McMaster University

About MacMaster

McMaster University (commonly referred to as McMaster or Mac) is a public research university located in Hamilton, Ontario,Canada. The main campus is located on 121 hectares (300 acres) of land near the residential neighbourhoods of Ainslie Wood andWestdale, adjacent to Hamilton's Royal Botanical Gardens. The university operates six academic faculties: the DeGroote School of Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Social Science, and Science. It is a member of the U15, a group of research-intensive universities in Canada. The university bears the name of Honourable William McMaster, a prominent CanadianSenator and banker who bequeathed C$900,000 to the founding of the university. McMaster University was incorporated under the terms of an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1887, merging the Toronto Baptist College with Woodstock College. It opened in Toronto in 1890. Inadequate facilities and the gift of land in Hamilton prompted the institution to relocate in 1930.McMaster was controlled by the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec until it became a privately chartered, publicly funded non-denominational institution in 1957.

The university is co-educational, and has over 25,000 undergraduate and over 4,000 post-graduate students. Alumni and former students of the university can be found all across Canada and in 140 countries around the world.Notable alumni include government officials, academics, business leaders and two Nobel laureates. The university ranked 4th among Canadian universities and 94th in the world according to the 2015-2016 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, 4th among Canadian universities and 96th in the world according to the 2015 Academic Ranking of World Universities,and 6th among Canadian universities and 149th in the world according to the 2014 QS World University Rankings. McMaster University is particularly well known for its medical school, which was recently ranked 25th in the world and 3rd in Canada by the Times Higher Education World University Subject Rankings in 2015. The McMaster athletic teams are known as the Marauders, and are members of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport.

• DeGroote School of Business

  We offer degree programs at the undergraduate, master’s and doctorate levels. This includes our MBA program and its popular co-op option. Our Executive Education department also offers non-degree courses for business professionals who want to upgrade their skills.

• Faculty of Engineering

  Innovative programs.  Cutting edge research. Leading faculty. Aspiring students. All these elements have been brought together in a dynamic and supportive environment by the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University to open up a world of possibilities.

• Faculty of Health Sciences

  We are unique in Canada as a Faculty that trains physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, physician assistants and midwives to work together as part of effective health care teams to provide the finest patient care.

  The programs within our Faculty cover the spectrum of health care, including schools of medicine, nursing and rehabilitation science, as well as a midwifery program and a unique and popular undergraduate Bachelor of Health Sciences program. In 2008, we started Canada's first undergraduate program for physician assistants.

• Faculty of Humanities

  The Faculty of Humanities comprises over 125 full-and part-time faculty researching and teaching in nine departments. Over 3,000 undergraduate, masters and PhD students from across Canada and around the world are enrolled in our programs. They join the thousands who have graduated from humanities programs at McMaster since its establishment in 1887.

  An institution’s declared vision is a good indicator of its deepest values and strongest aspirations. The vision of our Faculty is centered on excellence in research, innovation and teaching. Of course, visions are nothing without achievements. McMaster Humanities’ achievements are everywhere: from the research projects and innovative teaching of our faculty to the intellectual and social engagement of our students at McMaster and in the wider world.

• Faculty of Science

  Consistently ranked as one of the top research universities in Canada and one of the country’s most innovative, McMaster believes in creating an innovative and stimulating learning environment where students can prepare themselves to excel, both at the university and beyond. Science is a research-focused student-centred Faculty at the heart of McMaster University.

  Our students are taught by some of the leading scientific researchers in their fields and receive fantastic opportunities to participate in ground-breaking research. Our numerous graduate programs are respected around the world. Together we investigate worlds from the nano scale to the theoretical, and everything in between. We explore areas as diverse as the best ways to teach and learn, activities to stay healthy, and new methods to model and view the universe, among many others.

