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The 'University of Toronto' ('U of T') is a public research university in the city of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The institution comprises sixteen academic faculties and a collegiate framework of eleven colleges within its principal campus, which surrounds Queen's Park in the Downtown district. It was chartered in 1827 as ''King's College'', the first institution of higher learning in the colony of Upper Canada. At first controlled by members of the Church of England and the colonial establishment, the university acquired its present name in 1850 upon becoming a secular institution. Since the creation of University College in 1853 as the first of its constituent colleges, the university had also incorporated the ecclesiastical schools of Trinity College, Victoria University and St. Michael's College among others into its organization.
Research at the University of Toronto has been responsible for the world's first electronic heart pacemaker, artificial larynx, single-lung transplant, nerve transplant, artificial pancreas, chemical laser, G-suit, the first practical electron microscope, the first cloning of T-cells, and the extraction of insulin. The university is consistently placed among the leading academic institutions of the world.^[2][3][4]

Contents

History

Campus

Governance

Colleges

Academics

Faculties and programs

Library

Ranking and reputation

Student life

Student activism

Student groups

Student housing

Alumni and faculty

See also

Notes and sources

External links

History

The founding of a colonial college had long been the desire of John Graves Simcoe, the first Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada. An Oxford-educated military commander who fought in the American Revolutionary War, Simcoe felt that a college would be needed to counter the spread of republicanism from the United States. In 1796, he told the Anglican Bishop of Quebec in writing, "I have no idea that a University will be established, though I am daily confirmed in its necessity." The Upper Canada Executive Committee recommended in 1798 that a university be established in the town of York. On March 15, 1827, King's College was established by a Royal Charter from King George IV, largely due to the efforts of John Strachan, the influential Anglican Bishop of Toronto who became the college's first president. The original Greek Revival building was constructed on the present site of the Ontario Parliament Buildings. Under Strachan's guidance, King's College was a strongly Anglican institution closely aligned with the Church of England and the British colonial elite known as the Family Compact.

After a lengthy and heated public debate, the newly-elected responsible government of Upper Canada passed a law in 1849 to secularize King's College. On January 1, 1850, King's College was renamed as the ''University of Toronto'', officially severing its connection with the Anglican Church. A reorganization in 1853 created University College as its nondenominational teaching branch. Enraged by the decision to secularize, Strachan left the presidency to open Trinity College, a private Anglican college. Meanwhile, the university moved into a new home, the Gothic Revival University College building on the present campus. Part of the old King's College property was leased to the province, forming Queen's Park. During the American Civil War, British North America became threatened by the Union blockade and the possibility of British intervention, prompting the creation of the University Rifle Corps. In 1866, the corps fought a battle to resist the Fenian raids on the Niagara border.
The School of Practical Science, precursor to the modern Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering, was established in 1878 to offer instruction in engineering, mining, mechanics and manufacturing. The first engineering building was known as the "Little Red Skulehouse", and thereafter the faculty came to be nicknamed ''Skule''. The University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, first opened in 1843, resumed teaching in 1887. The medical teaching branch had been closed for 34 years after the reorganization of 1853, although the university continued to set examinations and award medical degrees during that period. The University of Toronto Faculty of Law also opened in 1887. The Faculty of Dentistry was founded as the Royal College of Dental Surgeons in 1875 and affiliated with the university in 1888. Women were admitted for the first time in 1884.^[5]

