OCAD University

The Ontario College of Art and Design University, branded as OCAD University or OCAD U (OH-kad), is a public art university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Its main campus is located within Toronto's Grange Park and Entertainment District neighbourhoods.

The university is co-educational and operates three academic faculties – the Faculty of Art, the Faculty of Arts and Science, and the Faculty of Design – which offer programs at the undergraduate and graduate levels, as well as certificate programs and continuing education courses. The university is one of four members of the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design located outside the United States.

Established by the Ontario Society of Artists in 1876 as the Ontario School of Art, it is the oldest operating school in Canada dedicated to art and design education. The school was renamed twice in 1886 and 1890 before it was provincially chartered under its new name, the Ontario College of Art (OCA), in 1912. With the inception of the college's design department in 1945, the OCA grew and later became the Ontario College of Art and Design (OCAD) in 1996. In 2010, the institution formally adopted its current title, including the university designation in its name to reflect its maturation and change in degree-granting powers.

In 2023, there were 4,890 undergraduates and 330 graduate students enrolled at the university. As of 2022, the university holds an association of over 25,000 alumni.

History

Early history

The institution was founded in 1876 by the Ontario Society of Artists with the objective to provide professional artistic training while furthering the development of art education in Ontario. On 4 April 1876, the Ontario Society of Artists passed the motion to "draw up a scheme" for a school of art, which later led to its creation on 30 October 1876, funded by a government grant of $1,000. The Ontario School of Art initially opened at 14 King Street West with a class of 14 students, headed by artist Thomas Mower Martin as the founding director, a position he held for the next three years. Fellow artists Robert Harris and William Cruikshank also joined the school, the latter serving as the school's president from 1884 to 1886.

In 1882, the Ontario Department of Education assumed control over the school and transferred it to the Toronto Normal School. In 1886, the school was relocated to a building near Queen Street and Yonge Street and was renamed the Toronto Art School.

When the Ontario Society of Artists resumed sponsorship of the school in 1890, they renamed it the Central Ontario School of Art and Industrial Design and reopened it at the Princess Theatre, which also shared its premises with the Art Museum of Toronto (now the Art Gallery of Ontario).

20th century

In 1910, the school was again relocated, occupying 1 College Street as a result of the Princess Theatre's demolition. Two years later, the school was granted a charter by the Ontario government that authorized it to issue diplomas. The institution was incorporated as the Ontario College of Art with George Agnew Reid named as its first principal. Reid designed the first building owned by the college, which was also the first building in Canada built specifically for the education of artists and designers. The college moved, for the last time, to the new permanent property in 1921, which is still in use today.

As a part of Reid's wider efforts to have visual arts accepted as part of the province's formal education system, Reid pushed for the OCA to potentially become a constituent college of the University of Toronto; however, the proposed amalgamation was never pursued.

In 1945, the OCA established a design school, broadening its education mandate. By the 1950s, the college had expanded beyond its downtown campus, operating classes in Port Hope, Ontario and at William Houston Public School in midtown Toronto (today part of York University's Glendon Campus). In 1957, the college's main campus received its first physical extension, which has since abutted the eastern side of the original schoolhouse. Three more expansions to the new building were followed in different years, which were 1963, 1967, and 1981 in response to increasing student enrolment.

Campus

During the university’s years as a nascent institution, it had relocated to several different buildings in Toronto, many of which have been decommissioned or demolished over time. Only in the early 20th century did the school establish its own purpose-built structure, on the grounds of what is now Grange Park, a two-hectare green space that was once the front lawn of a nineteenth-century estate. As a result, the university's campus is embedded within the surrounding neighbourhoods that have developed alongside it, rather than in an enclosed area with contiguous buildings, as is standard with most other post-secondary institutions. The current campus is spread across a combination of owned, co-owned, and leased properties in Toronto’s downtown core. The largest cluster of buildings is located in the Grange Park neighbourhood along McCaul Street, between Dundas Street and Queen Street West, and comprises the Main Building (including its multiple extensions), Butterfield Park, the Annex Building, the Rosalie Sharp Pavilion, 49–51 McCaul Street, and 74–76 McCaul Street. Another group of buildings is situated south of the neighbourhood in the Entertainment District at 199, 205, and 230–240 Richmond Street West. 130 Queens Quay East in the East Bayfront is the university's "waterfront campus," which occupies 1,300 square metres (14,000 sq ft) of the building's fourth floor and forms part of a larger development called the Daniels Waterfront—City of the Arts. The campus in the Grange Park and Entertainment District precincts is accessible by public transportation via St. Patrick and Osgoode stations on Line 1, as well as the 505 Dundas and 501 Queen streetcar routes.

OCAD U does not have any student residences on campus, though it offers students resources to search for off-campus accommodations in the city.

Academic buildings

Physically, the campus’s buildings vary in age and aesthetics, ranging from the revival architecture of the 19th century to the more contemporary design language of the present. Dating back to 1887, the oldest structures on campus are 74–76 McCaul Street, which are semi-detached Victorian houses that are not used as academic facilities, but have instead been converted into an independent art supply store for students, faculty, and the public. The George Reid Wing, the earliest component of the Main Building, was opened in 1921 and was designed by George Agnew Reid, an alumnus and principal at the then Ontario College of Art. The two-storey building is characterized by Georgian features similar to The Grange manor nearby, both of which front onto Grange Park. Under the Ontario Heritage Act, 74–76 McCaul Street and the George Reid Wing are classified as a listed and a designated heritage building, respectively.

Administration

Governance

As a publicly funded university, OCAD U operates under a bicameral system with a board of governors and a senate empowered by provincial legislation, the Ontario College of Art and Design University Act. The Act was last amended in 2010 when the institution assumed its present name. The 2010 amendments also formalized the role of the university chancellor, as well as converted the former academic council into the academic senate and broadened its duties.

