A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
S
T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
St. Andrew´s Presbyterian Church
St. Lawrence Building
Scholarships and Student Aid
Schools
Sci ´44 Co-op
Science Formal
Scottish Heritage
Sculptures
Secretary of the Board of Trustees
Secretary of the Senate
Secretary of the University, Board of Trustees and the Senate
Senate
Separation from Presbyterian Church
Sesquicentennial Anniversary
Sexual Health and Resource Centre
Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure
Shortt, Adam
Skelton, Oscar Douglas
Skelton-Clark Fellows
Small Business Consulting Service
Smith, David Chadwick
Smith, Elizabeth
Snodgrass, The Rev William
Social Program Evaluation Group
Society of Graduate and Professional Students
Society of Graduate and Professional Students, Judicial Board
Sociology, Department of
Sororities
Southern African Migration Project
Southern African Research Centre
Spanish and Italian, Department of
Special Collections
Sports
Staff Association, Queen´s University (QUSA)
Stanley Cup
Stauffer, Joseph S.
Stauffer Library
Stewart, John
Stewart-Pollock Wing
Still Running
Stirling, John Bertram
Stirling Hall
Strachan, The Rev John
Strathy Language Unit
Stuart Street
Student Affairs Centre
Student Awards, Office of
Student Clubs
Student and Community Services Group, Queen´s
Student Constables
Student Counselling Services
"Student Ghetto"
Student Health Services
Student Housing Services
Student Records and Services
Student Residents-Community/Town-Gown Liaison
Student Strikes
Student Team on Alumni Relations
Students´ Memorial Union
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory
Summer School
Summerhill
Surface
Surgery, Department of
Survey School
Sutherland, Robert
St Andrew's Presbyterian Church. This church at the corner of Princess and Clergy Streets played an important role in Queen's early history. It was the main presbyterian church in Kingston in the 19th century and was thus a natural gathering place for the university's founders. When Presbyterian leaders from around Upper Canada decided to found the university in 1839, the site of that important meeting was St Andrew's; and the first meeting of Queen's Board of Trustees also took place at the church in 1840. The university's royal charter of 1841 recognized St. Andrew's importance by stipulating that Queen's must be located no further than three miles from the church. There was an intimate relationship between Queen's faculty and St Andrew's leaders for decades, most obvious between 1846 and 1853 when the Rev John Machar was both principal of Queen's and head of the church. The church was originally built in 1820, but burned down in 1888. The present church dates from 1890.
St Lawrence Building. Completed in 1969, this building housed a variety of staff departments, including career planning and placement and the student health service. The building was located next to stirling hall on queen's crescent. It was one of three small buildings at Queen's named after area waterways – the other two being the cataraqui building and the rideau building, constructed at about the same time. This building was demolished in 2000 to make way for the construction of Chernoff Hall, the new home to the Department of Chemistry.
Scholarships and Student Aid. See Student Awards, Office of and School of Graduate Studies and Research.
Schools. The term "school" is used to describe a variety of academic units at Queen's – two main types, and additional anomalies. The first main type is, in effect, a faculty, in that it administers a group of faculty members and degree programs and is administered by its own dean and faculty board, who report only to the senate and the principal, not to a larger faculty or school. This school is the School of Business. The second main type of school also administers its own degree programs and faculty but is, in effect, a department, although it is headed by a director instead of a department head. It resembles a department in that it is administered by a larger faculty or school. There are seven schools in this category: three, the Schools of industrial relations, policy studies and urban and regional planning, are units within the School of graduate studies and research; three, the Schools of Music, School of Environmental Studies, and Physical and Health Education, are units within the Faculty of Arts and Science; and two, the School of Rehabilitation Therapy and the School of Nursing, are units within the Faculty of Health Sciences. Finally, there are two additional schools which do not fit neatly into either of these categories: the School of Graduate Studies and Research, and the School of english. The School of Graduate Studies and Research resembles the first main kind of school in that it is led by a Dean and reports to no one except the Senate and the Principal; but it has some unique "umbrella" functions. It administers the Senate's regulations with respect to graduate programs and therefore embraces almost every department and school that offers a graduate program, although it only administers the staffing and budgeting of a small fraction of these, the three schools listed above. And it has an additional, unique responsibility: it coordinates the funding of all research in the university except that in the Faculty of health sciences, and supervises the university's research centres, institutes and groups. The School of English resembles the second main type of school, in that it is led by a director and reports to a larger unit, the Faculty of Arts and Science. But its courses, in English as a second language, are not offered for credit at Queen's. For more information about specific schools, see individual headings.
