Showing 23 results

Authority record
Corporate body

Mount Royal University

  • MRUASC-AR0001
  • Corporate body
  • 1910-

Mount Royal University is a public university in Calgary, Alberta.

Mount Royal University Library

  • MRUASC-AR0009
  • Corporate body
  • 1910-

Mount Royal University Library is the academic library of Mount Royal University.

Phi Theta Kappa (Mount Royal College)

  • MRUASC-AR0012
  • Corporate body
  • 1991-1998

Alpha Upsilon Delta was the official name of the local chapter of the Phi Theta Kappa academic honour society at Mount Royal College. Founded at Mount Royal College as the 1000th chapter of Phi Theta Kappa on November 19, 1991, the chapter was active on campus until 1998 when it was discontinued. While affiliated with Mount Royal College, Phi Theta Kappa members participated in organizing student events, producing a society newsletter, organizing annual induction ceremonies, and maintaining office hours for the benefit of their membership.

Phi Theta Kappa is an international honour society for two-year colleges designed for students with high academic achievement. The society was formed in 1918 in Jackson, Mississippi and is still active today with 1250 chapters across the United States, Canada, and internationally. The goal of the Phi Theta Kappa society is to foster academic excellence by providing opportunities for leadership training, promoting an interchange of ideas, and to ingrain scholars with a desire for continuing education.

Communist Party of Canada

  • MRUASC-AR0014
  • Corporate body
  • 1921-

"The Communist Party of Canada was founded in 1921. We have a proud, 90 year history of fighting for a socialist future for Canada. We are a small party with big ideas. The Communist Party is a registered Federal political party, and we have successfully campaigned for that democratic right, and pushed forward the legal rules on political parties in Canada. But the Communist Party is a very different type of organization from the other political parties in Canada and is active in much more than elections."

"In fighting for fundamental change, the Communists express the ideals of vast numbers of Canadians who aspire to a new, humane social order free from exploitation and oppression. In this sense we cherish and promote the highest quality of the working class – devotion to the liberating socialist cause, the cause of human freedom and happiness. We seek to cultivate this humanist ethic among the working people. Since the founding of the Communist Party of Canada in 1921, Canadian communists have held high the banner of peace, Canadian independence, democracy and socialism. They have always stood with the struggles of the workers and farmers for a better life, often providing leadership for those struggles. Today we are ninety five years stronger as a Party — still growing, developing, active and relevant."

Communist Party-Alberta

  • MRUASC-AR0015
  • Corporate body
  • 1930-

"The Communist Party - Alberta advocates socialism and working class power. We take part in democratic struggles as well as elections."

Board of Governors (Mount Royal University)

  • MRUASC-AR0016
  • Corporate body
  • 1910-

The Board of Governors is the governance authority for Mount Royal University. The main responsibility of the Board of Governors is to act as senior oversight and to guarantee the activities of Mount Royal are in line with its mandate, vision, and mission.

The Act to Incorporate Mount Royal College was passed on December 16th, 1910. However, the Board of Governors had their first meeting in August 1910 to establish an academic and financial plan for the college. At its inception, the full Board consisted of thirty-three members and met annually. The Executive Committee, which consisted of the four officers plus six regular Board members, met monthly and was given the authority to transact all of the business of the Board and College between meetings of the full Board of Governors. During Mount Royal's years as a private college, members of the Board of Governors were drawn primarily from the United Church network due to the school’s Methodist roots. This tendency changed after the college became public with Board members coming from a wider base including members of the Conservative Party, the Calgary Board of Education, and volunteers active in local health and community organizations. During the transition to a public college the Board briefly changes its name to the 'Board of Trustees' in order to take over the assets, liabilities, and administration of the private college. The name of the Board reverted back to the Board of Governors in January of 1970.