Towards the end of the 19th century, several ecclesiastical colleges began considering various forms of union with the University of Toronto to ensure their long-term viability. Knox College, a Presbyterian institution, and Wycliffe College, a low church seminary, encouraged their students to study for non-divinity degrees at University College and in 1885 entered a formal affiliation with the university. In 1890, they further elected to become federated schools of the University of Toronto, thereby giving up the right to confer all save theology and divinity degrees. The idea of federation met strong opposition at Victoria University, a Methodist school in the town of Cobourg. Having rejected the first proposal, a financial incentive finally convinced Victoria's senate and board of regents to accept federation in 1890. Decades after the death of John Strachan, the University of Trinity College was brought under the federation of the University of Toronto in 1904. It was followed in 1910 by the University of St. Michael's College, a Roman Catholic college first founded by the Basilian Fathers. Among the institutions that had seriously considered federation but ultimately remained independent were McMaster University, a Baptist school that moved to Hamilton, and Queen's College, a Presbyterian school in Kingston that later became Queen's University.
A devastating fire in 1890 severely damaged the interior of University College and devoured thirty-three thousand volumes from the library. The board of trustees commissioned a swift restoration of the building, and within two years the library was replenished with forty thousand new volumes. In 1896, the Royal Conservatory of Music became an affiliated institution of the university. Founded in 1901, the University of Toronto Press was at first responsible for printing university documents and examination papers, and began publishing books in 1912. The University of Toronto Schools, an independent secondary school, was established in 1910 by the Faculty of Education to conduct its training. The Royal Ontario Museum, the country's largest and preeminent museum, was administered by the university from its creation in 1912 until 1968, when it retained the close ties as an independent body.
The David Dunlap Observatory in Richmond Hill opened in midst of the Great Depression, and expansion continued to be slow during the Second World War. A new centre for advanced research, the University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies, was established in 1949. The following year, the university opened the Institute of Business Administration, now the Rotman School of Management. New College, established in 1962, departed from the prevalent practice at the older colleges by drawing a sizable portion of its students from multiple faculties. In 1963, Massey College was founded as an exclusive residence for graduate students. Originally conceived as an extension to New College, Innis College was created as a separate constituent college in 1964. The university opened branch campuses in Scarborough in 1964 and in Mississauga in 1967. First organized in 1959 as a subsidiary, York University became fully independent in 1965. Woodsworth College opened in 1974 to serve students of part-time studies. Beginning in the 1980s, reductions in government funding prompted the university to intensify its fundraising efforts. The University of Toronto was the first Canadian university to amass a financial endowment greater than C$1 billion.

Campus

The main campus of the University of Toronto is situated about a mile north of the financial district in Downtown Toronto and immediately south of the affluent neighbourhoods Yorkville and The Annex. It encompasses 68 hectares (168 acres) in a block bounded by Bay Street, Bloor Street, Spadina Avenue and College Street. An enclave surrounded by university grounds, Queen's Park is the site of the Ontario Legislature and several historic monuments. Together, the park and the university comprise a distinct area of forested parkland and interlocking courtyards in the downtown region. Named for the university, University Avenue is a ceremonial boulevard and arterial thouroughfare that runs through downtown between Queen's Park and Front Street.
The architecture is defined by a combination of Romanesque and Gothic Revival buildings spread across the eastern and central sections, most of them dated between 1858 and 1929. The traditional heart of the university lies in the grounds of King's College Circle, enclosing an oval lawn known as Front Campus. The centrepiece is the main building of University College, a National Historic Site, designed by Frederick William Cumberland in an eclectic blend of Romanesque and Norman architectural styles. Convocation Hall, built in 1907 with a gift from the alumni association, is recognizable for its domed roof and Ionic pillared rotunda. Although its foremost function is to host the annual graduation ceremonies, the building serves as a venue for academic and social events throughout the year. The sandstone buildings of Knox College epitomizes the North American collegiate gothic style with the characteristic cloisters around a secluded courtyard.
The northeastern part of Front Campus leads into a green space anchored by Hart House, a multi-purpose student centre. Hart House is named for Hart Massey, whose Massey Foundation financed the construction of the Late Gothic complex between 1911 and 1919. Among its assorted common rooms, the Great Hall is the most architecturally renowned, featuring high timbered ceilings and stained glass windows. West of Hart House, Soldiers' Tower stands tall and is the most prominent structure in the vicinity. The stone arches at the tower's base are inscribed with the names of university members killed in the battlefields of the world wars. The tower features a 51-bell carillon that is played on special occasions such as Remembrance Day and convocation.
The oldest surviving building on campus is the Louis Beaufort Stewart Observatory building, now home to the students' union. Built in 1855, the magnetic observatory operated until the turn of the 20th century, when air pollution and urban electrification rendered it obsolete. In 1908, the building was moved to its present site near Hart House. Another scientific institution, the McLennan Laboartories, was housed in the Edwardian-style Sandford Fleming Building now occupied by the engineering faculty.
The grounds of Trinity College borders the Back Campus lawn north of University College. The Trinity main building was designed in the Jacobethan Tudor style, while its newer chapel, designed by English architect Giles Gilbert Scott, was based on a modified Gothic style. To the east, the University of Toronto Faculty of Law occupies two estates converted from heritage mansions: the smaller Falconer Hall contains the faculty offices, while Flavelle House contains a restored solarium and a modern expansion containing the law library. The Victoria College property is located across from Queen's Park, with its intricate main building built from red sandstone and grey limestone.
Developed after the Second World War, the western section of the campus between St. George Street and Spadina Avenue consist mainly of modernist and internationalist structures. Notable post-war buildings include the Lash Miller Chemical Laboratories, Wetmore Hall and Wilson Hall of New College, and Sidney Smith Hall. The most significant example of Brutalist architecture is the Robarts Library complex, a large fourteen-storey concrete structure built in 1972. Newer buildings completed after 2001 include the Bahen Centre for Information Technology, the Donnelly Centre for Cellular and Biomolecular Research, and the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy Building designed by Norman Foster.
Apart from the main campus, the university also maintains institutions and facilities in other locations. The David Dunlap Observatory is located on a 77-hectare (190 acres) property in Richmond Hill, Ontario. The main observatory building possesses the largest optical telescope in Canada. The University of Toronto Institute for Aerospace Studies in northern Toronto is a specialized research facility and graduate school operated by the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering. The Koffler Scientific Reserve in King Township comprises 346 hectares (855 acres) of wetlands and forests in the ecologically sensitive Oak Ridges Moraine.

