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York University

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This article is about the Canadian university. For the British university, see University of York.
York University
York University Crest
Motto Tentanda via
(The way must be tried)
Established 1959
Type Public
Endowment $160 million
Chancellor Peter Cory
President Lorna Marsden
Staff 7,000
Undergraduates 43,635
Postgraduates 3,339
Location Toronto, ON, Canada
Campus Urban/Suburban, 263 ha (650 acres)
Sports teams Lions
Website yorku.ca

York University, located in Toronto, Ontario, is Canada's third-largest university. York supports a student population of approximately 50,000 and staff of 7,000, as well as 190,000 alumni worldwide. It is home to 11 faculties, including the Schulich School of Business, Osgoode Hall Law School and the Faculty of Environmental Studies, as well as 23 research centres.


Contents

[edit] History

York University was founded in 1959, by virtue of the York Act, which received Royal Assent in the Ontario Legislature on March 26 of that year. Its first class was held on September 1960, in Falconer Hall on the University of Toronto campus with a total of 76 students. In the fall of 1961, York moved to the Glendon campus, and began to emphasize liberal arts and part-time adult education.

In 1965, York moved into its permanent home on the Keele campus. The campus, located at the northern edge of the City of Toronto, was regarded as somewhat isolated, in a generally industrialized part of the city. Petrol storage facilities are still located across the street. Some of the early architecture was unpopular with many, not only for the brutalist designs, but the vast expanse between buildings, which was not viewed as suitable for the climate. In the last two decades, the campus has been intensified with new buildings, including a dedicated student centre and new fine arts, computer science and business administration buildings, as well as a small shopping mall, and hockey arena. York has hosted the Canadian open tennis tournament for years. Faced with a threat of losing the high-profile competition, an agreement was reached to build a new stadium on campus. In 2004, the result was the tennis stadium on the west end of campus. As Toronto has spread further out, York has found itself in a relatively central location within the built-up Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and in particular, near the Jane and Finch neighbourhood. Its master plan envisions a denser on-campus environment commensurate with that location.

[edit] Academics

Image:Canada-toronto-york-university-01.jpg

[edit] Faculties

York University has eleven faculties. Several of these faculties' programs overlap. The Faculties of Arts, Science & Engineering, Liberal & Professional Studies (Atkinson), and Glendon College, for instance, each house separate mathematics departments, although some of these are being merged; the Schulich School of Business offers undergraduate and graduate International Business Administration programmes, but the Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies' School of Administrative Studies acts as a completely separate business school, nevertheless both Atkinson and Schulich share may full time professors. Also, Atkinson, Glendon, and Schulich units are offering or are in the processing of preparing to offer degrees in public policy and administration. The University administration has, however, taken steps in some cases to unify departments in separate faculties, in part to support York's efforts to brand itself as a university focused on interdisciplinarity. For example, the Faculty of Health, opened on 1 July 2006, houses the School of Health Policy & Management, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, School of Nursing, and the Department of Psychology.

York University's Faculty of Graduate Studies offers graduate degrees in a variety of disciplines, and there are several joint graduate programs with the University of Toronto and Ryerson University.

The School of Women's Studies at York University offers a large array of courses in the field, some of which are offered in French. The Canadian Centre for Germanic and European Studiesis co-housed at York University and Université de Montréal. The Centre is funded by the German Academic Exchange Service.

The Faculty of Fine Arts offers programs such as ethnomusicology and a degree in cultural criticism referred to as "cultural studies"; York also has a joint Bachelor of Design program with Sheridan College. The Osgoode Hall Law School is one of Canada's oldest law schools, having moved from a downtown location to the York campus in 1969 following the requirement that every law school affiliate with a university.

York offers a Space & Communication Sciences undergraduate degree. York’s Centre for Vision Research has developed a ‘virtual reality room’ called IVY (Immersive Virtual Environment at York) in order to study spatial orientation and perception of gravity and motion. The Canadian Space Agency and National Space Biomedical Research Institute (NSBRI) use this room to strengthen astronauts’ sense of ‘up’ and ‘down’ in zero-gravity environments. The room is a six-sided immersive environment made of the glass used in the CN Tower’s observation deck and includes walls, ceiling, and a floor comprised of computer-generated pixel maps.

