University of Guelph

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From the College

The University of Guelph is a high-quality, student-focused, residential college that is committed to innovative programs, dynamic student-faculty interaction, and an integration of learning and research. It offers a wide range of undergraduate and graduate programs in the arts, humanities, social sciences, engineering, and natural sciences. Building on these core disciplines, Guelph also has a strong commitment to interdisciplinary programs, to a selected range of professional and applied programs, and to agriculture and veterinary medicine as areas of special responsibility.

Established in 1964 when three century-old founding colleges joined with a new college of arts and science, the University of Guelph is a vital community of more than 18,000 students on a campus of historical and modern buildings and redbrick walkways. By Canadian standards Guelph is of medium size, offering a wide range of academic programs while providing a safe, accommodating environment for learning. On-campus living is available for more than 5,200 students, with all new first-semester students guaranteed on-campus housing if they apply by the deadline.

Guelph features state-of-the-art athletic facilities that include a double arena with an Olympic-size ice surface, two pools, a field house and indoor track, aerobic and weight-training gymnasiums, six squash courts, and a climbing wall. Guelph offers thirty varsity sports teams and in recent years has fielded national and provincial championship football, hockey, track and field, and rugby teams.

With 70 percent of Guelph’s undergraduate classes consisting of fewer than 30 students, Guelph ensures a personal approach to learning with a 1:22 faculty-student ratio. The success of the Center for New Students, which assists new students with the transition from secondary school to university, is reflected in Guelph’s 91.3 percent student retention rate and a 96.7 percent graduate employment rate, both well above the Canadian national average.

The University of Guelph offers a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree as well as several diploma programs and more than eighty master’s and doctoral degree programs. The graduate calendar is available on the Web at http://www.uoguelph.ca/GraduateStudies.

The University of Guelph’s main campus is located in the southwestern Ontario region the New York Times calls “Canada’s Technology Triangle,” a locale known for its high-caliber educational institutions and its innovative companies. This city of more than 118,000 features internationally recognized folk, jazz, and writers’ festivals as well as a multipurpose performing arts center and a sports and entertainment center. Positioned within an hour’s drive of Toronto, Canada’s largest city and airline hub, Guelph offers the comfort of small-community living with the excitement of an international metropolis at its doorstep. In addition to the main campus, the University of Guelph offers degrees in Toronto at the University of Guelph–Humber and has regional campuses throughout the province of Ontario in Alfred, Kemptville, and Ridgetown.

The University of Guelph offers a number of undergraduate degree programs. Programs followed by an asterisk (*) indicate degrees that students can pursue in a traditional four-year or in a five-year co-op format. Co-ops offer students the opportunity to work in three to five different companies in paid work placements that result in one year of full-time paid work placement as an integral part of the University degree experience.

The University of Guelph offers Bachelor of Arts degrees in agricultural economics, anthropology, applied mathematics and statistics, art history, classical languages, classical studies, criminal justice and public policy, economics*, English, environmental governance, European studies, French studies, geography, history, information systems and human behavior, international development, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, psychology*, rural and development sociology, sociology, Spanish, statistics, studio art, theater studies, and women’s studies. In addition, a Bachelor of Arts and Sciences degree is available to students who excel in both arts/social sciences and sciences.

Bachelor of Applied Science degrees are available in applied human nutrition; child, youth, and family*; and adult development, families, and well-being*.

Bachelor of Commerce degrees are available in agricultural business*, hotel and food administration*, human resources management, management economics (industry and finance)*, marketing management*, public management*, real estate and housing*, and tourism management.

Bachelor of Bio-Resource Management degrees are available in environmental management and equine management. Students in these programs begin their studies in the regional campuses and finish the final two years in Guelph.

The Bachelor of Computing degree has various areas of application and is offered in a co-op format at both the general and honors levels.

Bachelor of Engineering degrees are available in biological engineering*, environmental engineering*, engineering systems and computing*, mechanical engineering*, and water resources engineering*.

Bachelor of Science degrees are available in animal biology, applied mathematics and statistics*, biological chemistry, biomedical science, biomedical toxicology*, biochemistry*, biological science, biophysics*, chemical physics*, chemistry*, earth surface science, ecology, environmental biology, environmental toxicology*, food science*, human kinetics, marine and freshwater biology, mathematics, microbiology*, molecular biology and genetics, nanoscience, nutritional and nutraceutical sciences, physical sciences, physics*, plant biology, plant biotechnology, psychology (brain and cognition), statistics, theoretical physics, wildlife biology, and zoology.

Bachelor of Science in Agriculture degrees are available in agricultural economics; crop, horticulture, and turfgrass sciences; honors agriculture; organic agriculture; and urban landscape management.

Bachelor of Science, Environmental Sciences degrees are available in earth and atmospheric science*, ecology*, environmental biology*, environmental economics and policy*, environmental monitoring and analysis*, environmental geography*, environmetrics and modeling*, and natural resources management*.

Bachelor of Science in Technology degrees are available in applied pharmaceutical chemistry* and in physics, computing, and communications*.