• Faculty of Social Sciences

  Departments, Schools, and Programs

  • Anthropology
  • Economics
  • Geography and Earth Sciences
  • Health, Aging, and Society
  • Indigenous Studies
  • Institute on Globalization and the Human Condition
  • Labour Studies
  • Political Science
  • Psychology, Neuroscience & Behaviour
  • Honours in Social Psychology
  • Religious Studies
  • Social Work
  • Sociology

• Geography & Earth Sciences

• Faculty of Social Sciences/Faculty of Science

• Faculty of Arts and Science

• Faculty of Business

History of MacMaster

Historically, McMaster University is the outgrowth of educational work initiated by Baptists in central Canada as early as the 1830's. Named after Senator William McMaster (1811-1887), who bequeathed substantial funds to endow "a Christian school of learning", the University was incorporated under the terms of an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario in 1887.  The new University (housed in McMaster Hall in Toronto) offered courses in arts and theology.  Degree programs began in 1890, with degrees first being conferred in 1894.

In 1930 the University moved from Toronto to Hamilton, the forty-first academic session opening on the present site. The University's lands and new buildings were secured through gifts from graduates, members of the churches of the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec, and citizens of Hamilton. 

Until 1957, the Governors of the University were elected by the Baptist Convention of Ontario and Quebec. In that year, the University became a non-denominational private institution. The historic Baptist connection was continued through the separate incorporation and affiliation of a theological school, McMaster Divinity College.

By the McMaster Act of 1968-69, McMaster Divinity College continued under its existing arrangement, but the rest of the University was organized into the Divisions of Arts, Science, and Health Sciences each headed by a vice-president (academic).

In 1974 the divisional structure of the University was dissolved and the vice-presidents replaced by a single Vice-President (Academic), now called Provost and Vice-President (Academic). The Faculties of Business, Engineering, Health Sciences, Humanities, Science, and Social Sciences were retained, each under the leadership of a dean.

The University corporation consists of up to thirty-seven governors. Academic work is under the direction of the University Senate, which is made up of representatives of the teaching and administrative staff, Governors, student body, and Alumni. The University is financed by means of endowment income, gifts, fees, and annual grants from the City of Hamilton, the Hamilton-Wentworth Region, The Province of Ontario, and the Government of Canada.

Accreditation

Institutional Accreditation or Recognition - Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities, Ontario

Rankings

• 96 - ARWU World
• 151–200 - ARWU Natural Science & Math
• 46 - ARWU Clinical Medicine
• 51-75 - ARWU Social Sciences
• 149 - QS World
• 94 - Times World
• 25 - Times Health Sciences
• 145 - US News and World Report Global Universities

Student life at MacMaster

Student groups

The main student unions on administrative and policy issues are the McMaster Students Union for full-time undergraduates, the McMaster Association of Part-Time Students for part-time undergraduates, and the McMaster Graduate Students Association for postgraduates. In addition, each faculty has its own student representative body. Students within the residence are represented by the Inter-Residence Council. There are more than 200 student organizations and clubs, covering a wide range of interests such as academics, culture, religion, social issues, and recreation. Many of them are centred on the McMaster student activity centre, the McMaster University Student Centre. The Silhouette, the student-run newspaper, is the oldest student service at McMaster University, in publication since 1929. Since 1968, the McMaster Engineering Society has published The Plumbline, the main satire magazine of McMaster University. The campus radio station CFMU-FM (93.3 FM) is Canada’s second-oldest campus radio station, and has been broadcasting since 1978.[161] MacInsiders, a popular online student-run forum and information network, has been operating since 2007 and has over 18,000 registered members. The McMaster Marching Band, created in September 2009, is a brass, reed and percussion marching band composed of 45 graduate and undergraduate students as well as members of the surrounding community who wish to participate.

The university hosts a number of honour societies, including the McMaster Honour Society and a chapter of the Golden Key International Honour Society. The university is home to two semi-professional acting companies, McMaster Musical Theatre and the McMaster Thespian Company. The McMaster Engineering Musical is an annual musical production that is written, directed, and cast by engineers. The production often features unique interpretations of popular songs or musicals. The university and the student unions do not recognize any fraternity or sororities; existing chapters operate as non-accredited off-campus organizations. Five fraternities currently operate an active chapter at the university; Pi Kappa Alpha, Omega Psi Phi, Lambda Phi Epsilon, Alpha Epsilon Pi and Phi Delta Theta and six Sororities including Tau Sigma Phi, Alpha Pi Phi, Epsilon Sigma Alpha, Delta Pi, Nu Omega Zeta, and Delta Psi Delta.