[edit] Libraries

York's five libraries contain more than six-and-a-half million items including more than two million books and subscriptions to over 13,000 electronic journals. The Osgoode Hall Law School houses the largest law library in the Commonwealth. The Clara Thomas Archives contains the literary and personal papers of many notable Canadian cultural figures such as Margaret Laurence, Rohinton Mistry, Adele Wiseman, bill bissett, and others.

[edit] Labour

York's approximately 1,200 full-time professors and academic librarians are represented by the York University Faculty Association.

[edit] Athletics

The University is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the York Lions. Beginning in 1968 York's sporting teams were known as the "Yeomen", after the Yeomen Warders, the guardians of the fortress and palace at the Tower of London, otherwise known as Beefeaters. Later, the name "Yeowomen" was introduced to encourage women to participate in sports, as it is apparently gender-specific. Popular sentiment ran against this name scheme, however, as many students were fond of noting that a "Yeowoman" was fictitious, neither a real word nor having any historical merit. In 2003, after conducting an extensive internal study, the University replaced both names with the "Lions", as part of a larger re-branding effort, and a new logo, now a white and red lion, was brought into line with the university's new visual scheme. The name change also brought York University in line with the 92% of other Canadian universities which use a single name for both genders' sports teams. Ironically, students often refer to the female Lions teams as the "York Lionesses", despite the fact that the name "Lion" is intended to apply to both genders. [1]

SportYork offers 29 interuniversity sport teams, 12 sport clubs, 35 intramural sport leagues, special events and 10 pick-up sport activities offered daily.

York U has several athletic facilities, some of which are used for major tournaments. These include a football stadium, 4 gymnasia, 5 sport playing fields, 4 softball fields, 9 outdoor tennis courts, 5 squash courts, 3 dance/aerobic studios, an ice arena, a swimming pool, an expanding fitness centre and the new Rexall Centre (Home of the Rogers Tennis Cup).

Plans in 2005 to build a new football and soccer stadium to host the Toronto Argonauts Canadian Football League team and future football tournaments were scuttled, however, when a deal was signed by the Argos to remain at the Rogers Centre (formerly known as the SkyDome). York's proximity to many of Toronto's cricket-playing communities and role as host of an annual "York is U" cricket tournament has led to speculation that the university might act as a permanent home for Canada's growing cricket program, which headed to the World Cup in 2003 and has qualified again for 2007. No concrete plan for a permanent cricket facility has yet been developed, however.

[edit] Campuses

Keele Campus, York's primary campus, is located in North York and most of the University's faculties reside here. The Schulich School of Business and Osgoode Hall Law School each have a satellite campus in the business district of Toronto, however. That of Schulich is the Miles S. Nadal Management Centre, and that of Osgoode Hall Law School is the Professional Development Centre and is located in the Dundas West Tower at Yonge and Dundas.

Glendon College, a bilingual liberal arts faculty which conducts its own recruitment and admissions and hosts its own academic programs, is also housed on its own campus on Bayview Avenue in North York. Glendon is the only university-level institution in Southern Ontario that offers university courses in both French and English; others elsewhere in Ontario include the University of Ottawa and Laurentian University in Sudbury. A shuttle bus runs regularly between the Glendon and the Keele campuses.

[edit] Major buildings (Keele Campus)

[edit] Accolade East and West

The Accolade Project comprises two new buildings, Accolade East and Accolade West, which frame the existing Fine Arts complex on the south side of The Common at the heart of York University's Keele campus. The new structures offer a wide range of academic, exhibition and performance facilities for teaching, learning, research, creative work and public presentation. The Accolade Project offers state-of-the-art facilities for Canada's future artists and performers, and has been billed as the new flagship centre for fine arts education in the GTA. Complementing the facilities of the Faculty of Fine Arts in the Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts, Burton Auditorium, the Centre for Film and Theatre, and the Technology-Enhanced Learning Building, Accolade brings all seven fine arts departments together in one dynamic cluster as the cultural hub of the campus.

