Region : British Columbia
City : Victoria
Web site : www.uvic.ca
The University of Victoria ('Victoria University', 'UVic', or simply 'Old Blue') is a large public research university located in Victoria, the capital city of British Columbia, Canada. The University of Victoria, founded in 1903, is the oldest university in British Columbia and began as Victoria College, an affiliated branch of McGill University. The University of Victoria is a non-denominational institution which is mostly centred around the leafy suburbs of Oak Bay. The university consists of more than 20,000 students, including many post-graduate and doctoral candidates.
The University of Victoria is one of the most international universities in Canada, attracting students from around the world. Since the university's founding, many future political leaders, Olympic medalists, and heads of government in Canada have passed through the university's halls, including Rona Ambrose, Fin Donnelly, and George Abbott. The University of Victoria has partnered with high-ranking institutions around the world, including Sciences Po, University of London, University of Washington, Hong Kong University, Utrecht University, and the National University of Singapore. In recent years, the University of Victoria has also produced many Rhodes Scholars and Gates Scholars.
Academically, the University of Victoria is noted for its programs in the Faculty of Law, Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, Economics, Political Science, Earth and Ocean Sciences, and Engineering Departments. It is the nation's lead institution in the VENUS and NEPTUNE deep-water seafloor observatory projects. UVic also participates in several multi-institutional research consortia, such as the Pacific Institute of Mathematical Studies, the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, TRIUMF, the Canadian Consortium of Oceans Research Universities, WestGrid, and Compute Canada.The University of Victoria has served as an incubator for many major tech companies and start-ups, including Indochino, and is a key part of the 'Saanich Valley' / 'Techtoria' technology and start-up bubble. The University of Victoria boasts one of the largest financial endowments in Canada, and receives a significant portion of federal research revenues each year.
The Victoria Vikes (more commonly known as the UVic Vikes or simply the Vikes) represent the university in a number of competitive sports, including rowing, sailing, rugby, soccer, and basketball. The Vikes have especially long and eminent ties to competitive rowing where it has competed with the University of Cambridge and the University of Oxford for several international titles. Sailing is also a popular sport for students at the University of Victoria and the UVic Sailing Club maintains facilities and boats on campus at the nearby Cadboro Bay.
UVic consistently ranks as one of the top universities in Canada and the world. It has been the top-ranked comprehensive university in Canada since 2010. In this category, Maclean's magazine ranks UVic either first or second for eight consecutive years. It also ranked first nationwide and 20th internationally in the Times Higher Education's ranking of schools under 50 years old. In global rankings, UVic is within the top one per cent of universities around the world and sits on the Top 200 list. It clocked in its highest ranking at 173 globally in 2010 and has since maintained a strong presence in global ranking charts. UVic has also been named as the Canadian "Research University of the Year" for 12 of the past 14 years by Research Infosource. The university has also been home to more than 40 faculty members who are Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada since it was founded.
Below is a list of undergraduate faculties, departments, and schools within the University of Victoria system.
UVic also offers a number of interdisciplinary undergraduate programs, including Applied Ethics, Arts of Canada, European Studies, Film Studies, Human Dimensions of Climate Change, Indigenous Studies, Latin American Studies, Social Justice Studies, and Technology and Society.
The Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, formerly the Faculty of Business, was renamed following a donation by local entrepreneur Peter B. Gustavson. This business school offers a wide range of programs including the BCom, MBA and other business degrees, EQUIS and AACSB accredited. The program starts with two years of general studies (with 5 required classes) and then the 3rd and 4th year are business intensive. Three co-op work terms are also required.
The university's School of Earth & Ocean Sciences has produced a large number of influential findings in its history. The School of Earth & Ocean Science also collaborate with the VENUS and NEPTUNE research institutes. The university was a founding member of the Western Canadian Universities Marine Sciences Society. UVic maintains this field station on the west coast of Vancouver Island, which is jointly run by the University of British Columbia, Simon Fraser University, the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary.
The UVic School of Public Administration specializes in its M.A., and PhD. programs but also offers a selective admission minors program.
The UVic Faculty of Law is consistently ranked highly by the media. It offers a co-op work experience program and an environmental law intensive program, featuring a course at Hakia Beach, BC in association with the Tula Foundation. UVic Law has been deeply involved with many of the Aboriginal, Ecological, and Environmental cases within British Columbia and continues this tradition today.
The Faculty of Engineering admits approximately 400 students into first-year programs each year. Students can specialize in the following disciplines: Biomedical Engineering, Civil Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Software Engineering.
The Faculty of Humanities consists of ten departments (English, French, Genders Studies, Germanic and Slavic Studies, Greek and Roman Studies, Hispanic and Italian Studies, History, Linguistics, Pacific and Asian Studies, and Philosophy), as well as three Programs (Latin American Studies, Medieval Studies, and Religious Studies). The faculty offers certificates, minors, and majors leading to both BA and BSc degrees, as well as MA and PhD degrees. Languages, narratives, philosophies, histories—the Faculty of Humanities brings these all together in a critical context of analysis, interpretation, research, and communication.
The Faculty of Fine Arts splits into five different departments: Art History and Visual Studies, the School of Music, Theatre, Visual Arts and Writing. UVic's Department of Art History and Visual Studies has a long tradition of scholarship in the areas of Islamic art, South and Southeast Asian art, and Native arts of North America. It is one of few schools that has traditionally held two chairs of Islamic art, most recently filled by Anthony Welch and Marcus Milwright.
UVic offers more than 160 graduate programs. Their most popular graduate degrees are in the following areas:
Graduate programs range from individual interdisciplinary programs to graduate co-op programs. The university also offers students specialized degree options and certificate options.
Sources : Wikipedia, www.uvic.ca
