The University of Calgary: a community dedicated to scholarship, education, creativity and discovery

Unprecedented growth

Located in northwest Calgary, the University of Calgary campus occupies a beautiful, park-like setting covering more than 200 hectares, or an area larger than Calgary’s entire downtown. The U of C is home to scholars in 16 faculties (offering more than 80 academic programs) and 36 research institutes and centres.

More than 28,000 students are currently enrolled in undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs. The U of C has graduated 120,000 alumni over its 40-year history, including the current Prime Minister of Canada.

The U of C is pursuing the biggest single capital expansion in its history. Fuelled by Alberta’s nation-leading economic growth, the university has embarked upon a $1.5-billion plan to add capacity for 7,000 more students and a host of new teaching and research activities. These major developments — the Taylor Family Digital Library (TFDL), the Urban Campus Partnership, the Experiential Learning Centre (ELC) and the new home of the Institute for Sustainable Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE) — are fulfilling distinct academic strategies and creating fundamentally different learning environments.

The U of C has 2,600 faculty actively engaged in research and scholarship, and more than 2,700 support staff, making it one of the four largest employers in Calgary. The university produces an economic impact of $800 million in the Calgary area alone.

Research

Research brings significant benefits provincially, nationally and internationally, and is the foundation of Alberta's economic and social vitality. It is core to the U of C’s teaching and research mandate.

Revenues from sponsored research (including deferred revenue) have more than doubled in the last five years to $282 million. In 2006, the U of C was invited into what is now the G13 group of Canada’s leading research universities, an overdue acknowledgement that at the tender age of 40, the University of Calgary had already achieved Top 10 standing on several fronts including Top 10 in Canada in sponsored research funding. Our vision, with the help of our stakeholders and partners, is to rank among the top five research universities in Canada by 2010.

Our more than 200 chairs and professorships in such diverse areas as American studies, schizophrenia, project management, cancer and intelligent manufacturing attract renowned scholars and leading researchers to the University of Calgary.

New faculty: Veterinary Medicine

Canada’s fifth veterinary school and the first newly created program in more than 20 years — the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine — will open its doors in 2008. This innovative four-year doctor of veterinary medicine program leverages the principles of integration, collaboration and technology to offer a multi-species/multidisciplinary core as well as three specialized curricular streams: food production, population medicine and investigative medicine.

Leading-edge teaching methods and technologies

A student-centred approach

The U of C’s high-quality undergraduate education is characterized by the synthesis of research, teaching and learning. We enhance our students’ experience by enabling them to take an inquiry-based approach through experiential learning — literally learning through experience. This leads to greater critical thinking skills, increased exposure to research methods, greater access to leading edge scholars, and it creates a more engaging, motivating learning environment for our students.

The U of C is a champion of investing in technology to enhance the student experience: in 2006 we became the first Canadian university to introduce podcasting on a large scale with the launch of four courses featuring the iPod as a teaching tool. Other technologies employed on campus include a Classroom Performance System that provides more classroom opportunities for interaction, and a wireless setting — all student spaces at the U of C are now wireless, giving students access to their online coursework, to professors and to each other, wherever they are on campus.

Uniting university with community

Lead by our mission

With the ambition to be one of Canada's top five research universities, innovation, discovery and learning are at the heart of all that we do. Our relentless pursuit of quality in our teaching and research programs is guided by our mission to contribute to the well being of the people of Alberta, Canada and the world.

An international flavour

More than 1,900 international students from nearly 90 countries are enrolled in the U of C’s undergraduate, graduate and professional degree programs.

Recognizing that international learning is integral to a contemporary, well-rounded education, the U of C has set an ambitious goal to increase the number of students learning overseas through exchange programs to 30 per cent of all graduating students by 2010. In 2007, more than 1,000 University of Calgary students will participate in overseas learning experiences.