The Colleges Act of 1969 changed the composition of the Board to include the college president, a Board chair, six public members chosen by the Government, one member nominated by the Student's Association, and one member nominated by the Faculty Association. In 1982 the first support staff member was added to the Board of Governors making the total member number eleven. In 1972 the Board of Governors’ standing committees also underwent restructuring to include members of the faculty, student body, and administration for the first time. The 1990s saw another notable change to the composition of the Board as Mount Royal was actively trying to become a degree granting institution. Community volunteers were replaced with prominent business leaders who were considered to be strategically placed to push Mount Royal’s interests.

Currently the Board of Governors consists of thirteen members made up of the Board chair, the university president, a faculty representative, a support staff representative, the president of the Student’s Association, and eight public members. The Board continues to be directed by several statues and regulations that direct its responsibilities, the foremost being the Post-Secondary Leaning Act. The entire Board has an obligation to meet at least four times a year and one meeting must be opened to the public. The Board of Governors continues to carry out much of its work through standing committees, of which there are currently five: Academic Affairs Committee, Audit and Risk Committee, Finance Committee, Campus Development Committee, Governance and Nominating Committee, and the Human Resources Committee.

Office of the Registrar (Mount Royal University)

  • MRUASC-AR0020
  • Corporate body
  • 1910-

The Office of the Registrar is the official repository of student records and provides administrative services to Mount Royal students. The office has existed since the start of Mount Royal's operations in 1910, with the first person to hold the office being Professor John H. Beazley. The primary duties of the Registrar is to provide registration and withdrawal assistance, process tuition and other fee payments, print official and unofficial transcripts, confirm graduation eligibility, maintain student records, and act as a student resource for academic and administrative policies.

Mount Royal University Foundation

  • MRUASC-AR0026
  • Corporate body
  • 1989-

The Mount Royal University Foundation is a philanthropic society affiliated with Mount Royal University. The Foundation seeks out and encourages private sector support of Mount Royal University and stewards collected funds. The Foundation supports Mount Royal University's goal, to provide an exceptional undergraduate experience, by raising funds, working as a community ambassador, endowing student scholarships, and supporting innovative programs and campus spaces.

Great West Newspapers Limited Partnership

  • MRUASC-AR0030
  • Corporate body
  • 1995-

"Great West Newspapers Limited Partnership is a chain of news outlets throughout Alberta. Headquartered in St. Albert, Alberta, the company is co-owned by Jamison Newspapers and Glacier Ventures International Corporation. Each organization has a 50% stake in the company.
Great West Newspapers LP is committed to producing quality journalism in Alberta, providing credible and reliable news information in both online and print formats. The company holds its readers in the highest regard because we believe that producing quality journalism results in a strong product for both the public and our advertisers. We are dedicated to providing the best community news in Canada!"

Mount Royal University Alumni Association

  • MRUASC-AR0039
  • Corporate body
  • 1982-

The Alumni Association of Mount Royal College was incorporated under the Societies Act of the Province of Alberta on May 27, 1982. When Mount Royal College became a university, the organization was renamed the Mount Royal University Alumni Association.

Mount Royal Faculty Association

  • MRUASC-AR0041
  • Corporate body
  • 1966-

The Mount Royal Faculty Association (MRFA) is a trade union that represents all full-time, limited-term, and contract academic staff at Mount Royal University. The Association "...provides a collective voice for faculty, promotes tenure and academic freedom, advocates for the highest standards of professionalism in higher education, and upholds the values of diversity, equity and human rights." The main purposes of the MRFA are to negotiate the collective agreement with the employer (the Board of Governors of Mount Royal University), and to represent members in the grievance process. The Association also provides professional development services for members, represents faculty in the shared academic governance of MRU, and advocates for post-secondary education.

Department of Financial Services (Mount Royal University)

  • MRUASC-AR0042
  • Corporate body
  • [19--]-

The Financial Services Department is responsible for the accurate and timely capture, analysis, and reporting of all financial information for Mount Royal University, the Mount Royal University Foundation, and the Mount Royal Day Care Society.

