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niversity takes pride in and seeks to nurture its Catholic and humanistic
heritage, its concern for social issues, its interaction with the community
beyond the campus and its sensitivity to the needs of individual students. A
strong sense of community unites its alumni, students, staff, faculty, and
friends.
Mission Statement
- We are a liberal arts institution
whose roots are in the faith and tradition of the Roman Catholic Church. We
continue under its sponsorship. We provide an atmosphere hospitable to faith, in
which the academic study of the Roman Catholic tradition and the experience of
Christian life may be pursued with respect and freedom and where non- Catholic
faculty and students are recognized and supported as full and equal participants
in the University community.
- We are a university primarily concerned
with people, ideas, and values. We are an institution with a social conscience.
We are united in the belief that women and men of divergent backgrounds and
abilities should have an opportunity to learn and practice critical thought and
to realize their intellectual potential in an academic setting that is both
responsive and stimulating.
- The liberal arts, and the principles of
liberal education, stand at the core of St. Thomas University. Finding new and
more effective ways of studying the liberal arts is a priority. We contend that
one of the roles of the University is to help people put ideas and values into
action. In that belief, we offer professional programmes which reflect the
knowledge, methods, and values of the liberal arts disciplines.
- We
take pride in welcoming students who show potential, as well as those of proven
ability; those who pursue a traditional academic career and those who do not;
those who study part time as well as those who study full time. We want our
students to succeed, to grow in self-esteem, to experience the joy of
intellectual accomplishment. We provide an educational environment in which
faculty are accessible, flexible, and committed to excellence in teaching. We
encourage our faculty to examine teaching and learning in a critical manner. We
foster scholarship and research because we recognize their role in the
advancement of knowledge, and in sustaining the quality of teaching and the
intellectual life of the University.
- We believe that learning engages
the whole person; we seek to provide an environment conducive to enriching
student life. In this regard, pastoral care is of special concern. Our shared
campus with the University of New Brunswick provides our students and faculty
with the best of two worlds the advantages of a small, intimate, academic
community and the amenities of a much larger institution. We take full advantage
of this arrangement, upholding our obligations under the affiliation agreement
we have with our neighbouring institution, and seeking new avenues of
cooperation and partnership beneficial to both communities.
- We strive
to preserve the tradition of academic freedom. We seek to provide a learning and
working atmosphere that is free of discrimination, injustice, and violence, and
that is responsive, understanding, open, and fair.
- We see ourselves as
an important community resource. We welcome the opportunity to share our
facilities, talents, and expertise with others; to form partnerships with groups
and organizations whether they are next door or around the world whose
mission, goals, and objectives are in harmony with our own; and to provide
cultural, religious, artistic, athletic, and social programming that enhances
the quality of life of our city and our province.
St. Thomas
University's History
The origin of St. Thomas University dates back to 1910.
At that time, the Most Reverend Thomas F. Barry, Bishop of Chatham, invited the
Basilian Fathers of Toronto to assume charge of an institution in Chatham, New
Brunswick, providing education for boys at the secondary and junior college
levels. The institution was called St. Thomas College.
The Basilian
Fathers remained at St. Thomas until 1923. That year the school was placed under
the direction of the clergy of the Diocese of Chatham. In 1938, the Diocese of
Chatham became the Diocese of Bathurst. In 1959, a section of Northumberland
County, including within its territorial limits St. Thomas College, was
transferred from the Diocese of Bathurst to the Diocese of Saint
John.
Degree Granting Institution
From 1910 until 1934, St.
Thomas College retained its original status as a High School and Junior College.
It became a degree-granting institution upon receipt of a University Charter on
March 9, 1934, at which time the provincial legislature of New Brunswick enacted
the following:
St. Thomas College shall be held, and taken, and is
hereby declared to be a University with all and every power of such an
institution, and the Board of Governors thereof shall have full power and
authority to confer upon properly qualified persons the degree of Bachelor,
Master, and Doctor in the several arts and faculties in the manner and upon the
conditions which may be ordered by the Board of Governors.
St.
Thomas University
In 1960, an act of the provincial legislature of New
Brunswick changed the name of St. Thomas College to St. Thomas University. The
following year, the high school courses were eliminated from the curriculum. In
1962, a royal commission on higher education in New Brunswick recommended that
St. Thomas University enter into a federation agreement with the University of
New Brunswick and relocate on the campus of the latter institution.
In
1963, an agreement was drawn up between St. Thomas University and the University
of New Brunswick. According to this agreement, St. Thomas University continues
to grant its own degrees in arts and education. The agreement further provides
that St. Thomas University make regulations governing student admission to
courses leading to such degrees and retain control of the content and
administration of its curriculum.
To avoid duplication, the two
universities avail themselves of various services and facilities in common.
Thus, they share each others libraries and St. Thomas students benefit by the
scientific, cultural, and athletic facilities of the University of New
Brunswick.
Growth and Development
On September 2, 1964, St. Thomas
University opened its new premises in Fredericton. Since its relocation, the
University has undergone significant growth in the number of students, faculty,
and facilities. From less than 500 students, 22 faculty and 3 buildings at that
time, St. Thomas has grown to 2500 students, 121 full-time faculty and 12
buildings.
Expansion was well planned and St. Thomas is now nationally
recognized for the beauty of its campus and the quality of its learning
environment. In 1964, the institution consisted of the Administration Building
(now George Martin Hall), Harrington Hall (residence), and Holy Cross House
(classrooms, faculty offices and residence). Vanier Hall (residence) was added
in 1965; Edmund Casey Hall (classrooms and faculty offices) in 1969; a new wing
to Edmund Casey Hall in 1985; Sir James Dunn Hall (student area, classrooms) in
1994, and the J.B. O'Keefe Fitness Centre and the Forest Hill Residence in
1999.
The new century saw the opening of the Welcome Centre (Admissions)
and Brian Mulroney Hall (classrooms, faculty offices, and student areas) in
2001; Chatham Hall was added to the Forest Hill Residence in 2003. During that
year, St. Thomas University also began leasing classroom space in a CBC
broadcast facility for use by its journalism programme, a unique and beneficial
arrangement. Margaret Norrie McCain Hall, an academic building consisting of a
large auditorium, a two-storey student study hall, and numerous classrooms and
seminar rooms, opened for students in January 2007. |
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