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University of Ottawa
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- For the university in Ottawa, Kansas, see Ottawa University.
The University of Ottawa or Université d'Ottawa in French (also known as uOttawa or nicknamed U of O or Ottawa U) is a bilingual , research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada, and was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate.
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Encyclopedia
- For the university in Ottawa, Kansas, see Ottawa University.
The University of Ottawa or Université d'Ottawa in French (also known as uOttawa or nicknamed U of O or Ottawa U) is a bilingual , research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada, and was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate. Formerly a liberal arts college, it has been teaching pure and applied sciences in both French and English since the 1800s. The university has been conferring Bachelor's degrees since 1872, Master's degrees since 1875, and Doctorates since 1888. Saint Paul University is federated with the university and is also located in Ottawa.
The University of Ottawa is ranked 5th in research-intensity, and 9th in total-research funding in Canada. It is a member of the Group of Thirteen, a league of the most research-intensive universities in the country.
History
The University of Ottawa is a bilingual institution founded in 1848 as the Roman Catholic College of Bytown by Monseigneur Joseph-Bruno Guigues, OMI.
The college was originally for boys only and taught a classical liberal arts curriculum. Morning classes were taught in French and afternoon classes in English.
The campus was originally located in the Lower Town district of the city of Bytown on the site of what is now the Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica. One of the original buildings still stands at the intersection of Sussex Drive and Guigues Avenue. The college moved to its current location in Sandy Hill in 1856 when land was donated by notary Louis T. Besserer.
In 1861, the College of Bytown became the College of Ottawa. In 1866 the college received a Royal charter from London, England to become the University of Ottawa. In 1889, the University of Ottawa was granted a pontifical charter by Pope Leo XIII. The pontifical charter would later be transferred to Saint Paul University during a reorganization in 1965.
The Main Academic Building was constructed in various stages between 1865 and 1885 and was destroyed by fire in 1903. Academic Hall was completed in 1901 and still stands to this day as one of the oldest buildings still in use by the university. The Main Academic Building was rebuilt in various stages from 1905 to 1931. The design for the new building was inspired by the Capitol Building in Washington by architect A. O. Von Herbulis. The building was renamed in 1971 to Tabaret Hall in honour of Father Joseph-Henri Tabaret, OMI.
Women began attending classes on campus in 1919.
In 1935, the Catholic Centre was organized at the University of Ottawa. In 1939 the Canadian Officers' Training Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force began using some of the university's facilities. In 1942, temporary military barracks were constructed on campus for the Canadian Women's Army Corps. A total of 1158 students and alumni enlisted in the war effort.
The University of Ottawa was restructured and made non-denominational in 1965. The Ontario legislature passed the University of Ottawa Act in 1965, making the university a provincially funded institution. Saint Paul University was founded at this time and the university's theology programs were transferred.
Book Publishing
University of Ottawa Press, which was founded in 1936, deals with French Canadian civilization, literature, medieval studies, law, the social sciences, the physical sciences and engineering.
Rankings
The University of Ottawa's department of neurosciences is ranked 1st in Canada, and 2nd in clinical medicine, in citations per paper (highest impact) from 2000-2004 by Science Watch newsletter, published by Thomson Scientific in 2005, which uses university science indicators to examine the research of 46 Canadian universities in 21 different scientific fields.
The 2004 Financial Times global survey of EMBA programs ranked the U of O Executive MBA 65th out of 220 worldwide. The University also scored a "Best in Canada" distinction across three categories in "career progress achieved by graduates", "calibre of program faculty", and "international component of its curriculum (ranked among the top 10 in the world)". In the 2007 rankings, the university placed 87th out of the top 90 EMBA programs.
The Corporate Knights magazine 2005 survey of business schools ranked the university’s undergraduate program 4th in Canada. In the 2007 survey of business and law rankings, the undergraduate business program placed 10th, and the University of Ottawa's Common Law program was ranked 1st in Canada. The rankings use additional components of social and environmental impact management infused into their curricula.
The school was ranked 10th in Canada in the tenth edition (1998) of the Gourman Report university ranking guide. In the THES - QS World University Rankings of the top 500 universities in the world for 2008, the University of Ottawa placed 222nd, and 13th among Canadian universities.
The 2008 international table "Academic Ranking of World Universities" produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University rated University of Ottawa in the 7-18 bracket nationally, and in the top 201-302 of 500 universities in the world..
In 2005, the School of Management was featured in the Princeton Review’s Best 143 Business Schools Worldwide, which produces test preparation, such as the SAT's and information regarding college admissions.
In 2005, the University of Ottawa won the World Universities Debating Championship by defeating the participants Cambridge University, Oxford University and University of Toronto in the final. The contestants representing the university were Jamie Furniss and Erik Eastaugh. The U of O was unsuccessful in retaining this title in subsequent tournaments.
The Maclean's 2007 university ranking guide, that takes a measure of the "undergraduate experience", ranked the school 8th in the Medical Doctoral peer grouping, tied with Dalhousie University..
Maclean's also published their first Law School rankings in 2007, which the university placed 1st in National Reach, 3rd in Supreme Court Clerkships, and 4th Overall in Canada for their Common Law Program. In the Civl Law Program, the school placed 1st in National Reach, 1st in Supreme Court Clerkships, and 2nd Overall.
In August 2006, the University of Ottawa announced, along with 10 other Canadian universities, that it disagreed with the ranking of Canadian universities as put forth by Maclean's magazine. The universities will be in a sense boycotting their rankings by refusing to participate in future surveys by the magazine. The reason for the boycott is that the university disagrees with the methodology used in reaching the ranking.