Mount Royal University Archives and Special Collections

  • MRUASC-AR0044
  • Corporate body
  • 2005-

The mandate of the Archives and Special Collections is to support teaching, learning, and scholarship through the development of archival holdings and specialized library collections.

Cougars Athletics and Recreation (Mount Royal University)

  • MRUASC-AR0045
  • Corporate body
  • [19--]-

Cougar Athletics and Recreation is a Mount Royal University department that manages and promotes the university's athletics program and other recreational sport activities and events on campus.

Mount Royal University Conservatory

  • MRUASC-AR0051
  • Corporate body
  • 1910-

The Mount Royal Conservatory of Music was established in 1911 as one of the original divisions of Mount Royal College. The Conservatory was formed to prepare students for local examinations in music offered by the Toronto Conservatory and the Royal Academy of Music. The original vision for the Conservatory also included a Fine Art School and a School of Expression, Physical Culture, and Dramatic Arts. The Conservatory opened, under the musical directorship of Wilfred V. Oaten, with an enrollment of seventy-five students, but enrollment grew quickly to ninety-five students by 1913-1914. The Conservatory was originally designed to be financially separate from Mount Royal College and self-sustaining. The majority of its funding came from student fees, with the college only responsible for covering deficits. As a result of this funding arrangement, student registration and retention numbers were always vital to the Conservatory’s success. In the early days of Mount Royal College the Conservatory accounted for the majority of student registrations and played an integral role in establishing Mount Royal’s reputation.
Musical instruction formed the basis of the majority of the Conservatory’s early programs. Instruction was provided for the piano, violin, organ, voice, musical theory, and was expanded to include woodwinds and saxophone in the 1920s. Significantly, the Conservatory started offering examinations from the Toronto Conservatory of Music starting in 1915 and became a location for their administration in the west. In addition to the two-year diplomas offered in affiliation with Toronto Conservatory, Mount Royal originally only offered a single two-year diploma of its own for pianoforte teachers. Music was a common aspect of college life during Mount Royal’s formative years. Conservatory students and faculty provided music for campus events, social clubs, and performed for local Methodist churches and with their choirs.. The Conservatory was also especially well known for its orchestras. Two of the most well-known and successful orchestras were the Mount Royal Junior College Symphony Orchestra, which was founded in 1937 by Director Jascha Galperin, and the Calgary Youth Orchestra, which was formed in 1968 by Frank Simpson. When the Calgary Symphony was disbanded from 1939-1955 the Conservatory’s Junior Orchestra became Calgary’s only opportunity for large-scale musical entertainment, cementing the orchestra’s prominence in Calgary. The Mount Royal Junior College Symphony Orchestra was renamed the Calgary Symphony Orchestra under the directorship of Clayton Hare in 1949, and underwent a large restructuring in 1965 under Hare’s replacement, John S. Bach. Bach divided the orchestra into a junior orchestra, an intermediate orchestra, and the Southern Alberta Youth Orchestra. By the time Mount Royal College moved to the Lincoln Park campus in 1972, the Conservatory had three string orchestras, two full symphony orchestras, five choirs, and a range of brass and woodwind ensembles. All of this cemented the Conservatory’s position in the burgeoning Calgary Arts community and garnered the college much praise and esteem.