[edit] Accolade East

Both the Department of Music and the Department of Dance have a new home with dedicated, state-of-the-art facilities in Accolade East. The celebrated Art Gallery of York University has also moved into Accolade East. Located east of the Centre for Film and Theatre, facing the Schulich School of Business, Accolade East features extensive exhibition and performing arts facilities, The Sandra Faire and Ivan Fecan Theatre, and The Recital Hall, including the main box office, as well as classrooms and an open-access, 24-hour computer lab serving the entire university.

[edit] Accolade West

Located north of the Joan & Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts and adjacent to Burton Auditorium, Accolade West is used by students from across the university. A four-storey building dedicated primarily to academic studies, the building houses a full roster of 'smart' classrooms, seminar rooms and computer labs ranging in capacity from 40 to 400 seats, all featuring a full complement of cutting-edge technology, clear sightlines and accessible seating. The spacious main floor lobby, enhanced by a soaring atrium spanning the entire height of the building, offers a welcoming entrance into the Fine Arts complex. It houses the student-run gallery of the Department of Visual Arts as well as two new studios for the Fine Arts Cultural Studies program in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

[edit] Curtis Lecture Halls and the Ross Building

The Curtis Lecture Halls and Ross Building was once the entrance or main door of York University from the 1960s until the opening of Vari Hall in 1992.

Curtis Lecture Halls is a 3-4 floor complex of lecture halls of varying sizes built in 1971. Above the halls is the Ross Building, containing offices of professors, faculty offices and the Senate. Curtis Lecture Halls was named for Air Vice-Marshal Wilfrid A. Curtis, founding organizing committee and first Chancellor of York (1959-1968).

The Ross building opened in 1966 is named for the late Dr. Murray G. Ross, founding president of York (1960-1970) and law professor at the University of Toronto. It was originally called Humanities and Social Sciences building .

[edit] Vari Hall

Vari Hall is a building primarily containing lecture rooms. Built in 1992 by Raymond Moriyama, a $2 million donation and other cost were covered by George and Helen Vari, Hungarian refugees and businesspersons. The 3 storey rotunda of the hall has become a meeting place for students and, occasionally, protestors.

The building looks out towards the York Commons, a park at the university. Prior to the Hall's construction, a massive ramp provided access to the Ross Building from the Commons. York's crest adorns the outer face of the rotunda.

[edit] York Commons

York Commons is a park enclosed by the main buildings at York, including:

  • Vari Hall
  • York University Student Centre
  • York Lanes - retail mall, book store and office space for teaching staff
  • Centre for Film and Theatre
  • Accolade East and Accolade West

A roadway circulating the park and the buildings serves soley for use by TTC and GO buses. A shallow pool, often the temporary home to Canadian Geese and ducks, and a fountain are also located in the tree-lined park.

[edit] York Lanes

York Lanes is a two storey mall at the Keele campus of York University in Toronto, Ontario.

The lower level has restaurants and retail stores including the York University Bookstore at the East end. Also housed in the mall is the Campus Cove (an arcade/LAN gaming centre/pool hall) and the on-campus medical office. Offices for faculty of various departments as well as various student groups are located on the second floor.

The layout of the mall is rectangular (long in the East-West direction). It is divided into three sections (arbitrarily based on the bends of the corridor, and not on any other difference between the sections or their contents). One main corridor runs along its length. Slightly diagonal towards the South-West corner at the start (the West Market), then East-West (The Main Wing), and finally turning south for a short span at the East end (the East Market). There is one branch off to a North exit where the West Market meets the Main Wing (where the corridor bends), and there is also a door to a narrow passageway at the West end (just adjacent to the bookstore and opposite the main East exit) to another back exit to the North.

[edit] Fraternities

Fraternities and sororities are forbidden at York. In 1989, the president of York issued a regulation stating that fraternities and sororities are not given official status at York University, Presidential Regulation #5. The reasons given in this regulation are that fraternities and sororities deflect students from participation in the College system, that their commitment to exclusivity is in conflict with York's principles of inclusivity (no student club is allowed to deny membership except on the grounds of major, for those organisations with representation to their department), and are often associated with inappropriate conduct. There are, unofficially, four fraternities and two sororities on campus:

[edit] Students

York is Canada's third-largest university, with almost 50,000 students enrolled. Most students come from the Greater Toronto Area, but there is a sizeable population of students from across Canada and abroad. To serve this large population, there are 225 student clubs and organisations; two student-run publications and three broadcast programs; six art galleries; 33 on-campus eateries; and a retail mall.