Board of Governors and Senate

The university's board of governors is charged with managing university affairs and guiding major operational decisions. The board has 18 members, including six individuals appointed by provincial government and two members elected by OCAD University alumni. Eight members are drawn from the university's community, with some being faculty members appointed by the Senate, and others being elected by staff and student representatives. The senate is responsible for the educational policies of the university; it is primarily made up of faculty members, although it also includes representatives from the university's administration and the undergraduate and graduate student body.

The chancellor serves as the titular head of the university and is appointed by the board of governors to a four-year term. The university has named five chancellors, the last being Jamie Watt, who began their four-year tenure on 1 January 2022. The board of governors is also empowered to appoint the university president, who acts as the chief executive officer for the university and on the board's behalf with respect to the institution's operations. By virtue of their office, the president is also the chair of the senate. Ana Serrano is the current president of the university, having assumed the position in July 2020.

Indigenous Education Council

The Indigenous Education Council was established at the university in 2008 with a mandate "to identify and strengthen collaboration and partnerships with Indigenous communities, government bodies and other associations to promote and advance access, retention, and degree completion for Indigenous learners". The council consists of volunteer members who represent the interests and concerns of both the internal and broader Indigenous community. In accordance with the Aboriginal Post Secondary Education and Training Policy Framework (APSET), the council exists to ensure that Indigenous peoples are consistently and regularly engaged in discussions and decision-making within the institution.

Academics

OCAD University is a comprehensive art, design, and media post-secondary institution, and is the oldest operating school in Canada dedicated to art and design education. The university's academic year consists of two terms, Fall/Winter and Spring/Summer, with the former term running from September through April and the latter running from May through August.

The university is organized into the Faculty of Art, the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Science, and the Faculty of Design. At the undergraduate level, the university offers 17 majors and 26 minors; seven graduate-level programs are coordinated through the School of Graduate Studies. In the 2022–23 academic year, the university had an enrolment of 4,495 full-time undergraduate and graduate students, along with 2,268 people enrolled in an OCAD University School of Continuing Studies course the same year. As of 2024, the university's faculty included over 480 members, a third of which are full-time.

Undergraduate degrees conferred by the university includes Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Design, and Bachelor of Fine Arts. Graduate degrees issued by the university include Master of Arts, Master of Design, and Master of Fine Arts. Quality control of academics is maintained by the Ontario University Council on Quality Assurance. The university holds membership in several national and international post-secondary organizations, such as the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education, the Association of Independent Colleges of Art and Design, and Universities Canada.

Reputation

According to the 2023 QS World University Rankings for the subject of art and design, OCAD U placed 51–100 out of 238 universities.

Admissions

The requirements for admission differ between students from Ontario, students from other Canadian provinces, and international students outside of Canada, due to the lack of uniformity in grading schemes between provinces and countries. Because English is the primary language of instruction at the university, applicants whose first language is not English are required to present proof of proficiency in English. The university has a holistic undergraduate admissions process, which typically requires the minimum admission average alongside an interview, a letter of intent, a writing sample and/or portfolio submission.

In 2024, the university reported an 85 per cent retention rate of first-year students in 2023 who advanced to their second year.

Research

As of 2022, the university has over 20 research centres and labs, such as the Indigenous Visual Culture (INVC) Research Centre and the Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC). The IDRC is a research centre focused on inclusive design and coordinates the Inclusive Design Institute (IDI).

During the 2020–21 academic year, the university received over $7.2 million in contributions for research purposes. As of 2022, four faculty members from the university are Canada Research Chairs. Three chairholders are part of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, while the other is a part of the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council. In the 2019–20 academic year, the university received 24 research awards and $690,625 in funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.

The university is a part of several research networks and joint-research projects, including the Centre for Innovation in Information Visualization and Data-Driven Design, and the Inclusive Design Institute. The former is a research project led by York University in partnership with OCAD, the University of Toronto, and other private sector partners to develop new design, analytics and visualization techniques for new computational tools. The latter organization, headed by faculty member Jutta Treviranus, serves as a hub for research into inclusive designs for information and communications technology; eight other post-secondary institutions also partner with the IDI.

Along with research centres and labs, the university also supports two business incubators, the Imagination Catalyst and the Mobile Experience Innovation Centre. The Imagination Catalyst was established in August 2011 through the merger of the Digital Futures Accelerator and the Design Incubator, and is overseen by the Digital Futures Implementation office, which provides incubator support for students, alumni, and faculty. The Mobile Experience Innovation Centre is another incubator with a focus on applied research in mobile technology.

Student life

The university's student body currently includes 4,890 full- and part-time undergraduate students, as well as 330 full- and part-time graduate students. In 2022–23, 72 per cent of undergraduate students (in the Fall/Winter term) and 57 per cent of graduate students (in Summer/Fall) were Canadian citizens, both from Ontario and out of province, while 28 per cent of undergraduates and 43 per cent of graduates were international. Many domestic students receive financial aid through federal Canada Student Loans and/or provincial loan programs, such as the Ontario Student Assistance Program.

The OCAD Student Union (OCADSU) represents the university's student body population and is a member organization of the Canadian Federation of Students. The union's offices are located inside 230 Richmond, and they provide services including academic advocacy, a food bank, legal services, and student grants. In addition to OCADSU, a variety of cultural, social, political, and recreational student groups are officially registered with the university.

Insignias

The institution used a logo as early as 1903 to serve as a visual identifier. Since that time, the institution has used at least nine distinct logos. The present Gotham-type logo was designed by Bruce Mau and was introduced in 2011 to coincide with the institution's name change to OCAD University in 2010.

Эх сурвалж: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)