The 1940s and 50s saw a large amount of growth for Mount Royal College and the Conservatory. To better accommodate the growing space needs of the Conservatory, Mount Royal opened a branch Conservatory location in the North Hill community of Calgary in 1954 which could fit up to one hundred students. During John Garden’s term of college Principal (1942-1958), he made moves to bring the Conservatory more formally under the administrative and financial structure of the rest of the College by establishing the Conservatory of Music Committee, which included the Principal and a member of the Board of Governors. This committee created formal employment contracts for Conservatory faculty, granted a salary to the Conservatory Director (as opposed to a percentage of student fees, as had been the previous practice), and established a formal portion of the college budget for the Conservatory, ending some of the Conservatory’s reliance on student fees. The 1950s also saw the introduction of a new music examination system that led to certificate and diploma awards and the adoption of an external examination process. The Conservatory also started offering its first degree program in affiliation with Trinity College and expanded musical instruction to cover the accordion, tympani, and xylophone.
The School of Expression, Physical Culture, and Dramatic Arts within the Conservatory was focused on providing instruction in public speaking, elocution, and dramatic arts and offered courses in English literature, composition, voice culture, philosophy of expression, and storytelling. By 1915-1916 the School of Expression started offering its first two year diploma in expression. Similar to the musical instruction programs, the School of Expression had a significant impact on the art and culture community outside of the College. Faculty and students produced regular dramatic productions, put on public performances, and organized dramatic readings by popular artists of the day. The speech and drama portions of the School of Expression curriculum were expanded in scope with the appointment of instructor Leona Paterson, a pioneer in speech arts and future Conservatory director, in 1944. Some of her successful initiatives for the school included the formation of the Reader’s Theatre and the Children’s Theatre in 1951. She also introduced new areas of study such as radio and television broadcasting, a speech-therapy program, a new theatre arts program, and implemented a board of examiners for speech arts, similar to that for musical examinations. The Conservatory of Music changed its name, to the Conservatory of Music and Speech Arts, for the 1961-1962 academic year, to reflect the growing prominence of the speech programs offered through the School of Expression.
The Fine Arts School was established as part of the Conservatory in 1911 but has had a less consistent presence than other areas of instruction, with the school being disbanded and reformed as student interest and registration waxed and waned. Similar to the School of Expression and the musical instruction program, the Fine Arts School offered classes that supported areas of instruction offered by other college departments as well as offering stand alone classes for members of the public. Early fine arts instruction focused on watercolors, oil painting, leather tooling, china painting, metal working, wood carving, and drawing. During the 1920s the Fine Arts School offered several diploma options, including a two year diploma in freehand drawing, a two year diploma in the history of art, and a one year diploma in design. After a period of inactivity, the Fine Arts Division was reformed in late 1965, under the directorship of Peter J. Hodgson, in the hopes of eventually expanding to diplomas. However, the program was not a success and it was discontinued by 1969-1970.
Instruction in the dramatic arts was an early component of the Conservatory’s instruction program, and is listed as a part of the School of Expression starting in the 1915-1916 academic year. Many of the earliest theater arts courses were strongly connected to the Speech Arts program, focusing on elocution and performance voice work. The theatre arts program was expanded in the 1930s with the introduction of two educational streams for students. The first stream was catered to training theatrical performers and the second stream focused on training technical staff for TV and theatre productions. Director Cyril Mossop briefly introduced a ballet program in 1944 but the program only lasted until Mossop left the Conservatory in 1950. Mount Royal revisited offering a School of Dance, as part of the Faculty of Continuing Education and Extension, in partnership with Alberta Ballet Company, in 1984, but it was ultimately unsuccessful and discontinued in 1987. With the move to the Lincoln Park campus, the number of professional quality facilities and theatre spaces that students had access to greatly increased. Threatre students staged productions on campus, in the new Wright and Leacock Theatres, that were open to campus members and the larger Calgary community. Starting in 1984, Mount Royal expanded to offer off-campus theatrical productions in the form of the popular ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ summer plays. Shakespeare in the Park productions originally took place in Olympic Plaza in downtown Calgary, before moving to Prince’s Island Park, and were free events. Shakespeare in the Park productions became extremely popular, with the 20th anniversary performance of Julius Caesar in 2004 drawing over 40 000 attendees from July 2-11. Due to program cuts by the Alberta provincial government in 2013, the theater arts program, in its entity, was cut from the Conservatory. At that time, Shakespeare in the Park, was taken over by Theatre Calgary, and continues to offer free annual Shakespeare productions every summer that remain a popular fixture in the Calgary arts scene.
