Trinity Western University

Trinity Western University (TWU) is a private, Christian liberal arts university located in Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The University, founded in 1962 as Trinity Junior College, currently enrols approximately 4,000 students and sits on a 157-acre campus. With a broad-based arts and sciences curriculum, the University offers 39 undergraduate majors and 16 graduate programs. TWU’s travel studies and exchange program enables students to study all over the world for either a few weeks in the summer, or for a semester or year at one of Trinity’s partner institutions or universities.

University profile
TWU is a member of the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada, and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, and is recognized by the United States Department of Education.The university's seminary was accredited by Association of Theological Schools in the United States and Canada in 1997.

Trinity Western’s 4,000 students hail from all 10 Canadian provinces, 37 U.S. states, and 33 foreign countries: 62% Canadian, 28% USA, and 10% international. The University employs a faculty of over 300 instructors and professors, enabling a student/faculty ratio of 11 to 1, and an average class size of 16. Over 85% of the University's professors have doctorates.

Undergraduate
The University offers 38 undergraduate majors in 100 programs (ranging from Biotechnology to European Studies to Nursing to Aviation), with over 1200 courses from which to choose. The academic structure of the university is as follows:


 * Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
 * Faculty of Natural and Applied Sciences
 * Faculty of Professional Studies and Performing Arts
 * School of Business
 * School of Human Kinetics
 * School of Education
 * Redeemer Pacific College – TWU’s constituent college of Catholic studies

Within these faculties and schools the University awards the following degrees: BA, BSc, BBA, BEd, BHk, BScN, Honours. programs are also available in a number of majors.

Graduate
The School of Graduate Studies offers 16 programs of study ranging from Interdisciplinary Humanities, to Business Administration, to Korean Studies, to Theology, and awards the following degrees: MA, MBA, MC, MSt, MTh, MTS, MDiv, DMin.

Travel Studies
Trinity’s international programs offer students the ability to study all over the world during the summer: studying Kinesiology while attending the 2008 Olympics in China, Coral Reef Biology in Hawaii, Johannine literature in Turkey, or Cross-cultural communications in Guatemala, among others.

Additionally, the University offers 15 semester programs which take place during the Fall and Spring terms. Trinity’s research and exchange partnership with the University of Oxford enables students to study as a visiting student at Oxford for either a semester or year.

Library
The Norma Marion Alloway Library is the main library for undergraduate students, holding a circulation of over 300,000 books, 12,000 periodical subscriptions, and computer access to thousands more titles. The University Archives house several special collections: the Mel Smith Archives, the Robert N. Thompson Archives, and the Lyle Wicks Papers, which chronicle Canada’s political history through the works and personal documents of these three political figures. The library also has a Korean collection.

The graduate school and seminaries each maintain their own individual libraries.

Laurentian Leadership Centre
Trinity’s Laurentian Leadership Centre certificate program offers the rare opportunity for third and fourth year TWU students to experience a fully-credited semester of study as well as a prestigious Parliamentary, business, communications or NGO internship in Canada's national capital Ottawa. Although the program is open to students of any major, it is primarily designed for those who plan a career in political science, business, communications, history or international studies, all of which are majors at TWU. It also welcomes visiting students from other educational institutions.

Students live in a restored heritage mansion, the Booth House, just minutes from Parliament Hill, taking classes in Canadian Governmental Leadership, Ethics & Public Affairs, and Law, whilst participating in an internship in business, communications, government or non-governmental sectors.
 * LLC – Ottawa

Recognition

 * Trinity Western University ranked highest out of any university in Canada in the category of "Overall Quality of Education" according to the Globe and Mail's 2006 University Report Card, an opinion poll of Canadian undergraduate students. It also ranked highest overall in its size category. Trinity consistently scored the highest rank awarded in several other categories of the report:
 * Quality of Education (A+)
 * Student-Faculty Interaction (A+)
 * Class Size (A+)
 * Overall University Atmosphere (A+)
 * Most Satisfied Students (A)
 * Quality of Teaching (A)


 * Trinity Western University alumnus CJ Patrick Davis (Research Fellow for the Canada Research Chair in Dead Sea Scrolls) was awarded the Panacea Society Scholarship for his doctoral work at the University of Manchester.


