Archive for April 2, 2007

University of Ottawa- On Wikipedia

2 April 2007 at 5:45 pm · Filed under Personal

This article can be found at the following link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/University_of_Ottawa

Tabaret Hall

Tabaret Hall

Fauteux Hall, the Faculty of Law

Fauteux Hall, the Faculty of Law

At left, Morisset Library. At right, former headquarters of campus radio station CHUO.

At left, Morisset Library. At right, former headquarters of campus radio station CHUO.

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Reputation

The University of Ottawa’s department of neurosciences is ranked 1st in Canada, and 2nd in clinical medicine, in citations per paper (highest impact) from 2000-2004 by Science Watch newsletter, published by Thomson Scientific, which uses university science indicators to examine the research of 46 Canadian universities in 21 different scientific fields[2]. It is also rated as the 11th best [[university] for graduate studies in psychology in North America, and in the top 5 in Canada.

The 2004 Financial Times global survey of EMBA programs ranked the U of O Executive MBA 65th out of 220 worldwide. The University also scored a “Best in Canada” distinction across three categories in “career progress achieved by graduates”, “caliber of program faculty”, and “international component of its curriculum (ranked among the top 10 in the world)”. Also, the Corporate Knights magazine survey of business schools ranked the university’s undergraduate program 4th in Canada. A recent international table produced by Shanghai Jiao Tong University rated University of Ottawa in the 203-300 bracket of top 500 universities in the world[3].

In 2005, the U of O won the World Universities Debating Championship by defeating the participants Cambridge University, Oxford University and University of Toronto in the final. The contestants representing the university were Jamie Furniss and Erik Eastaugh.

In August 2006, the University of Ottawa announced, along with 10 other Canadian universities, that it disagreed with the ranking of Canadian universities as put forth by Maclean’s magazine [4]. The universities will be in a sense boycotting these ranking by refusing to parcitipate in future surveys by the magazine. The reason for the boycott is that university disagrees with the methodology used in reaching the ranking [5].

Other schools that scored highly, such as the University of Toronto and McGill University, disagreed with the magazine. See the article on Maclean’s for more information.

Academics

The students of the University of Ottawa in the faculty of medicine were recently ranked the best in Canada as demonstrated in the national qualifying examinations by the Medical Council of Canada. The university launched Canada’s first program in biopharmaceutical sciences. The faculty itself is affiliated with several research institutions including:

The university’s law school has a special program called the National Program, in which students receive both a civil law and common law degree in only four years.

Masters and doctoral degrees are offered in most disciplines by the faculty of graduate and postdoctoral studies. The U of O offers the second-highest number of doctoral programs in Ontario. The U of O houses Ontario’s second-largest graduate studies and co-operative education program.

Its 10 faculties offer an array of undergraduate and graduate programs in a wide variety of disciplines:

Saint Paul University (French: Université Saint Paul) is a federated Catholic university that is affiliated with the University of Ottawa

Student Life

The university is situated in the heart of downtown Ottawa. It is within easy walking distance to the Rideau Canal, Sandy Hill, Rideau Centre, Byward Market, National Arts Centre, Supreme Court of Canada, Government agencies, and Parliament Hill.

John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s peace campaign came to the University of Ottawa, in 1969, after student leaders Allan Rock and Hugh Segal invited the couple.

There are two weekly newspapers published by students, Fulcrum in English and La Rotonde in French, The bilingual video production house, Zoom Productions and a campus radio station, CHUO, where actor/comedian Tom Green and model/MTV VJ Quddus both have hosted late-night shows at different times, on the station for several years. The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Ottawa Gee Gees. The Undergraduate English Student’s Association publishes the arts and literary journal Ottawa Arts Review.

The university is fully bilingual, and permits students to take classes in both languages and submit work in both languages. The university has a particular importance to the Franco-Ontarian community. People of French-Canadian descent compose 20% of the population of Ottawa.

Bilingualism at the University of Ottawa

In 1848, the institution — then called Bytown College — brought together Francophone and Anglophone students. These students were taught in both French and English – typically morning lectures were given in one language while afternoon lectures were given in the other language. From the outset, the college’s founders, the Oblates, believed that their institution should promote reconciliation and a better understanding between French and English Canada.

In 1965, the “Université d’Ottawa – University of Ottawa” was created by an act of the Legislative Assembly of the Province of Ontario. With its new provincial charter as a publicly-funded institution, the University was given the dual mandate of furthering bilingualism and biculturalism, as well as preserving and developing the French culture in Ontario and in Canada.

The University of Ottawa implemented a policy on promoting bilingualism in 1974. Today, students have the choice to study in English, French, or both.

All University of Ottawa officials can work in both English and French. In addition, Francophones are highly represented in the University’s governance. A study of the institution’s administration profile showed that Francophones hold the majority of positions within the various administrative bodies, such as the Board of Governors, Senate or management team.

A study of full professors’ employment contracts carried out by the Human Resources Service as part of Vision 2010 concluded that about half of the professors are actively bilingual when they are hired. Ninety-seven percent of support-staff positions are designated as “actively bilingual” and 93% of these positions are held by bilingual staff.

From time to time the bilingual nature of the University of Ottawa has been the subject of linguistic debate. For example in October 2005, the Canadian French newspaper Le Droit reported on an internal memo to University of Ottawa recruiting officers heading to a recruitment fair in Toronto who were directed to speak solely in English while manning the booth. This sparked debate on the widely-held perception that students must speak French to study at the University of Ottawa. In fact about 70 per cent of University of Ottawa students are Anglophones.

In March 2006, an open letter appeared in Le Droit signed by several University of Ottawa professors voicing their concerns on the status of French at the University. In the ensuing weeks, opinion pieces and letters to the editor ignited vigorous debate.

In June 2006, the University established a Task Force on Programs and Services in French mandated to submit to the Senate a development plan for programs and services in French for 2007-2012 that will help the University fully assume its mission and commitment to promote and develop French culture in Ontario. A final report will be submitted to the Senate in the spring of 2007.

Facts and Trivia

  • Most of the filming for the motion picture Decoys, starring Nicole Eggert took place on campus. Tabaret Hall, a prominent feature of the university, was used as the backdrop for the movie. [6]
  • The university has its own power plant, capable of powering campus during city blackouts in winter storms, to ensure that exams go forward.
  • U of O was the first university in Canada to lease operation of its bookstore to an American company, Brennan’s College Bookstores Inc., of Springfield, Mass., in 1983. This lease was later rejected by the Federal Investment Review Agency causing the creation of Ottawa-Brennan Inc. a company in which the university owned 51%, Brennan 49%, and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the FIRA.[1]

Notable Alumni and Faculty

Senior Officers of the University of Ottawa

 List of Chancellors

(1889–1965) University of Ottawa

(1965–Present) University of Ottawa (reorganised)

List of Presidents

(1848-1861) Le Collège de Bytown / The College of Bytown

(1861-1889) Collège d’Ottawa / College of Ottawa

(1889-1965) Université d’Ottawa / University of Ottawa

(1965-Present) Université d’Ottawa (nouvelle structure) / University of Ottawa (reorganised)

See also

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