The 1980’s also saw considerable expansion and growth for the Conservatory. Director Norman Burgess (1978-1992) introduced a three-stream approach for Conservatory students with different levels of focus, learning outcomes, and instructional faculty. The first stream, which was expected to capture the majority of students and was focused on life enrichment and teaching students engaged with music at a hobby level. The second stream focused on preparing students for careers in music, and the final stream, which became known as The Academy of Music program, was dedicated to preparing gifted students, under the age of 18, for performance-based musical careers. The Academy of Music program received positive attention and attracted gifted students and instructors to the Conservatory from throughout western Canada and beyond. Many graduates of the program went on to find successful careers in television, radio, and as orchestra soloists. Another result of Burgess’ ‘student-stream’ initiative was the rise in prominence of both the Suzuki and Kodaly music programs. The Suzuki program was started in 1984 as a summer piano institute that focused on teacher training. However, the program was quickly expanded to teach a variety of levels and provide musical instruction in other instruments. A Certificate of Achievement in Suzuki Piano Pedagogy started being offered in 2002 and Conservatory faculty member, Merlin B. Thompson greatly expanded the Suzuki program by introducing videoconferencing in 2004. The Kodaly method is another program of music instruction adopted by the Conservatory with great success. Focused on teaching music to young children, the Kodaly method continues to be the basis of several of the Conservatory’s programs of instruction for children and adolescence.
Areas of instruction such as the Suzuki, Kodaly, and Academy of Music programs helped to increase the Conservatory’s prestige and form links with leading music schools and musicians around the world. In particular, the Conservatory formed beneficial links to schools such as the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, the Colburn School in Los Angeles, the New England Conservatory, and Juilliard School in New York. Internationally the Conservatory’s reputation was bolstered by programs such as the Academy of Music program and the Morningside Music Bridge. The Morningside Music Bridge was an annual summer music workshop that brought aspiring international young musicians to Calgary. The Morningside Music Bridge started in 1996 and focused on providing summer workshops for students in violin, viola, cello, piano, and chamber music. As the scope of the Conservatory’s musical instruction increased so did the prominence and accomplishments of its students. Conservatory students excelled in local musical competitions such as the Kiwanis Music Festival and the Alberta Music Festival. Some of the Conservatory's most prominent students include Yuri Hooker, principal cellist of the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra; Tanya Kalmonovitch, violist; Rhian Kenny, flutist with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra; Martha Baldwin, cellist with the Cleveland Orchestra; Katherine Chi, pianist and winner of the 2000 Honens Competition; Alan Van Sprang, TV/film actor, Michael Kim, Dean of Brandon University School of Music; and Leslie Feist, Juno award winner.
Conservatory faculty not only provided quality instruction for Mount Royal students but many were accomplished musicians and performers in their own right who contributed to the reputation and prestige of the Conservatory. The Conservatory started out with 5 full-time faculty members in 1911 and steadily increased from there as programs expanded and registrations increased. In 1943-44 there were fourteen full-time Conservatory faculty members, only one of which had a degree. By the 1960s, faculty had increased to almost fifty members, with more specialized credentials. In addition to full-time faculty, the Conservatory also hired instructors to teach in fourteen ‘associated branches’ and employed part-time instructors from the Branch Teacher Association, who taught music lessons out of their homes. By 1990 there were approximately 100 teachers on campus and another 40 affiliated instructors from the Branch Teachers Association. By 2005, the conservatory had 240 teachers on campus and another 50 affiliated teachers teaching from their homes, reaching 5,000 Calgary area students. Notable Conservatory faculty members include Leonard Leacock, pianist, composer, and Order of Canada recipient; Norma Piper, diva soprano ; Knight Wilson, violinist and former department head of the Conservatory of Regina ; and Mary Munn, concert pianist and Order of Canada recipient.
The Conservatory currently operates out of the Taylor Centre for the Performing Arts, a new building that opened in July 2015 and includes the 787 seat Bella Concert Hall. The Conservatory continues to offer a range of musical instruction, speech and drama class, private lessons and ensemble and choral instruction. Musical instruction ranges across a variety of instruments including cello, flute, guitar, piano, trumpet, clarinet, viola, double bass, euphonium, French horn, harp, oboe, organ, percussion, saxophone, trombone, tuba, bagpipes, ukulele, violin, and voice. The Conservatory also offers group instruction in stage combat, music theory and history, music literacy, Chinese classical music studies, improvisation, speech, and presentation. The Conservatory remains particularly well known for its focus on child and youth instruction with specialized programs such as Music with your Baby, Music Explorers, Adventures in Music, Piano Explorers, and ensembles such as the Calgary Youth Orchestra, the Junior Sinfonia, the Junior Orchestra Program, the Mount Royal Horn Choir, and the Arietta, Arioso, and Artia choirs.

