University of British Columbia

The University of British Columbia (UBC) is located on Point Grey in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Located just 30 minutes from downtown Vancouver, it is located on the water, near several beaches, with views to the local mountains, and the 763-hectare Pacific Spirit Regional Park, which serves as a green-belt between the campus and the city.

UBC, along with the park and the residential University Hill, is in the University Endowment Lands.

One of UBC's oldest buildings: Chemistry
Motto: Tuum est (Previous official translation: "It's up to you"; now: "It's yours")
Founded	1908
School type	Public
Chancellor	Allan McEachern
President	Martha Piper
Location	Vancouver, British Columbia
Enrollment	28,893 undergrad, 6,489 grad
Campus surroundings	Forest, ocean, beach
Campus size	425 acres maintained
Mascot	Thunderbird

Table of contents

1 Facts and figures 2 Alumni 3 Famous instructors 4 Brief History 5 Current Faculties and Schools 6 Sites of interest 6.1 Gardens 6.2 Museums and Galleries 6.3 Libraries 6.4 Performance Arts Theatres 6.5 Sports Arenas 6.6 Student Services and Residences 7 External link

Facts and figures

In 2001, UBC had 1,740 full-time faculty, and 7,339 non-faculty full-time employees. It boasts 28,893 undergraduate students, 6,489 graduate students, and 180,000 alumni in 120 countries. UBC had an operating income of $366 million CAD in 2001. Buildings on campus occupy 1,091,997 gross m², located on 172 hectares of maintained land. Current UBC president is Martha Piper, and VP Students Brian Sullivan.

In 2001/2002, UBC had one of the lowest undergraduate tuition rates in Canada, at $2,181 CAD per year for a full-time program. This was due to a freezing of tuition rates by the New Democratic Party government. In 2002 the Liberal government came into power, and removed the tuition freeze. In 2002/2003 UBC increased its undergraduate and graduate tuition rates by roughly 30%; give or take 10%, depending on faculty/school. This has led to increased enrollment and better facilites, but also to student unrest, union strikes, and population unrest. UBC plans to increase tuition fees by another 30-40% in the upcoming 2003/2004 Academic Year.

Alumni

The most famous alumni from UBC include:

• Nobel laureate, economist Robert Mundell
• Supreme Court Justice Beverley McLachlin
• past B.C. premierss Ujjal Dosanjh and Mike Harcourt
• author and historian Pierre Berton
• opera singers Ben Heppner and Judith Forst
• composer Michael Conway Baker
• educator and Man In Motion, Rick Hansen
• writer William Gibson
• filmmaker Bruce Sweeney
• actor Nicola Cavendish
• astronaut Bjarni Tryggvason
• senator Pat Carney
• former Canadian prime ministers Kim Campbell and John Turner
• University of Victoria president Dr. David Turpin
• journalists Allan Fotheringham and Stevie Cameron

Famous instructors

• David Suzuki, biologist
• Nobel prize winner in chemistry 1993, Michael Smith

Brief History

• In 1877, the history of UBC actually begins, when a proposal for a provincial university was first made.
• 1899, Vancouver College is created and is affiliated with Montreal's McGill University.
• 1906, UBC was taken over by McGill and was called McGill University College of British Columbia.
• 1908, the University of British Columbia was formed.
• 1910, Point Grey is chosen as the location for the new campus.
• 1914 marks the first year of construction at the new Point Grey location.
• 1922 The Great Trek: students frustrated with over-crowded condtions, from the present downtown campus to the Point Grey location, after collecting 56,000 signatures for a petition to complete the new campus.
• 1925, UBC officially moves to the Point Grey campus.

Current Faculties and Schools

• Faculty of Agricultural Sciences
• Faculty of Applied Science
• School of Architecture
• Faculty of Arts
• School of Audiology and Speech Sciences
• School of Community and Regional Planning
• Continuing Studies Department
• Faculty of Dentistry
• Faculty of Education
• Faculty of Forestry
• Faculty of Graduate Studies
• College of Health Disciplines
• School of Human Kinetics
• School of Journalism
• Faculty of Law
• School of Library, Archival and Information Studies
• Faculty of Medicine
• School of Music
• School of Nursing
• School of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
• School of Rehabilitation Sciences
• Sauder School of Business
• Faculty of Science
• School of Social Work and Family Studies

Sites of interest

Gardens

• UBC Botanical Garden and Centre for Plant Research [1]: the first UBC department, it holds a collection of over 8000 different kinds of plants used for research, conservation and education
• Nitobe Memorial Garden [1]: built to honour Japanese scholar Inazo Nitobe

Museums and Galleries

• Museum of Anthropology at UBC (MOA) [1]: mostly First Nations collections, such as totem poles. Also antique Chinese and European ceramics collections.
• Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery [1]: exhibit mostly contemporary North American art. Has two rooms (often divided into three).

Libraries

• Main Library: After a recent renovation of the third-floor atrium in 2001, the Chapman Reading Commons [1] and the Chung Collection of immigration documents [1] were created. In autumn of 2003, one-third of it (formerly Ridington Computing Room and FIne Arts LIbrary) was demolished in preparation for new glass-walled study areas.
• Walter Koerner LIbrary: many newer (post-1980s) humanities books were moved here from Main Library after its creation. Its modern design (most walls are see-through glass) contrasts that of Main Library, which locates across from it through a plaza that contains a fountain and the Leon Ladner Bell Tower (ringing every half an hour, sometimes with classical music)

Performance Arts Theatres

• Chan Centre for the Performing Arts: classical music; many high school students graduate here.
• Frederic Wood Theatre ("Freddy Wood Theatre"): mostly performed by UBC's own BFA drama students.

Sports Arenas

• Aquatic Centre [1]: except for designated times, there is a charge for students and non-students alike.
• Thunderbird Winter Sports Centre: when unused during final exam periods (December and May), chairs and tables are placed inside for students to take tests.

Student Services and Residences

• Student Union Building (SUB) [1]: offices of many clubs, half a dozen restaurants, and the inexpensive 425-seat Norman Bouchard Memorial Theatre ("The Norm Theatre").
• Totem Park: A residence primarily for first and second year undergraduate students.
• Place Vanier: A residence primarily for first and second year undergraduate students.
• Gage Towers: A residence primarily for third and fourth year undergraduate students.
• Fairview: A residence primarily for graduate students.

External link

• UBC home page
• University Endowment Lands