Governance

The University of Toronto has traditionally been a decentralized institution, with governing authority shared among the central administration, academic faculties, colleges and campuses. The campuses operate autonomously within a federal body that confers degrees. At the main campus, colleges retain much self-governance under a collegiate university model. The Royal Charter of 1827 provided the original basis for the university's administration; it was amended in 1849 for the secularization of King's College. The charter was largely superseded in 1853 by the ''University of Toronto Act'', which was since amended in 1873, 1887, 1901, 1906 and 1971.
The Governing Council is the unicameral legislative organ of the central administration, overseeing general academic, business and institutional affairs. The council consists of 50 members, among which 16 are appointed by the provincial government at the direction of the Premier of Ontario. The remaining members include faculty members, administrative staff, current students, alumni and appointees of the President. Before the amendment of 1971, the University of Toronto was governed under a bicameral system like most North American universities, composed of the board of governors and the university senate.
The Chancellor serves as the ceremonial head of the university. Typically filled by a former lieutenant governor, premier or diplomat, the office is elected by alumni for a renewable term of three years. The President is appointed by the council to serve as the university's chief executive. The President directs university-wide policies and plans, appoints academic officers and grants tenure to professors. The Chancellor and the President are both ''ex-officio'' members of the council. Simcoe Hall, located on the grounds of Front Campus, houses the bulk of the central administration including the offices of the President and the Governing Council. The university also maintains an official residence for the President in the neighbourhood of Rosedale.

Colleges

The collegiate system of the University of Toronto comprises four constituent colleges, three federated universities, four theological colleges and an affiliated college. Every arts and science undergraduate on the St. George Campus is a member of one of the seven arts and science colleges. The Faculty of Arts and Science administers almost all courses, allowing students to enroll in classes independent of their college. The college registrars and counsellors are responsible for assisting students with applications and course-related queries. However, first-year seminars and academic programs are offered by all colleges.
Each college has at least one student residence; some are co-ed, others are single-sex. The University of Toronto offers a housing guarantee to all full-time undergraduates entering first year who expressed an interest in residing on-campus during the application process. Notably, U of T successfully upheld this guarantee during the Ontario double cohort of 2003^[6].

The colleges differ in character, history, and resources, and each college houses specific academic programs, which serve to attract students. Trinity is home to the Munk Centre for International Studies, University College is home to the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies and the Centre for Sexual Diversity, Victoria College is home to the Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies, Innis College houses the university's film program, New College is home to the Women's and Gender Studies Institute and Equity Studies program, while the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies is associated with St. Michael's.
In addition to the arts and sciences colleges, there are also four theological colleges and a graduate college affiliated with the university. The theological colleges form part of the Toronto School of Theology.