The University of Guelph also offers a Bachelor of Landscape Architecture degree and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree.

University of Guelph–Humber programs include honors degrees in business administration (accounting, finance, not-for-profit enterprises, marketing, and small business management and entrepreneurship); applied computing; applied science (early childhood services, family and community social services, justice studies, kinesiology, or psychology); and applied arts in media studies (journalism, public relations, digital communications, and image arts).

The academic year is divided into three semesters: fall (September through December), winter (January through April), and summer (May through August), with the majority of students in attendance during the fall and winter semesters. Fall is the normal entry point for all students.

Four-year honors degrees require the completion of eight semesters. Three-year general degrees require the completion of six semesters. A typical full-time semester totals 2.5 credits.

An important part of Guelph’s mission is to attract students from around the world and to develop a global perspective in its students. The campus attracts more than 700 international students from more than 100 countries and maintains sixty-two exchange programs with thirty countries. In addition, approximately 500 Guelph students study overseas each year in programs in Africa, Australia, Europe, and South and Central America.

More than 2,500 students participate in co-op work semesters, making the co-op program at the University of Guelph the third-largest university co-op program in Ontario. Guelph also offers more than 100 distance degree credit courses to nearly 8,000 Open Learning course registrants.

Guelph’s two libraries are linked with libraries at two other universities in the region, providing students with access to 7.5 million items through a new, state-of-the-art automated library system. Guelph’s library holdings include Canada’s largest collection of theater archives, extensive Scottish study materials, and one of the best collections of postcolonial African literature in Canada.

A 30-acre research park adjacent to the campus is home to a growing number of research-intensive industries. Industry and government trust Guelph’s faculty members to meet their research needs, offering approximately Can$129 million annually for research that ranges from workplace efficiency to developing better approaches to food packaging and marketing to ensuring the availability of clean water.

All students receive free central computing accounts, which allow access to the University’s integrated electronic services from on or off campus. These services include e-mail, access to the Internet, computer-assisted instruction, conferencing, course selection, and high-quality laser printing. All student residences are directly connected to the Internet via the campus high-speed network. Off-campus students have dial-up access to both free and chargeable modems.

The campus also features two art galleries, a Sculpture Park, two performance stages, and a new covered field house. The 408-acre Arboretum has nearly 5 miles of jogging trails and nature paths.

Full-time tuition for the 2009 academic year ranged from Can$2387 to Can$2862 per semester for Canadian residents and from Can$7748 to Can$10,714 per semester for international students. Mandatory fees totaled approximately Can$520 per semester, with slight variations according to each college. International students were obliged to purchase health-care coverage through the University. The cost for international students to attend Guelph for two semesters, including tuition and academic fees, health coverage, housing, clothing, food, and books, totaled between Can$26,000 and Can$30,000.

The University of Guelph is committed to ensuring that a university education remains an attainable goal. In total, Can$12.8 million in annual student financial aid is given in the form of scholarships, awards, bursaries, and work-study opportunities. There are scholarships (ranging from Can$500 to Can$6000) and bursaries specifically designed for international students who are allowed to work on and off campus.

The percentage of Guelph’s 760 full-time professors who hold the Ph.D. degree or its equivalent is 99.9 percent, and all strive to bring the excitement and process of research into the learning environment. More than 100 professors have been recognized for their excellence in teaching by external agencies, their peers, and students. No comparably sized university in the country has garnered more 3M awards, Canada’s most prestigious university teaching honor. Guelph numbers 19 Fellows of the Royal Society of Canada among its researchers.

Students are involved at all levels of University government, from the residence council to the Senate and the Board of Governors. The Central Student Association (CSA), which represents all undergraduate students, oversees more than fifty student clubs that range from political to recreational. In addition, there are more than fifty academic and other student-government organizations located on campus. Students also have access to a number of service groups on campus, which range from the Ontario Public Interest Research Group to a community radio station and Habitat for Humanity.

Ontario applicants must present the Ontario Secondary School Diploma (OSSD), with a minimum of 6 4U or 4M courses and specific subject requirements for the degree program desired. English 4U is required for all degree programs. For those outside the Ontario secondary school system, the secondary graduation certificate that would admit a student to a university in his or her home country is normally acceptable. Applicants must also satisfy the specific subject requirements for the program desired. Students admitted on the basis of having completed the International Baccalaureate (I.B.) are granted credit for higher-level courses with grades of 5 or better. Applicants who have completed Advanced Placement (AP) exams with a minimum grade of 4 are eligible to receive University credit to a maximum of 2 credits, which is subject to the discretion of the appropriate faculty. United States applicants are required to have a minimum grade point average of 3.0 and a combined SAT score of at least 1100 (critical reading and math components) or an ACT score of at least 24. Applicants should include specific subject requirements at the highest secondary school level offered.

Interested students should call Admission Services or refer to its Web site at http://uoguelph.ca/admissions for application and deadline dates, detailed admission information, and downloadable application forms. Students interested in University of Guelph–Humber programs should contact Admission Services at http://www.guelphhumber.ca.

For additional information about admissions, academic programs, or University visits and tours, students should contact: