University of Toronto

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Image:UTCrest.jpg

Motto	Velut arbor aevo ("As a tree with the passage of time")
Established	1827
School type	Public
President	Frank Iacobucci (interim)
Location	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Enrollment	63,109 (48,863 at St. George Campus, 6,834 at UTSC, 7,412 at UTM)
Faculty	2,387
Campus	Urban
Sports teams	Varsity Blues
Mascot	True Blue
Homepage	www.utoronto.ca

The University of Toronto (U of T), in Toronto, Ontario, is the largest university in Canada with more than 60,000 students across three campuses.

Contents

5 Complete list of colleges and divisions

5.1 Federated universities
5.2 Constituent colleges
5.3 Professional and graduate faculties
5.4 Colleges and faculties comprising the Toronto School of Theology
5.5 Other academic units

6 Former affiliated colleges

7 List of presidents

8 Noted graduates and faculty

9 See also

10 External links

History

The University was established on March 15, 1827, when King's College at York (Toronto) was granted its Royal Charter. King's College became the University of Toronto in 1849.

Several other universities joined the University of Toronto, becoming "federated" with it. The federated universities are St. Michael's, Victoria, and Trinity. University College is the name of the original portion of the University of Toronto from before federation. The other colleges were created later, to accommodate the school's growing size.

Academics

The University comprises three campuses, four constituent colleges, four federated colleges, and three federated universities. (Federated colleges and universities were incorporated into the University; constituent colleges were created by the University.) U of T's four federated colleges are seminaries which are associated with the Toronto School of Theology.

Every arts and science student at U of T is a member of one of its seven "colleges" (the federated universities and constituent colleges), which acts, ideally, as a smaller-scale intellectual and social community for its members. In practice, however, they are simply residential and administrative in nature. While U of T's college system is based on the one in use at Oxford and Cambridge, U of T's colleges are not as autonomous, nor do they bear as much of an instructional responsibility to their students. However, some first-year seminars and academic programs are offered by some colleges.

The University of Toronto is widely acknowledged to be one of Canada's top schools. It attracts many of the best students from Ontario and the rest of Canada, and has a growing number of international students. U of T's endowment is around $2 billion, larger than that of any other Canadian university. U of T has also ranked first in the Maclean's rankings of Canadian medical-doctoral universities ten years in a row (as of 2004). Its student selectivity is generally thought to be between medium to high (though not exclusive, except in certain programs like law, medicine and dentistry). Selectivity varies from year to year and usually depends on the particular program and number of spaces available. But generally, the sheer size of the university means it has the capacity to enroll a huge number of students, thereby providing opportunities for many Ontario and Canadian students to pursue higher education.

Students

Despite the prevalence of a wide variety of student interest groups and related organizations (likely more than in any other Canadian university), U of T suffers from the same impersonal atmosphere that plagues other large universities. The problem was recently exacerbated by the double cohort initiative of the Ontario government in 2002-2004.

Most students live off-campus, and for many the U of T experience is limited solely to attending classes. This has resulted in a general lack of school spirit and the disconnection many if its students feel from the school and other students. This lack of community has been detrimental to the solicitation of financial support from alumni.

The school's rich and varied culture is available to those students who seek it out, however.

Campuses

The St. George (downtown) campus has a rich architectural history, making it a popular attraction for visitors to the city, as well as a common location for shooting movies. It is bounded by Spadina Avenue to the west, Bloor Street to the north, Queen's Park Crescent to the east, and College Street to the south. Some U of T buildings, namely Victoria College and St. Michael's College, are located east of Queen's Park Crescent. The campus is well-served by public transportation (TTC), namely by the Spadina, St. George, and Queen's Park subway stations.

Thirty kilometres (18 miles) west of the St. George campus is the University of Toronto at Mississauga (UTM) or Erindale College in suburban Mississauga. Set on the banks of the Credit River, UTM's 224 acre (0.9 km²) campus is decidedly modern. It is off Mississauga Road between Dundas Street and Burnhamthorpe Road in the Erindale area. A shuttle bus connects the UTM and St. George campuses.

At the other end of the Greater Toronto Area is the University of Toronto at Scarborough (UTSC) or Scarborough College, approximately 30 kilometres east of the downtown campus. The 300 acre (1.2 km²) campus is on Highland Creek in the Scarborough area of eastern Toronto.