Athletics

Athletics at McMaster is managed by the university's student affairs, under their athletics and recreation department. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of the Canadian Interuniversity Sport. The university's team sports programs include baseball, basketball, football, lacrosse, rugby, soccer,swimming, volleyball, and water polo. The first major sport game played at McMaster was in 1889, when a group of alumni from Toronto Baptist College and Woodstock College played an exhibition game against one another, sparking an early intercity rivalry between McMaster students. In 1897 the university placed all physical activity and sports under the jurisdiction of a central executive committee. The varsity teams have been known as the McMaster Marauders since 1948, through a contest run by the student newspaper, The Silhouette, to name the university's men's basketball team.

The Marauders have won 11 national championships and 139 provincial champions since 1961. The men's water polo team has won the Ontario University Athletics championship 25 times, making it the Marauders' most successful team at the provincial level. The men's wrestling team has been the Marauders' most successful team at the national level, winning the Canadian Interuniversity Sport championship four times. McMaster University has graduated 34 Olympic athletes, eight Olympic coaches, two Olympic administrators and two Olympic officials. As is mandatory for all members of Canadian Interuniversity Sport, McMaster University does not provide full-ride athletic scholarships.

The university's sports facilities are located in the northeast corner of the main campus. The university has a number of sports facilities, including the David Braley Athletic Centreand the Ron Joyce Stadium. Ron Joyce Stadium includes a full-sized Canadian football field and FIFA-sized soccer pitch. The stadium features permanent seating for 6,000 and temporary seating for an additional 6,000 on the other side of the field when needed. Ron Joyce Stadium is not only used by the university's football and soccer varsity teams it is also used as the training camp for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats of the Canadian Football League and as the home stadium for the Hamilton Nationals of Major League Lacrosse.

Intramural sport leagues and tournaments have a high level of participation at McMaster. Opportunities are offered at multiple skill levels and across a variety of sports to service a range of interest and ability. Sports offered include traditional sports like volleyball, basketball, soccer and cricket, as well as less traditional events like dodgeball, inner tube water polo, and extreme potato sack racing.

Services of MacMaster

Libraries

The McMaster University Library consists of Mills Memorial Library (Humanities and Social Sciences), Innis Library in Kenneth Taylor Hall (Business), the H.G. Thode Library of Science and Engineering, and the Health Sciences Library in the Health Sciences Centre.

McMaster Museum of Art

Officially opened to the public in June 1994, the Museum contains five exhibition galleries, a paper centre and an educational access gallery. The Museum offers year-round exhibitions, as well as visiting artist talks, seminars, tours, workshops and concerts.

Athletics and Recreation

McMaster's athletic facilities include the Ronald Joyce Stadium, the Ivor Wynne Centre, the David Braley Athletic Centre, nine gymnasiums, an Olympic-sized pool, 200m indoor track, squash courts, a climbing wall, the David Braley Sport Medicine and Rehabilitation Centre and one of the largest university fitness centres in Canada.

Student Housing

The university owns and operates 12 on-campus residence buildings. Traditional residences offer co-ed, single-sex, small, medium and large floor/building choices. Apartment-style living is offered in two residences: Bates Residence and Mary E. Keyes Residence.

Conference Services

Conference Services provides custom-tailored events, arranging housing, meals, meeting requirements, parking, recreation, audio-visual and much more, so participants can feel at home and welcome at McMaster.

Research Reactor

Opened in 1959, the McMaster Nuclear Reactor was the first university-based research reactor in the British Commonwealth. Today, the MNR is one of the world's largest suppliers of the medical isotope iodine-125, used in the treatment of prostate cancer.