University of Victoria Libraries

The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary institution established in the province of British Columbia in 1903. It was reincorporated as the University of Victoria in 1963.

UVic hosts Ocean Networks Canada's deep-water seafloor research observatories VENUS and NEPTUNE, the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions, and two Environment Canada labs: the Canadian Center for Climate Modelling and Analysis and the Water and Climate Impacts Research Centre. The Ocean Climate Building housed at the Queenswood location is dedicated solely to ocean and climate research. The Institute of Integrated Energy Systems is a leading center for research on sustainable energy solutions and alternative energy sources. The University of Victoria is also home to Canada's first and only Indigenous Law degree program along with dedicated research centers for Indigenous and Environmental law. The Faculty of Law was instrumental in the establishment of the Akitsiraq Law School by founding its first class in Iqualit, Nunavat. Along with The University of British Columbia and Simon Fraser University, UVic jointly founded and co-operates TRIUMF, Canada's national laboratory for particle and nuclear physics, which houses the world's largest cyclotron. Altogether UVic operates nine academic faculties and schools including the Faculty of Law and Peter B. Gustavson School of Business.

The campus is situated 7 km north of downtown Victoria and is spread over 403 acres. UVic also has an offsite study center at the Jeanne S. Simpson Field Studies Resource Center in Lake Cowichan. The six-hectare Queenswood campus was acquired from the Sisters of St. Ann and converted into a national laboratory. The Legacy Art Gallery on Yates Street and a proposed redevelopment on Broad Street make up the properties owned by the university in downtown Victoria.

Based in the capital city of British Columbia, the university has educated many prominent jurists and politicians including Jody Wilson-Raybould, Rona Ambrose, and Russell Brown. In recent years, the university counts amongst its alumni the founders of several leading technology companies, including Flickr, Slack, and Hootsuite. UVic alumni and faculty have also worked on Nobel Prize winning research teams. As of 2020, 7 Guggenheim Fellows, 3 Killiam Prize winners, 14 members of the Order of Canada, 11 Rhodes Scholars and 43 Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada have been affiliated with the university.

History

The University of Victoria is the oldest post-secondary institution in British Columbia, established in 1903 as an affiliated college of McGill University before gaining full autonomy through a charter on July 1, 1963. Victoria College, which had been established in 1903 as an affiliated college of McGill University, gained autonomy and full degree granting status on March 1, 1963. The non-denominational university had enjoyed 60 years of prior teaching tradition at the university level as Victoria College. This 60 years of history may be viewed conveniently in three distinct stages.

Between the years 1903 and 1915, Victoria College was affiliated with McGill University, offering first- and second-year McGill courses in Arts and Science. Administered locally by the Victoria School Board, the college was an adjunct to Victoria High School and shared its facilities. Both institutions were under the direction of a single Principal: E.B. Paul, 1903–1908; and S.J. Willis, 1908–1915.

The opening in 1915 of the University of British Columbia, established by Act of Legislature in 1908, obliged the college to suspend operations in higher education in Victoria. University of British Columbia was created in 1908. A single, public provincial university, it was modeled on the American state university, with an emphasis on extension work and applied research. The governance was modeled on the provincial University of Toronto Act of 1906 which established a bicameral system of university government consisting of a senate (faculty), responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to provide a link between the two bodies and to perform institutional leadership.

In 1920, as a result of local demands, Victoria College began the second stage of its development, reborn in affiliation with the University of British Columbia. Though still administered by the Victoria School Board, the college was now completely separated from Victoria High School, moving in 1921 into the magnificent Dunsmuir mansion known as Craigdarroch Castle. Over the next two decades, under Principals E.B. Paul and P.H. Elliott, Victoria College built a reputation for thorough and scholarly instruction in first- and second-year arts and science. It was also during this period that future author Pierre Berton edited and served as principal cartoonist for the student newsletter, ''The Microscope''. Between the years 1921–1944, the enrolment at Victoria College did not very often reach above 250. However, in 1945, 128 servicemen returned from World War II. This pushed enrolment up to 400, and in 1946; 600.

The final stage, between the years 1945 and 1963, saw the transition from two-year college to university, under Principals J.M. Ewing and W.H. Hickman.
During this period, the college was governed by the Victoria College Council, representative of the parent University of British Columbia, the Greater Victoria School Board, and the provincial Department of Education. Physical changes were many. In 1946 the college was forced by po