Academics

Faculties and programs

Each of the university's sixteen faculties and schools governs its own admission process and academic programs. The Faculty of Arts and Science and the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering permit entry into bachelor degree programs. The other undergraduate schools, composed of the Faculty of Music, the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy and the Faculty of Physical Education, admit only from those already in undergraduate studies. A majority of undergraduate students are enrolled in the Faculty of Arts and Science, which houses 29 departments and more than 300 undergraduate programs.
Graduate programs in the arts and sciences are offered by the School of Graduate Studies. The Faculty of Medicine has eleven teaching and research hospitals, most notably the University Health Network, the Hospital for Sick Children and the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. The university's teachers college is the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, which is affiliated with its prestigious laboratory school, the University of Toronto Schools. There are seven other faculties and professional schools that confer graduate degrees: the Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design, the Faculty of Dentistry, the Faculty of Forestry, the Faculty of Information Studies, the Faculty of Law, the Faculty of Social Work and the Rotman School of Management. Non-degree courses are provided separately through the School of Continuing Studies.
In addition to subsidiary departments and centres that are governed and funded by its faculties, the University of Toronto is the host of several independent institutes. The Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics is supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council for studies in theoretical astronomy and related subjects. The Fields Institute is a centre for research and international collaboration in mathematical sciences. The university is also home to one of the worldwide locations of Newman Centres.

Library

The University of Toronto library system is Canada's largest academic library and is the third-largest in North America, after Harvard and Yale.^[7] As of April, 2005, it held 10.3 million bookform items, 5.3 million microform items, and 1.8 million other items in its collections.^[8]
The fourteen-storey Robarts Library is the main humanities and social sciences library, and the largest book repository in Canada. It also houses the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library. The Gerstein Science Information Centre is the flagship library supporting the sciences and health sciences.
The university has been working with the Internet Archive to digitize many of its collections for an online library.^[9] It is also a founding member of the Open Content Alliance, joined by Yahoo and the University of California.

Ranking and reputation

The University of Toronto ranks first in Canada and 23rd worldwide in the 2007 edition of the ''Academic Ranking of World Universities'' by Shanghai Jiao Tong University. ''The Times Higher Education Supplement'' places the university second in Canada and 27th in the world overall, 20th in Science, 18th in Biomedicine, 11th in Arts & Humanities, 17th in Social Sciences and 31st in Technology .^[10] Newsweek places the university first in Canada, and 18th worldwide, 9th among public universities, and among the top 5 universities outside the United States.^[11] In addition, the University of Toronto placed 28th in the world, 1st in Canada, in the Webometrics Ranking of World Universities as of July 2007.
For twelve consecutive years beginning from 1994, U of T was ranked by ''Maclean's'' magazine as the top Medical-Doctoral university in Canada.^[12] (In 2005, it tied for first place with McGill University.) In 2006, U of T and many other universities refused to provide ''Maclean's'' with data due to concerns regarding the magazine's ranking methodology.^[13] In that year, U of T was ranked 3rd in the Medical-Doctoral category, behind McGill University (1st) and Queen's University (2nd).
''The Scientist'' rated U of T as the best place to work in academia outside the United States. Research InfoSource ranks U of T among the top research universities in Canada [2]. The Association of Research Libraries rated the university's library as the third-best research library in North America, following Harvard University and Yale University.^[14] For several years, the university has also been ranked as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers, as published in Maclean's magazine.^[15]

Student life

There are 380 student clubs and organisations associated with the University of Toronto.^[16] Student government is headed by the University of Toronto Students' Union, formerly known as the Students' Administrative Council.
The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Toronto Varsity Blues. There are six main sports funded by the university: hockey, football, basketball, track and field, soccer, and swimming. The numerous other sports are funded through donations and fees paid by those participating.
The school has two main newspapers. ''The Varsity'' and ''The Newspaper''. Each college, faculty, and many other groups also publish newspapers. CIUT is the campus' radio station.

