The University of British Columbia is situated on two major campuses (Vancouver and Kelowna) that include some of the most spectacular natural settings in North America. More than 42,000 students attend the main Vancouver Campus just a few kilometres from the city’s downtown, while 3, 500 students attend the UBC Okanagan campus in Kelowna (opened September 2005). UBC also has a downtown campus located at Robson Square, is a member of the Great Northern Way consortium, a new downtown site for high-tech research and development, and the UBC Asia Pacific Regional Office in Hong Kong (opened May 2005). UBC’s strong academic and research programs, high quality faculty, diverse student body and proximity to the Pacific Rim combine to make it one of Canada’s finest universities.
UBC is a research-intensive university. On the Vancouver campus, teaching and research are conducted in 12 faculties and all disciplines, including a wide range of professional programs. Many of its physical and life sciences programs, Asian studies and environmental programs are leaders in their fields. UBC Okanagan offers a variety of teaching and research opportunities in the following areas: the Irving K. Barber School of Arts and Sciences, and the faculties of creative and critical studies, education, engineering, management, nursing and social work.
The university’s outstanding faculty are recognized with many national and international research and teaching awards and prizes, including the 1993 Nobel Prize for Chemistry awarded to the late Michael Smith. UBC scholars are among the most cited Canadian researchers in the world’s top scientific and technical journals. UBC consistently ranks among the world’s 50 best universities in rankings by Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Times Higher Education Supplement, one of only two Canadian universities able to make that claim. More than 150 UBC faculty are fellows of the Royal Society of Canada. UBC researchers are members of 18 of the 19 networks in the federal government’s Networks of Centres of Excellence program, and one network is headquartered at UBC. UBC has also been allocated 156 Canada Research Chairs over the five-year term of the CRC program. UBC consistently ranks among the top 10 North American universities for the number of spin-off companies created from research each year.
Outstanding students from British Columbia, Canada and abroad add to a stimulating and challenging intellectual environment. With its First Nations Longhouse, Downtown Eastside Learning Exchange, and Access and Diversity services, UBC endeavours to be accessible to all. The university library has 22 branches and service divisions, including three that serve off-campus affiliated teaching hospitals and one at Robson Square. UBC’s athletics and recreation department offers a wide range of recreational sport and fitness opportunities to more than 40,000 students annually and also administers one of Canada’s most successful interuniversity athletic programs.
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Academic and campus services
Academic advising, access and diversity services, art galleries, Asian centre, awards and financial aid, bookstore, botanical gardens, career and counselling services, child care facilities, First Nations House of Learning, health services, herbarium, international student services, learning exchange, math tutorial centre, museums, performing arts centre, student services centre, wellness education outreach, writing centre.
First-year student programs
Two-part orientation program consisting of summer orientation (including tours, academic and campus resource information), and Imagine UBC, which groups every first-year student by common class and faculty and senior student and faculty mentors. A similar program, called Create UBC Okanagan, has been developed for UBC Okanagan. Academic programs at UBC’s Vancouver campus include Arts One (18-credit integrated, interdisciplinary introduction to the humanities), Foundations (24-credit introduction to themes of the faculty of arts), Science One (21-credit program in chemistry, biology, math and physics), coordinated science program (cohort-based science program involving coordinated group of teaching faculty), UBC: It’s Yours, student success workshops, science first lectures, residence life program.
Housing
On-campus: Housing is available to single students, couples, and families. UBC’s Vancouver campus accommodates 6,500 students on campus, 800 student/faculty/staff and families in University apartments and Acadia Park residences. Space is reserved for first-year students who are offered major entrance scholarships as well as first-year undergraduate students admitted directly from high schools outside the B.C. lower mainland. There are different types of residences: co-ed, single student residences (traditional room/board style and shared suited-style), unfurnished year-round residences for single students and couples without children as well as year-round family rental units in unfurnished apartments and townhouses. Three meal plans are available, with details on UBC’s web site at www.foodserv.ubc.ca/residencedining/mealplan.htm UBC Okanagan has residence space for 335 students. New residence space for 360 more students is currently under construction.
Undergraduate: Awards fall into two categories: those based on outstanding academic achievement (scholarships, fellowships, prizes, medals) and those based on assessed financial need (loans, bursaries). Students entering from secondary school can access several award programs: major entrance scholarships, the President’s Entrance Scholarships, entrance bursaries and other awards. Detailed information is available on UBC’s web site at http://students.ubc.ca/finance
Graduate: Graduate awards fall into two categories: those based on outstanding academic achievement (scholarships, fellowships, prizes, medals) and those based on assessed financial need (loans, bursaries). All students in PhD programs are also offered a tuition award for their first four years of study. Detailed information is available at the Faculty of Graduate Studies’ web site: www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/index.asp |
