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Trent University is a liberal arts and science-oriented institution located along the Otonabee River in Peterborough and the Regional Municipality of Durham, Ontario, Canada.
The enabling legislation is the Trent University Act, 1962-63.[2] The university was founded through the efforts of a citizens' committee interested in creating a university to serve the Trent valley.[3] The chancellor of Trent University is Don Tapscott, and Leo Groarke is the president and vice-chancellor.
The Symons campus of Trent is approximately 5.6 km2 (2.2 sq mi), over half of which is a part of Trent's Nature Areas, an ecologically diverse wild-life preserve. It is divided into a series of colleges: Champlain, Lady Eaton, Catharine Parr Traill, Otonabee, Peter Gzowski, and Julian Blackburn. Each college has its own residence hall, dining room, and student government, other than Julian Blackburn which is a non-residential college and home to Trent's 1,700 part-time students. The campus plan and the original college buildings were designed by the Canadian architect Ron Thom. A large portion of the main campus consists of land that was donated by General Electric Canada. This donation included a functioning hydroelectric power plant dating from the 1890s, which still generates a substantial portion of the university's electricity; the power plant is being updated and a second generating plant being considered.
Trent also runs a full- and part-time program in Durham at the Thornton Road campus, with an enrolment of over 800 students. The university is represented in Canadian Interuniversity Sport by the Trent Excalibur. Some of the specialized programs at Trent include the Human Resources Management Certificate Program, a joint program with Fleming College allowing students to earn a B.Sc.F.S. in Forensic Science, and a B.Sc.N. program in Nursing.
History
Trent University came about from public discussion in 1957 about the possibility of opening a post-secondary institution in the Trent Valley. The policy of university education initiated in the 1960s responded to population pressure and the belief that higher education was a key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and for society.
Trent University is a non-denominational, public institution founded in downtown Peterborough, Ontario. Trent University was established as a provincial university under the Trent University Act of 1963. In 1963, the university opened Rubidge Hall, Catherine Parr Traill College for women, and Peter Robinson College for men in 1964. The governor general, Georges Vanier officially opened Trent University in 1964.
The governance was modelled on the provincial University of Toronto Act of 1906 which established a bicameral system of university government consisting of a senate (faculty), responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to provide a link between the 2 bodies and to perform institutional leadership.
The first students were admitted in September, 1964. The university offered Canada's first Native Studies program in September, 1969. Although Trent University is predominantly undergraduate, graduate programs are offered at the master's and doctoral level. Monture House, near Rubidge Hall, at Trent University was named after Gilbert Monture, who was a member of the Board of Governors of Trent University from 1966-1973.