 * For two consecutive years, Trinity Western University alumni (Dorothy Peters & Matthew Thiessen) have earned the University of Oxford's prestigious "Best Dissertation" award for their graduate work.


 * Professor Peter Flint, Ph.D, of TWU has been appointed a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair, granting the University $1.4 million for research. Dr. Jens Zimmermann (Philosophy) has been appointed to a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Interpretation, Religion, and Culture from 2006-2010. Dr. Eve Stringham (Biology) has also been granted a $500,000 Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Developmental Genetics and Disease.


 * TWU’s Dead Sea Scrolls Institute is home to the largest collection of primary Greek manuscripts of the New Testament in North America, fourth to Munster, the British Museum, and the Vatican City.


 * TWU’s Septuagint Institute is the core of North America’s research, translation, and study of the earliest Greek translations of the Jewish texts.


 * Trinity Western University is the first B.C. University, and one of six in all of Canada, to obtain Certified Financial Planner registered status, offering a bachelor-level CFP education program.


 * TWU is the only university in western Canada to offer an MBA for the non-profit sector.


 * Canada's leading conservation organization, The World Wildlife Fund, has awarded Professor Karen Steensma a highly competitive $10,000 grant to complete research on the endangered Oregon Forest Snail.
 * The men's volleyball team is the current CIS national championship team. Other recent national championship titles for the Spartans include: Men's Soccer (Silver, 2006), Men's Soccer (Bronze, 2005), Men's Volleyball (Silver, 2005), Women's Soccer (Gold, 2004).


 * Spartan women's volleyball assistant coach Ryan Hofer was named Male Coach of the Year by Volleyball Canada, the National Association for Volleyball in Canada.


 * The TWU student newspaper, Mars' Hill, won first place out of all four-year universities in North America, in the bi-weekly category.


 * Trinity Western University was granted exempt status from detailed reviews of its programs by the Minister of Advanced Education, becoming the first non-public institution in the province granted this standing.


 * In 2002, Trinity Western University president Dr. Neil Snider, was presented with the Commemorative Medal for the Golden Jubilee of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II (also called the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Award). Senator St. Germain described TWU as a University which is “recognized worldwide for the excellent calibre of education that it produces.”

Athletics
The university is represented in the Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) league, the top university athletics league in Canada, by the Trinity Western Spartans; the Spartans can be heard live on Spartan web radio. The Spartans are known for their spirited fans, who have earned the title, the "Spartan Faithful."

Even though TWU only joined the CIS in 2001, the Spartans have already made a notable impression. Their victories at the national level include:
 * CIS Bronze, Men's Volleyball, 2007
 * CIS 4th place, Women's Volleyball, 2007
 * CIS Gold, Men's Volleyball, 2006
 * CIS Silver, Men's Soccer, 2006
 * CIS 5th place, Women's Volleyball, 2006
 * CIS 5th Place, Women's Soccer, 2006
 * CIS Bronze, Men's Soccer, 2005
 * CIS Silver, Men's Volleyball, 2005
 * CIS Gold, Women's Soccer, 2004
 * CIS Bronze, Men's Volleyball, 2004
 * CIS Gold, Track and Field, 2001

The Spartans have also done well at the regional level, in the CanadaWest division of CIS:


 * CanadaWest Gold, Men's Volleyball, 2007
 * CanadaWest Gold, Women's Soccer, 2006
 * CanadaWest Gold, Men's Soccer, 2006
 * CanadaWest Gold, Men's Soccer, 2005
 * CanadaWest Gold, Women's Soccer, 2004

31 per cent of TWU's student-athletes are CIS Academic All-Canadians.

