St. Mary's University College, Calgary

Infobox University
name = St. Mary's University College


motto = In Lumine Tuo Videbimus Lumen(In Your Light I See Light)
established = September 18th, 1986
type = Catholic & Open To All Faiths
president = Dr. Terrence Downey
city = Calgary
state = Alberta
country = Canada
students = 500+
campus = Urban, Enclosed Hilltop
athletics = Lightning
website = http://www.stmu.ab.ca

St. Mary's University College is a private Catholic liberal arts institution in the city of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The college officially became a university college on June 16, 2004, and granted its first degrees on September 25, 2004. St. Mary's celebrated it's 20th anniversary as a chartered educational institution on September 18, 2006.

St. Mary's cherishes dearly its Catholic roots, but also prides itself greatly on encouraging people of all faiths, and those searching for faith, to enroll and actively participate in all aspects of student life, academic and social. A major part of St. Mary's mission is to live in the ecumenical spirit of the Church, and bring together in love and dialogue, and through academic fervour, all faiths and peoples to create greater understanding and co-operation between what can often be deeply divided groups. The faculty and staff reflects the great diversity St. Mary's treasures. This is the basic character of St. Mary's, fundamentally Catholic but a haven for, and crossroads of, peoples, ideas, and faiths.

Serving as president of St. Mary's for the past 6 years has been Dr. Terrence Downey. As well, currently serving as V.P. Academic and dean is Dr. Mark Charlton. Currently serving as Department Chairs are Dr. Glen Chilton (Chair Mathematics & Natural Science's), Dr. Glenn Wilkinson (Chair Social Science's), and Dr. Howard Hopkins (Chair Humanities).

It was during Dr. Downey's presidency that St. Mary's successfully achieved degree-granting status, thus elevating it from the status of simple college, and being primarily a transfer school, to being a university college.

St. Mary's currently offers three degrees: A three-year Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in General Studies; a three-year Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in English; a three-year Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in History; a three year Bachelor of Arts with a concentration in Psychology, a four-year Bachelor of Arts with a major in English, and a two-year Bachelor of Education degree. There are also active plans for three-year Bachelor of Arts degrees with concentrations in Social Justice, Catholic Studies, Canadian Studies, and Family Studies.

In addition to academic expansion, as of early 2007 the St. Mary's campus has undergone a major change. The land upon which the campus is situated accommodates several buildings, dating from the early 1900's, designated as provincial heritage buildings, including a wooden water tower. As the buildings have heritage status, this legally forbids any alteration of their exterior, with the exception of repair, a prohibition which does not extend to their interior. Thus these buildings have been transformed into new classrooms, a bookstore, common areas and cafeteria. The watertower has been braced to protect it from collapse, and repainted in its original colour, Canadian Pacific Railway red, the only colour legally allowed due to its heritage status.

St. Mary's Athletes and teams proudly sport the name "Lightning" and their team colours are blue and silver.

External links

* [http://www.stmu.ab.ca Official site]