Student activism

The University has borne witness to much activism over the years. In 1895, University College students, allegedly led by William Lyon Mackenzie King, boycotted classes for a week after the editor of the Varsity student newspaper was suspended for anti-administration articles. Although King is traditionally given credit for leadership of the strike, recent scholarship has suggested that his involvement has been overstated.^[17]
The 1960s saw the creation of Rochdale College, a large high-rise residence where many students and staff lived. It was not officially connected to the university. Rochdale was established as an alternative to what had been seen as the traditional, authoritarian, and paternalistic structures within universities.^[18] The college eventually became a haven for local Drug culture, partially because the student organisers contracted a biker gang to provide security. Unfortunately, due to violent clashes with police, political pressure forced the college to close in 1975.
In the fall of 1969, after Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau decriminalized homosexuality, the University of Toronto Homophile Association, the first gay and lesbian group in Toronto or on any Canadian university campus, was formed. Jearld Moldenhauer, a research assistant at the Faculty of Medicine, placed an advertisement in ''The Varsity'', asking others to join in setting up an organization. While the first meeting drew a meager 16 people — 15 men and one woman — the group quickly established a significant profile within the community and the city at large. Two decades later, David Rayside, a professor of political science, would organize the Committee on Homophobia. Ten years after that, he would help introduce a sexual diversity studies program at University College, to much success.^[19] Today, 35 years after the start of LGBT activism at U of T, the student queer community is represented by the Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Trans People of the University of Toronto (LGBTOUT).
On February 7, 2007, a number of students from all three campuses, joined by many students from across Ontario, staged one of the largest student protests in Canadian history. The student mass, which numbered in the thousands, demanded the provincial government to lower tuition fees. One month later, on March 8, a smaller number of students held another protest on the same issue. This protest, known as the ‘Student Day of Anger’ consisted of a group of students making loud noise outside the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities to mark tow one year anniversary of the lift on the tuition fees freeze.

Student groups

U of T has numerous prominent students groups. One of the most notable is the Hart House Debating Club, home to one of the top-ranked debating teams in the world, and champions at the 2006 World Universities Debating Championship.^[20] The University of Toronto Formula SAE Racing Team has also received accolades recently, taking the Formula Student European Championships in 2003, 2005 and 2006 making them one of only five teams to have won three or more championships in this 300 team 26 year old series. ^[21][22]

Student housing

Housing could be an issue for the downtown (St. George) campus. Residences are usually expensive, but most provide a meal plan. Many find it more suitable to share an apartment with a friend off campus. The university housing services provides detailed information on various residences as well as housing ads for off-campus housing.
On campus student residence is available at the following places at the St. George Campus ^[23]:


★ 89 Chestnut Residence


★ New College


★ Innis College


★ St. Michael's College


★ Trinity College


★ University College


★ Victoria University


★ Woodsworth College

Alumni and faculty

: ''Main article: List of University of Toronto people''

See also

★ CUPE 3902 UofT Education Workers Union

★ University of Toronto Students' Union

★ Group of Thirteen (Canadian universities)

★ Old Four

★ University of Toronto Campus Police

Notes and sources

1. Originates from Horace ''Odes'', book I, ode 12, line 45: ''"cresit occulto velut arbor aevo fama Marcellis"''. The university crest features an oak tree, with acorns representing new growth.
2. ''Newsweek'' The Top 100 Global Universities. Retrieved August 18, 2006.
3. ''Academic Ranking of World Universities - 2006. Retrieved, August 2006.''
4. The Times Higher Education Supplement World University Rankings. October, 2005. Accessed June 28, 2006.
5. What was front page news in the inaugural issue of the student paper The Varsity in 1880?
6. ''U of T ready to welcome double cohort. Retrieved, June 30, 2006.''
7.
ARL Statistics 2004-05
8.
Annual Statistics
9. Building an Online Library,
One Volume at a Time
10. [1]
11. '' The Top 100 Global Universities - 2006. Retrieved, August 15, 2006.''
12. Macleans historical rankings
13. 11 universities bow out of Maclean's university rankings Dalhousie University, et al.
14. [3]
15. Reasons for Selection, 2007 Canada's Top 100 Employers
16. [4]
17. Q&A: What made the "blood fairly boil" in U of T student and future prime minister William Lyon Mackenzie King in 1895?, News@UofT.
18. Rochdale College: Organized anarchy, CBC Archives, Jan. 8, 1969.
19. Q&A: What was a Canadian first for the University of Toronto in the activist sixties?, News@UofT.
20. [5]
21. Weinstein, Ruth. ''U of T Formula SAE team races to international victory''. News@UofT, July 17, 2006.
22. Laskaris, Sam. ''University racing team takes top honours''. The Annex Guardian, July 20, 2006.
23. [6]

External links

★ University of Toronto — official homepage

★ Varsity Blues — collegiate athletics teams

★ University of Toronto Libraries

★ The Innovations Group — commercialization and technology transfer

★ University of Toronto Press