University of Alberta

The University of Alberta is situated along the south bank of the North Saskatchewan River in the heart of the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

© University of Alberta
Motto: Quaecumque Vera (Latin: "Whatsoever things are true")
Founded	1908
School Type	Public
President	Roderick Fraser Effective July 2005: Indira Samarasekara
Location	Edmonton, Alberta
Enrollment	35,000
University Colours	Green and Gold
Campus Size	50 square city blocks (~100 buildings)
Sports Teams	Golden Bears (men) Pandas (women)
Mascot	Guba (men) Patches (women)

History

The University was founded in 1908. The Act creating the University had been passed two years earlier in the first session of the new Legislative Assembly, with Premier Alexander C. Rutherford as its sponsor.

Academics

The University has approximately 35,000 students, 5,600 of them in graduate studies. About 2,000 students are international students from more than 100 countries. The University has 3,200 academic staff along with about 5,000 support and trust staff. It offers post-secondary education in about 200 undergraduate and 170 graduate programs. The University of Alberta recently switched from a 9-point grading scale to the more common 4-point grading scale.

Research

Housing over 400 distinct research laboratories, the University of Alberta is one of the leading research universities in Canada. Since 1988-1989, the University of Alberta has received more than $2.6 billion from external sources for research. Currently under construction is the new $52 million National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT), a joint project between the Government of Canada, the National Research Council of Canada, the Government of Alberta, and the University of Alberta. Once completed, the 21,086-square-meter building will be one of the world's most technologically advanced research facilities.