University of Calgary

Why Choose Calgary?

Submitted by dfto on Thu, 2007-03-01 21:05.

The University of Calgary is a major Canadian research university in a thriving city of over 1 million people. The Philosophy Department has a very good international reputation and offers a very collegial work environment with exciting opportunities in both teaching and research. It offers full undergraduate and graduate programs (MA, PhD) and very active research groups in Ethics, History and Philosophy of Science, and Language and Logic.

 

Living in Calgary

The city of Calgary sits in rolling foothills about an hour's drive east of Banff National Park in the Rocky Mountains. With a population of over 1,000,000, Calgary is the largest Canadian city between Vancouver and Toronto. It is also the youngest Canadian city, with a median age of 34, the fastest growing Canadian city, and Calgarians have the highest average personal income of any city in Canada. Calgary is known for its entrepreneurial spirit, energy, multicultural nature, and highly educated workforce.

In the 2007 quality-of-living study by Mercer Human Resources Consulting, Calgary ranked 24th, just behind Montreal at 22nd, and ahead of London, Paris, and all US cities. In the 2008 liveability ranking of the Economist Intelligence Unit's worldwide cost-of-living survey, Calgary was tied for 7th place.

Calgary has a symphony, an opera, is home to the Alberta Ballet, and offers several professional dance and theater companies. Calgary has annual Film, Fringe, and music festivals such as the Folk and Jazz festivals and Sled Island, as well as the acclaimed annual High Performance Rodeo (theater and dance).The Glenbow has a new director, Jeff Spalding, who promises to bring more contemporary art to Calgary's main museum. A number of other museums, galleries (such as the galleries at the Alberta College of Art + Design and the UofC's own Nickle), and independent art spaces contribute to Calgary's lively arts scene.

Opportunities for outdoor recreation (skiing, camping, hiking, fishing, biking, kayaking, and canoeing) are world-class, both around Calgary and in the nearby Rockies. Thanks to the infrastructure improvements for the 1988 Olympic Games, Calgary also has a good public transportation system--many of our faculty take the C-Train to work. The Calgary International Airport has several daily non-stop connections to all major Canadian cities, to many Western and Mid-Western US airline hubs (e.g., Chicago, LAX, San Francisco, Seattle, Salt Lake City, Houston, Denver, and Minneapolis), to New York, and daily international direct flights to Frankfurt and London (two each).

   

Worried About the Weather?

Although Calgary, like most Canadian cities, has cold winters, there are several features of the climate in Calgary that make the winters really not so bad. Calgary is generally dry, and this also applies to snowfall (Calgary: 126cm per year; Montreal: 226cm). Alberta is also very sunny overall, and Calgary in particular is known for its blue skies. In fact, November through January you'll get more than twice as much sunshine in Calgary as you would in Vancouver (in January: 113 hours of bright sun in Calgary; 55 hours in Vancouver). January is the coldest month, with an average daily maximum temperature of -3C/27F (for comparison: Edmonton -8C/17F, Montreal -6C/21F; Toronto -2C/28F). Warm mountain winds known as Chinooks can raise the temperature by as much as 20C in a day, and although we do get cold spells, they rarely last longer than a week before a Chinook brings Spring-like temperatures.

  

Working at the University of Calgary

The regular teaching load is two courses per term (2/2). The language of instruction is English. At Calgary, the Fall and Winter terms are each 13 weeks long and run from mid-September to mid-April, leaving over four months per year without regular teaching duties. (There are teaching opportunities carrying additional remuneration in the Spring and Summer terms, however.)

The University of Calgary offers competitive salaries (see "schedule A") and benefits. The system of annual merit increments in effect at Calgary is described in the GPC manual--very briefly, salaries are increased annually by merit increment which depends on faculty member's assessment and rank (roughly between $1000 and $3000 per year). This is on top of negotiated across-the-board salary increases (4.5% for 2008 and 2009).

The generous tenure policy in effect at Calgary bears emphasizing: Faculty members are eligible for a semester's leave at 80% of salary for every three years of service. (Compare this with sabbatical leave programs in many US universities, which typically only provide 50-65% of salary).

For new tenure-track staff, the University also offers relocation services, which includes removal costs to Calgary as well as costs of immigrating to Canada.

Alberta's personal tax system is based on a low flat-rate (10%) provincial income tax, no provincial sales tax, and relatively low gas and property taxes.

  

Research Support (for tenure-track faculty)

The Department and the University encourage faculty to apply for federal research funding, especially through SSHRC. The Faculty of Arts and the University also offer several attractive funding opportunities, including start-up funding (agreed upon in the letter of offer for the first year, for the second year, URGC Start Up Grants of up to $18,000 are available--recent tenure track hires have been successful in URGC competitions). The University also offers conference travel grants and several fellowships, including Killam Resident Fellowships and Fellowships at the Calgary Institute for the Humanities. Each permanent faculty member also has an annual Professional Expense Allowance of $1,500 ($150 per half-course for Sessional Instructors).

Contact Information

Department of Philosophy
University of Calgary
2500 University Drive NW
Calgary, AB T2N 1N4
Canada
Departmental Offices:
12th Floor, Social Sciences [map]
Telephone: (403) 220-5533
Fax: (403) 289-5698
Email: phildept@ucalgary.ca
Web: www.phil.ucalgary.ca

Department Head

Ali Kazmi

Department Administrator

Merlette Schnell