Region : Ontario
City : Waterloo
Web site : www.uwaterloo.ca
The University of Waterloo (commonly referred to as Waterloo, UW or UWaterloo) is a public research university with a main campus in Waterloo, Ontario. The main campus is on 404 hectares (1,000 acres) of land in "Uptown" Waterloo, adjacent to Waterloo Park. The university offers academic programs administered by six faculties and ten faculty-based schools. The university also operates four satellite campuses and four affiliated university colleges. Waterloo is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada. University of Waterloo is most famous for its cooperative education (co-op) programs, which allow the students to integrate their education with applicable work experiences. University of Waterloo operates the largest post secondary co-op program of its kind in the world, with over 19,000 co-op students and 5,200 employers.
The institution was established on 1 July 1957 as the Waterloo College Associate Faculties, a semi-autonomous entity of Waterloo College, then an affiliate of the University of Western Ontario. This entity formally separated from Waterloo College and was incorporated as a university with the passage of the University of Waterloo Act by the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1959. It was established to fill the need to train engineers and technicians for Canada's growing postwar economy. It grew substantially over the next decade, adding a faculty of arts in 1960, and the College of Optometry of Ontario which moved from Toronto in 1967.
The university is co-educational, and as of 2016 has 30,600 undergraduate and 5,300 postgraduate students. Alumni and former students of the university can be found across Canada and in over 140 countries. The university ranked 200-300th in the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities, 152nd in the 2015–2016 QS World University Rankings,and 179th in the 2015–2016 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Waterloo's varsity teams, known as the Waterloo Warriors, compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport.
The university also includes three semi-autonomous affiliated colleges and a federated university. Conrad Grebel University College is a Mennonite university college that was chartered in 1961 and is religiously affiliated with the Mennonite Church Eastern Canada. Renison University College is an Anglican university college chartered in 1959; it entered an affiliation with the University of Waterloo in 1960 and is religiously affiliated with the Anglican Church of Canada. St. Jerome's University is a Roman Catholic university, founded in 1865, which entered into a federation with the University of Waterloo shortly after the provincial government granted it university status in 1959. St. Paul's University College is a university college founded by members of the United Church of Canada in 1962. However, St. Paul's now operates independently from the United Church, without any formal or legal relationship.
The three colleges and federated university are all within the University of Waterloo's main campus and operate their own residences. Students of these affiliated colleges and federated university are also academically integrated with the University of Waterloo. Students who study at any of them are also considered registered students of the University of Waterloo. In addition to the classes offered at these colleges, federated university students also have the option to enrol in classes, apply to any of the faculties, and graduate as a student from the University of Waterloo. Regardless of the affiliated colleges and federated university's religious affiliations, enrolment is not restricted based on the student's religious beliefs.
Waterloo is a publicly funded research university, and a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. It functions on a term-based system, with fall, winter and spring terms. Undergraduate programs comprise the majority of the school's enrolment, made up of 24,377 full-time and part-time undergraduate students. The university conferred 5,041 bachelor's degrees, 267 doctoral degrees, 1,275 master's degrees, and 192 first professional degrees in 2012–2013. The university is organized into six faculties, which operate a combined total of 10 schools and over 50 academic departments.
Waterloo has consistently been ranked as one of the top ten universities in Canada. According to the 2016 Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU), the university ranked 201-300 in the world and 7-13th in Canada. The 2016-2017 Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed Waterloo 173rd in the world. The 2016 QS World University Rankings ranked the university 152nd in the world. In terms of national rankings, Maclean's ranked Waterloo second in their 2017 comprehensive university rankings and most innovative university in Canada for the 25th straight year. In an 2016 employability survey published by the UK firm Quacquarelli Symonds (QS), Waterloo placed 22nd in the world for graduate employability and first for employer partnerships.
Home to North America’s only standalone Faculty of Mathematics with the largest concentration of mathematical and computer science talent in the world, Waterloo is ranked as one of the top universities worldwide for mathematical sciences. In the field of statistics and operational research, the university was ranked 32nd in the world, and first in Canada, by the QS World University Rankings. The same rankings also placed the university 29th in the world, and second in Canada in the field of mathematics. In 2014, it moved up five places to 24th in QS World University Rankings by Subject. In 2015, it moved up further to 20th in the world.
Waterloo's engineering program has consistently been ranked in the top 100 universities in the world. The 2013 ARWU rankings for the field of engineering, technology and computer sciences, ranked the university 43rd in the world and second in Canada. In the 2012 rankings of the top engineering schools in the world by Business Insider, the university ranked 29th in the world, and first in Canada. For the field of technology and engineering, the 2013–2014 Times Higher Education listings ranked the university 67th in the world, and fourth in Canada. The 2013 QS rankings listed the university's engineering faculty 46th in the world, and second in Canada. In computer science and information systems, the 2014 QS World University Rankings placed the university 24th in the world, and second in Canada.The business-oriented social network LinkedIn, ranked the university first in Canada based on career outcomes in the undergraduate fields of Finance Professionals, as well as Software Development, and second in Accounting. LinkedIn also placed the university first for Software Development amongst graduate-level students. The ranking was based on the employment patterns of LinkedIn's members
The university operates and manages 41 research centres and institutes, including the Centre for Applied Cryptographic Research, the Waterloo Institute for Nanotechnology, the Centre for Education in Mathematics and Computing and the Institute for Quantum Computing. Official recognition and designation of all centres and institutes requires the approval of the university's Senate. In Research Infosource's 2013 ranking of Canada's 50 top research universities based off sponsored research income, Waterloo placed 17th in Canada, with a sponsored research income of $137.006 million, averaging $131,600 per faculty member. In the 2011 University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP), which rates universities based off their research performance, Waterloo was ranked 185th in the world and tenth in Canada. Waterloo's research in the field of engineering has also received a number of accolades. In the 2011 URAP rankings, Waterloo's research performance in the field of engineering was ranked 43rd in the world, and second in Canada. In the 2011 HEEACT rankings, Waterloo's research performance in the field of engineering was ranked 74th in the world, and second in Canada.
Sources : Wikipedia, www.uwaterloo.ca
