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HistoryImage:Yorkulogo.png Logo of the university 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. Murray Ross, a figure that continues to be honoured today at the University in several ways, was York's first President. 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. The Rexall Centre tennis stadium, built in 2004, is a perennial host of the Canada Masters tennis tournament. 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. AcademicsImage:Canada-toronto-york-university-01.jpg View from Vari Hall York University attracts and grooms some of the most promising students of Canada and has produced the current directors and CEOs of almost all the major banks in Canada (Royal Bank of Canada, Scotiabank, TD Bank, BMO), the largest and most prominent media networks in Canada (CTV, Rogers Communications, CBC), and numerous judges, diplomats, and senior politicians including the current Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada, the Minister of Finance of Canada, the Attorney General of Ontario, the President of the Privy Council of Canada and the Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations.
Canada's youngest billionaire, Alex Shnaider, is also a graduate of York University. York's approximately 1,350 full-time faculty and academic librarians are represented by the York University Faculty Association. Contract faculty, teaching assistants, and graduate assistants are represented by CUPE Local 3903. FacultiesYork 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 (which ranked 1st among Canadian business schools in 2006 by The Economist, The Financial Times, and Forbes and 3rd in the world in a global ranking of MBA programs conducted by the Aspen and World Resources Institutes, two US think tanks) 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. The Osgoode Hall Law School is one of Canada's oldest and most prestigious 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. The law school is a top tier internationally recognized institution with several flexible degrees available including the Osgoode-NYU LLB/JD degree in conjunction with New York University School of Law. 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 Ph.D. program at York in Social and Political Thought consistently ranks as one of Canada's best PhD programs as reflected by the number of times York U students in this program have won the award for best PhD thesis in Canada. 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.
Canadian Centre for German and European Studies, Centre for Atmospheric Chemistry, Centre for Feminist Research, Centre for International and Security Studies, Centre for Jewish Studies, Centre for Practical Ethics, Centre for Public Law and Public Policy, Centre for Refugee Studies, Centre for Research in Earth and Space Science, Centre for Research in Mass Spectrometry, Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean, Centre for Research on Work and Society, Institute for Research and Innovation in Sustainability, Institute for Research on Learning Technologies, York Institute for Social Research, The Jack and Mae Nathanson Centre for the Study of Organized Crime and Corruption, LaMarsh Centre for Research on Violence and Conflict Resolution, Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies, York Centre for Asian Research, York Centre for Vision Research, York Institute for Health Research
York is also the only university in Canada with specialized programs in meteorological sciences at both the undergraduate and graduate level. LibrariesYork's six libraries contain more than six-and-a-half million items including more than two million books and subscriptions to over 13,000 electronic journals. Scott Library is the largest of these and houses collections in the humanities, social sciences, and fine arts. Science-related items are at the Steacie Science Library, while the Osgoode Hall Law School houses the largest law library in the Commonwealth. The Leslie Frost library is located at Glendon College and houses collections in all disciplines with a significant proportion of research materials in the French language. The Peter F. Bronfman Business Library, in addition to print materials, gives access to dozens of e-resources such as the Bloomberg Terminal. Finally, 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. The Government of Ontario announced in December 2006 that it would relocate the Archives of Ontario from rented facilities on Grenville Street to the Keele campus. A new building will house the archives and provide room for university researchers. The building is scheduled for completion in 2009. AthleticsImage:PinkyJRT4 wb.jpg Pinky Ly sporting a York University dog t-shirt 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 "Yeomen" was deemed to be 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). In 2005, plans were made to build a new football and soccer stadium to host the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League as well as future football tournaments. These plans were scuttled, however, when a deal was signed by the Argos to remain at the Rogers Centre. 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 cricket program.[citation needed] CampusesKeele 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 the Toronto Eaton Centre. 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 Toronto. 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. Major buildings (Keele Campus)Accolade East and WestThe 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. Accolade EastBoth 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. Accolade WestLocated 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. Curtis Lecture Halls and the Ross BuildingThe 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 . Vari HallVari 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. York CommonsYork Commons is a park enclosed by the main buildings at York, including:
A roadway circulating the park and the buildings serves solely 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. York LanesYork 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. FraternitiesFraternities 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 operating on campus:
The only exception to this general rule is the legal fraternity Phi Delta Phi at Osgoode Hall Law School. It was given special dispensation when the law school became part of the university as the fraternity's history with the law school dated back to 1896. StudentsYork 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. Undergraduate students at York are represented by the York Federation of Students, a student-elected body that sponsors most of the clubs and engages in lobbying with the university administration and the provincial and federal governments. While the YFS is one of the largest student associations in Canada (by virtue of York's large undergraduate population), it has often come under fire for being too political rather than focusing on student specific issues.[citation needed] CollegesYork has nine undergraduate residential colleges:
Faculties and abbreviations
Seneca@YorkThe Keele campus is host to a satellite facility of Seneca College, Seneca@York, and York University offers a number of joint programs with Seneca College:
TransitYork University is a "commuter school". Over 85% of the students and 90% of the staff have home addresses in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), and most of them commute by car or transit[citation needed]. 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. ControversiesA 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. On March 31, 2006, in the case of Freeman-Maloy v. Marsden, 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] Presidents
Chancellors
Noted alumniThis list includes graduates of Osgoode Hall Law School prior to its affiliation with York University. Politicians
Judges
Business Leaders
Artists
Scientists
Athletes
Broadcasters
Other
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