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.

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
Location	Vancouver, British Columbia
Enrollment	28,893 undergrad, 6,489 grad
Campus surroundings	Forest, ocean, beach
Campus size	425 acres maintained
Sports teams	Thunderbirds
Mascot	Thunderbird

Table of contents

1 Facts and figures 2 Alumni 3 Famous instructors 4 Brief History 5 Current Faculties and Schools 6 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 NDP 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 prize winner in chemistry 1993, Michael Smith.
• 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

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

External link

• UBC Home Page