of just three universities in Canada that have three media operations on campus. The University of Calgary Tri-Media Alliance includes print publications The Gauntlet, radio CJSW 90.9, and television NUTV. NUTV is a student-run television production society that is one of Canada's oldest. NUTV is a campus-based non-profit organisation founded in 1983 and incorporated in 1991. NUTV provides University of Calgary students and community people with the opportunity to learn about the various phases of television production.

Student life

MacEwan Hall, the student centre in the heart of the main campus, houses the Den and Black Lounge, a campus bar. In 2000, the Students' Union took over the Den, formerly administered by the University of Calgary. The Den is on the lower floor, and the Black Lounge is on the upper floor, with a huge outside patio on the second story during the nicer months of the year. Undergraduate and graduate students and academics, employees, and members of the public are welcome to attend.

Notable Alumni

• Garret Camp- Co-founder of Uber and StumbleUpon
• James Gosling- Creator of Java programming language and computer scientist
• Gary Kovacs- Former CEO of AVG Technologies and Mozilla
• Kristina Groves- Former Olympian Speed Skating
• Robert Thirsk- Canadian Astronaut and Chancellor of the Calgary University (2014-2018)
• Stephen Harper- 22^nd Prime Minister of Canada
• Linda Taylor- Director of United Nations Office of Administration of Justice