School of Nursing and Midwifery (Mount Royal University)

  • MRUASC-AR0052
  • Corporate body
  • 1967-

The School of Nursing and Midwifery is part of Mount Royal University's Faculty of Health, Community, and Education, and as of 2019 offers the following programs: Bachelor of Nursing, Bachelor of Midwifery, the Bridge to Canadian Nursing, and the Advanced Studies in Critical Care Nursing Certificate.

Mount Royal’s nursing program was launched in 1967 as a two-year diploma program under the directorship of Jean Mackie. At the time, the College's Diploma Nursing Program was controversial because previously most nursing education had consisted of either apprenticeship programs run by hospitals or four-year degree programs taught in universities. However, the program grew and gained acceptance over several decades, eventually expanding to include certificate programs in specialty areas of nursing including: operating room and intensive care nursing, post-basic mental health nursing, occupational health nursing, extended care nursing, and gerontological nursing. The Diploma Nursing Program continued until 1993, with the last cohort graduating in 1995.

In the 1980s, the Nursing and Allied Health Department started to explore options for offering a nursing degree program through Mount Royal College. After several years of research and planning, an agreement was reached in 1992 through which the three nursing programs offered in Calgary were merged into one program, the Calgary Conjoint Nursing Program (CCNP), a collaborative baccalaureate program offered by Mount Royal College, the University of Calgary, and the Foothills Hospital School of Nursing. The program launched in 1993 with the first class of students graduating in 1997. The program offered classes at all three institutions and students had the option of completing either a four-year Bachelor of Nursing degree or a two-year nursing diploma. The Calgary Conjoint Nursing Program was initially only approved for a six-year trial period, but the partnership continued for eleven years, with the last students graduating in 2004.

As the Calgary Conjoint Nursing Program wound down and the last intake of students occurred in 2000, the Mount Royal College Centre for Health Studies sought out other partnerships in order to continue to provide a Bachelor of Nursing option without interruption to student enrollment. They eventually reached an agreement with Athabasca University in 2000, which allowed Mount Royal to provide university-level nursing courses at the Lincoln Park campus taught by Mount Royal faculty. The Athabasca University at Mount Royal College (AU @ MRC) Bachelor of Nursing program officially launched in 2001 and ran until 2013, with the last intake of students into the program occurring in 2010.
The partnership with Athabasca University allowed Mount Royal College to continue to provide university-level nursing education while it pursued independent degree-granting status.

In 2007 the nursing program became Mount Royal College’s very first baccalaureate degree program, and in 2011 the School of Nursing launched Alberta's first Bachelor of Midwifery degree.

Mount Royal University. Marketing and Communications

  • MRUASC-AR0072
  • Corporate body
  • [19--]-

The Department of Marketing and Communications at Mount Royal University manages university publicity campaigns and communication with students, employees, alumni, and the wider community. The department also develops guidelines around logos, graphic standards, and social networking, and regularly publishes Summit magazine.