[edit] Colleges

York has nine undergraduate residential colleges:

  • Atkinson 1961- named after The Toronto Star founding publisher Joseph E. Atkinson
  • Bethune 1970 - named after Dr. Norman Bethune
  • Calumet 1970 - a native nations word for "Peacepipe"
  • Founders 1965 - named after the founders of the university
  • Glendon 1966 - a combination of "glen," meaning "valley", and "Don" for the Don River.
  • McLaughlin 1968 - after Samuel McLaughlin, patron and manufacturer. (The affiliated residence, Tatham Hall, is named for a former Master of the College and Professor George Tatham. [3].)
  • Stong 1970 - named after the family on whose land is the main campus
  • Vanier 1965 - named after Governor General Georges Vanier
  • Winters 1968 - named after former federal cabinet Minister Robert Winters

[edit] Faculties and abbreviations

[edit] Seneca@York

York also shares the Keele Campus with Seneca College, Seneca@York, and offers a number of joint programs with Seneca College:

  • School of Communication Arts
  • Computer Studies
  • Biological Science and Applied Chemistry
  • Corporate and Technical Communications

[edit] Transit

Main articles: York University (YRT), York University (GO Station), and York University (TTC)

York University is a "commuter school". Over 85% of the students and 90% of the staff have home addresses in the GTA, and most of them commute by car or transit. Close to fourteen hundred buses move people through the campus each day; A proposed extension of the Yonge-University-Spadina subway line would help alleviate this problem. It would run directly under the campus, creating new stations at Keele and Finch (Finch West), at the centre of campus (York University), and at Steeles Avenue, interfacing with York Region Transit (Steeles West).

York University's Glendon and Keele campuses are served by the Toronto Transit Commission, the Keele site is also served by York Region Transit buses (both regular and Viva) from the immediate north, GO Transit express buses from several other Toronto suburbs and Greyhound buses for regional transportation. The department of Security, Parking and Transportation Services operates a shuttle service to GO Transit's York University train station on its Bradford corridor.

[edit] Controversies

A tradition of activist politics on campus has resulted in vocal demonstrations, particularly concerning issues relating to the Middle East and economic globalization. There have been criticisms of both the activists, for disrupting classes and provoking confrontations between students, and of the university administration for its response to demonstrators and activists, including expulsion and alleged police misconduct against activists.

As well, a controversy arose in 2005 regarding the sale of university land for a nearby townhouse development, and whether the developer, Tribute Communities, paid the full market price for the land. York University maintained that it was the best overall proposal. An independent investigation conducted by retired judge Edward Saunders verified that there had been no misconduct.

In October 2005, Professor David F. Noble, in opposition to York's practice of cancelling classes on the Jewish High Holidays, which originated in 1974 in deference to the university's large proportion of Jewish students and faculty members at that time, applied to the university's senate body for review of the policy. Upon the York senate's affirmation of the policy, he pledged that he would teach on those days anyway, but later decided to instead poll students in his courses, asking if they wished future classes to be cancelled out of respect for other religious holidays.

March 31, 2006 the Ontario Court of Appeal ruled that the University, and its President Dr. Lorna Marsden could be sued by plaintiff Daniel Freeman-Maloy for "misfeasance in public office."[10]

[edit] Former presidents

[edit] Most famous chancellor

[edit] Noted alumni

This list includes graduates of Osgoode Law School prior to its affiliation with York University.

[edit] Politicians

[edit] Judges

[edit] Business Leaders

[edit] Artists

[edit] Scientists

  • Steve MacLean - astronaut
  • Gordon Shepherd - Director of York’s Centre for Research on Earth & Space Science(CRESS), known for exceptional contribution to the Canadian Space Program

[edit] Athletes

[edit] Broadcasters

[edit] Other

[edit] Noted faculty

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 43°46′23.04″N, 79°30′13.07″W

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