Spartan women's volleyball assistant coach Ryan Hofer was named Male Coach of the Year by Volleyball Canada, the National Association for Volleyball in Canada.

Other teams, not part of the CIS, also compete for Trinity Western University including the TWU Titans hockey team, [www.twutitanshockey.com] who compete in the British Columbia Intercollegiate Hockey League, and the Trinity Western University Bombers hockey team.

TWUSA
Trinity's students are represented by the Trinity Western University Students Association.

Fine Arts
Members of TWU’s chamber choirs are often invited to guest perform with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, performances which have been broadcasted on a number of occasions on CBC Radio; as well, TWU's choirs have performed frequently with the CBC Radio Orchestra, the Vancouver Chamber Choir, and at venues including Carnegie Hall in New York City and frequent performances at the Orpheum, Vancouver, and the Chan Shun Concert Hall. TWU's Director of Choral Activities is Wes Janzen, D.M.A., a recognized choral expert at the international level and an adjudicator at numerous Choral Olympics events, now known as the World Choir Games.

Responsibilities of Membership
From time to time TWU has garnered publicity due to the University's policy known as the "Responsibilities of Membership." As a private university, Trinity has made the decision to enact certain “responsibilities" which the University believes accompanies an atmosphere more conducive to learning and community. The University makes it clear that not all of these responsibilities are meant to be reflections of biblical principles, but particular lifestyle choices made in the interest of the perceived benefits which campus-wide acceptance would promote:

"This application of the Responsibilities of Membership is not offered as a legalistic definition of right and wrong. Certain expectations may not be commanded by Scripture, but nonetheless, they are desirable and essential if all members of the community are to achieve their personal goals."

Regarding harassment, the University insists that all students, staff, and faculty "follow biblical principles of lifestyle and conduct and refrain from biblically prohibited practices. The Responsibilities of Membership statement expresses some of the lifestyle and conduct expectations which contribute to...providing a community in which all individuals are treated with respect and dignity." Notably more restrictive than standards imposed by Canadian law and public universities, members of the TWU community are restricted from:
 * sexual intimacy outside of the context of marriage between a husband and a wife.
 * swearing or use of profane language
 * abortion
 * Plagiarism and stealing
 * involvement in the occult
 * viewing of pornography
 * co-ed living arrangements for unmarried students
 * use or possession of alcoholic beverages
 * use or possession of tobacco in any form
 * all forms of gambling

TWU vs. BC College of Teachers
In 1995, TWU launched a teaching certification program, but the British Columbia College of Teachers denied accreditation of TWU's program, arguing that the agreement students must sign is discriminatory and that those graduating from Trinity Western's program will discriminate against gay students. The lower courts in British Columbia and, later, the Supreme Court of Canada, ruled in favour of Trinity Western University, stating that there was no basis for the BCCT's decision, and, moreover, that "the concern that graduates of TWU will act in a detrimental fashion in the classroom is not supported by any evidence."

The final analysis of the case, as reported by the Factum of the Intervener, the B.C. Civil Liberties Association, was that "In the circumstances of this case the Council of the B.C. College of Teachers failed to conduct such an enquiry and erroneously concluded that equality of rights on the basis of sexual orientation trump freedom of religion and association. They do not."

Notable alumni

 * Carolyn Arends
 * Paul Chamberlain (professor)
 * Roger Cross (actor, most recently on the show 24)
 * Deborah Grey (Member of Parliament)
 * Paul Janz (philosophy professor, former famous international musician)
 * Grant McNally (Member of Parliament)
 * Chuck Strahl (Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food)
 * Richard J. "Rick" Sutcliffe (professor & author)
 * Mark Warawa (Politician, Parliamentary Secretary)
 * Phillip H. Wiebe (professor)
 * Ryan Walter (Professional Hockey Player, Colour Commentator)