Research
The university is a member of the Group of Thirteen, a group that describes itself as the leading research-intensive universities in Canada. For the 2006-2007 period, total research revenues were $229 million. According to the RE$EARCH Infosource 2007 publication, the university's ranking among Canadian universities was 5th in research intensity and 9th in total research funding.
The university has an office of Technology Transfer and Business Enterprise designed to set up contract research, manage intellectual property and develop external partnerships for research work.
The university houses over twenty research centres and institutes and is affiliated with several research institutes in the Ottawa area. The faculty of medicine is affiliated with the Ottawa Health Research Institute, the University of Ottawa Heart Institute and the University of Ottawa Eye Institute among others.
The university is a member of the High Performance Computing Virtual Laboratory (HPCVL), led by Queen's University. The HPCVL mission is to provide supercomputer power to a number of universities in Eastern Ontario: Queen's University, Royal Military College of Canada, the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. Researchers are provided with the computational power needed to solve increasingly complex problems.
Finances
The University of Ottawa's endowment as of April 2007 is $128.4 million.
In the 2006-2007 fiscal year, approximately 61% of the university's sources of funding were from operating and research grants. Tuition made up approximately 23%. Remaining sources of funding included investment income, donations, student housing, capital grants and sale of services, among other items.
The university also reported that over half of the expenditures for 2006-2007 were related to salaries and benefits. Buildings, renovations, furniture, equipment and supplies collectively made up 23.3%. Scholarships and bursaries made up 5.9%.
In May 2007, the university surpassed their fund raising campaign goal of $200 million a year ahead of schedule. Alumnus Ian Telfer, CEO of Goldcorp Inc., presented the school with a $25 million gift which put their total fund raising campaign to $226 million. The gift by Telfer was also the biggest donation in history made to a Canadian business school.
Student life
The university is situated in the heart of downtown Ottawa. It is within walking distance of the Rideau Canal, Sandy Hill, Rideau Centre, Byward Market, National Arts Centre, Supreme Court of Canada, Government agencies, and Parliament Hill. The university is also serviced by the OC Transpo transit system which links the campus to a wide range of amenities in the City of Ottawa.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono's peace campaign came to the University of Ottawa in 1969 after student leaders Allan Rock and Hugh Segal invited the couple.
The Student Federation of the University of Ottawa (SFUO) represents undegraduate students of the university, while the Graduate Students' Association des étudiant.e.s diplômé.e.s (GSAÉD) represents its graduate students.
There are two weekly newspapers published by students, the Fulcrum in English and La Rotonde in French. There also exists a bilingual video production house called Zoom Productions and a campus radio station, CHUO, where actor/comedian Tom Green and model/MTV VJ Quddus both hosted late-night shows at different times for several years. Noted academic activist and University of Ottawa professor Denis Rancourt is a current host on CHUO.
The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Ottawa Gee-Gees. The Undergraduate English Students' Association publishes the arts and literary journal .
The university is fully bilingual, having a particular importance to the Franco-Ontarian community.
On April 9, 2008, the university presented a draft version of a Non-Academic Student Code of Conduct. Students held a rally in opposition of the proposed code, with representatives from the two student associations stating that it had the potential to stifle student dissent and the rights of students for free speech with respect to university affairs. Around 3000 students signed a petition against the code of conduct and hundreds participated in the April 25 rally. As of August 2008, the university announced the draft code has been abandoned in favor of a "different solution that will be created and agreed upon by all members of the university community, including students, professors, staff and the University administration".
The solution adopted by the University of Ottawa to replace the non-academic student code of conduct was announced on December 4, 2008 with the launch of a web site outlining a new Declaration of Rights for members of the University community .
Bilingualism at the University of Ottawa
In 1848, the institution — then called Bytown College — brought together Francophone and Anglophone students. From the outset, the college’s founders, the Oblates, believed that their institution should promote reconciliation and a better understanding between French and English Canada.
In 1965, the “” was created by an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. With its new provincial charter as a publicly-funded institution, the University was given the dual mandate of furthering bilingualism and biculturalism, as well as preserving and developing the French culture in Ontario and in Canada.
The University of Ottawa implemented a policy on promoting bilingualism in 1974 . Today, students have the choice to study in English, French, or both. Controversy has arisen over the years regarding implementing a course to be taught in both languages over alternating years, and eliminating English courses altogether in some faculties.
A study of full professors’ employment contracts carried out by the Human Resources Service as part of concluded that about half of the professors are actively bilingual when they are hired. Ninety-seven percent of support-staff positions are designated as “actively bilingual” and 93% of these positions are held by bilingual staff.
From time to time the bilingual nature of the University of Ottawa has been the subject of linguistic debate. For example in October 2005, the Canadian French newspaper Le Droit reported on an internal memo to University of Ottawa recruiting officers heading to a recruitment fair in Toronto who were directed to speak solely in English while manning the booth. This sparked debate on the widely-held perception that students must speak French to study at the University of Ottawa. In fact about 70 per cent of University of Ottawa students are anglophones.
In March 2006, an open letter appeared in Le Droit signed by several University of Ottawa professors voicing their concerns on the status of French at the university. In the ensuing weeks, opinion pieces and letters to the editor ignited vigorous debate.
In June 2006, the university established a mandated to submit to the senate a development plan for programs and services in French for 2007-2012 that will help the university fully assume its mission and commitment to promote and develop French culture in Ontario. A final report will be submitted to the senate in the spring of 2007.
The university is a member of L'Association des universités de la francophonie canadienne, a network of academic institutions of the Canadian Francophonie.
Histories of the University
- Guindon, Roger. La dualité linguistique à l'Université d'Ottawa, 4 volumes. Ottawa: Presses de l'Université d'Ottawa, 1989-98.
Notable people and alumni
The University of Ottawa currently reports 153,086 alumni.
See also
External links
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