Understanding University Faculties and Departments
The University offers programs in a wide array of fields, and sometimes it can be difficult to understand where you fit into the big picture. Here’s a quick guide to understanding faculties at the University of Alberta.
Colleges and Faculties are divisions of the University grouped by broad field of study. These are the most commonly used divisions for students and it is important to know which college and faculty you belong to! Below is a list of the current UofA Colleges, Faculties, and affiliated colleges.
| College of Natural + Applied Sciences | College of Social Sciences + Humanities | College of Health Sciences | Independent Faculties/Affiliated Colleges/Campuses |
|---|---|---|---|
Faculty of Agriculture, Life & Environmental Sciences (ALES) |
Faculty of Arts |
Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation |
Augustana Campus - Camrose, Alberta |
Faculty of Engineering |
Faculty of Business |
Faculty of Medicine + Dentistry |
Campus Saint-Jean - Edmonton, Alberta |
Faculty of Science |
Faculty of Education |
Faculty of Nursing |
Faculty of Extension |
- |
Faculty of Law |
Faculty of Pharmacy + Pharmaceutical Sciences |
Faculty of Graduate Studies & Research |
- |
- |
School of Public Health |
Faculty of Native Studies |
- |
- |
Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine |
St. Joesph's College |
- |
- |
- |
St. Stephen's College |
Understanding Room Numbers
You might be wondering what the series of letters and numbers that make up your classroom means. No worries, we have a simple guide to help you de-code the riddle.
Classroom locations (usually) follow a standard formula:
- Building
- Floor
- Room
Some examples:
T B 11 - This means Tory Building, Basement level, classroom 11.
ED 1-128 - This means Education Building, North Section 1st Floor, classroom 128.
Main buildings on campus are identified with an acronym. This is a partial list, and a full list can be found through the University of Alberta campus map.
| Acronym | Building | What We Call It |
|---|---|---|
AF |
AgFor |
|
BS |
BioSci |
|
BUS |
Business |
|
CCIS |
CCIS |
|
CAB |
CAB |
|
C |
Chem |
|
CSC |
CompSci |
|
ESB |
ESB |
|
ECHA |
ECHA |
|
ED |
Ed |
|
ETLC |
ETLC |
|
GSB |
GSB |
|
HC |
Humanities |
|
MCM |
- |
|
MEC |
MecE |
|
NRE |
NREF |
|
SAB |
SAB |
|
SUB |
SUB |
|
T |
Tory |
|
TL |
Tory Lecture |
|
VVC |
Van Vliet |
*A few buildings are more complicated than others:
- The Biological Sciences building is divided into 5 wings: CW, G, M, P, Z. Room numbers look like: BS M-149. This means it is in the M wing, on the first floor, room 149. Signage is pretty good in the building.
- The Chemistry building might have rooms that look like C E1-60. This means it is in the east side of the building, first floor, room 60.
- Rooms in Education might look like: ED 1-128. The "-" means that it is in the northern section of the building. There is no indication for the southern part of the building, rooms there will be indicated like: ED 232
- The Humanities Center also has a separate acronym for their lecture theatres. If you see HC L1-L1/L2/L3/L4 this does not indicate the level it is on, but rather that it is a lecture theatre, which are all located on the first floor. Signage in the building will help you navigate.
- Tory can be divided into 3 different sections that each have their own acronym. T (Tory), TL (Tory Lecture), and T BW (Tory Breezeway). While Tory and Tory Breezeway are connected, Tory Lecture Theatres are located in a separate building just to the north of Tory.
Secondly comes the floor number. B or L means basement, 1 is main level, and a number above 1 means an upper floor. Some building have multiple basements, which are represented with L1, L2, or L3.
Sometimes the floor can get mashed together with the room number. For example:
- MCM 318 is a room in the Pavillon McMahon Building, on the 3rd floor, room number 318.
- ESC 3-27 is a room in the Earth Sciences Building, on the 3rd floor, room number 3-27.
- CCIS L2-440 is a room in the Centennial Centre for Interdisciplinary Science, on the 2nd basement level, room number 440.
Usually a good rule of thumb is that the first number of a room number is what floor it is on, except if there is a B or L in there.
Thirdly comes the room number, which you should be able to navigate to using the signage in the building.
This should be all you need to find your way come Orientation. Good luck, and don’t be afraid to ask one of our many volunteers for assistance in getting where you need to go!