Sci ‘44 Co-op. This independent, non-profit housing cooperative was founded by a group of engineering students in 1941, when the wartime boom in Kingston was creating an acute shortage of housing for students. The co-op idea was an innovation, since the preferred form of accommodation at that time was in boardinghouses. (There were no men's residences yet, and only one women's residence, ban righ hall.) The first co-op house, for men only, was at 329 Earl Street, where harkness hall is now located; the first house for women was added in 1945, at 144 albert street. The Co-op now owns more then 20 houses within a 10-minute walk of campus, and can accommodate about 200 students. Many of the houses offer a meal plan.
Science Formal. This formal dance is the most prestigious social event of its type at Queen's. First held in 1930, the formal is organized by and for the graduating class of undergraduate engineering students. Late every fall the class takes over grant hall and part of kingston hall and decorates it elaborately; the dance itself is traditionally accompanied before and after by various extravagances, including, in a few cases, flights to New York and even Paris for dinner. There is a story that the formal had the perhaps dubious honour of being listed by Playboy magazine in the 1970s as one of the top 10 university parties in North America.
Scottish heritage. Queen's was founded in 1841 by Scottish presbyterian settlers in Upper Canada and owes a great deal to its Scottish origins. In the university's early years, the most obvious links with Scotland were its association with the Presbyterian Church, or the Church of Scotland, and the fact that virtually all its faculty were Scottish-educated. Those connections have long been severed, but Scotland's early influence is still felt. Queen's Royal Charter of 1841 modelled the university's government after that of Edinburgh University and, consistent with the charter's provisions, Queen's is still governed by a Board of Trustees, a Senate, and a Principal. The offices of Chancellor and Rector, added in later years, were also inspired by Scottish models. The presence of a powerful and independent student government at Queen's, with substantial responsibilities for student discipline, is due in part to the tradition of student independence at Scottish universities. And many of Queen's most colourful traditions also have a Scottish flavour, from the bagpipes and kilts of the queen's bands to the tams of orientation week and the gaelic chorus of the oil thigh song. For more on Scottish influence, see entries on the Presbyterian Church, Gaelic, St. Andrew's Church, and History of Queen's University.
Sculptures. There are nine outdoor sculptures on Queen's campus. The most prominent is a group of geometric forms adjacent to University Avenue between Jeffery Hall and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre. Created in 1971 by Queen's fine art professor Alan Dickson, the group is called Five Sculptures on Topological Themes. The work consists of five terrazzo (stone and cement) forms that each has a continuous surface – that is, a surface that can be entirely traced with one's hand without crossing an edge. On the ground near the west side of the Art Centre, south of Harrison-Lecaine Hall, is Thataway Again, a low-lying piece consisting of intersecting and overlapping steel members. It was created in 1979 by Tamworth-based sculptor Henry Saxe and purchased by Queen's in 1982. Prominently displayed on the plaza west of Jeffery Hall is a dramatic, orange painted steel sculpture called Pyramidal Structure: `Sakarrah.' Commissioned in 1971, the work was made by Victor Tolgesy (d 1980), a Hungarian-born sculptor who lived in Ottawa. Standing just east of the tennis courts outside Theological Hall is a large white steel sculpture, an open rectangular frame. Called Ground Outline, it was made by Peterborough-based sculptor Peter Kolisnyk in 1978 and purchased by Queen's in 1981. Outside Duncan McArthur Hall on west campus is an angular, yellow fibreglass sculpture called Bent Yellow. This work was created in 1972 by English-born sculptor Raymond Spiers. On the south side of Duncan McArthur Hall is Jordi Bonet's Iron Man, an abstract, cast aluminum form commissioned for this location in 1972. An untitled painted steel sculpture by Canadian artist Andre Fauteux is mounted on the exterior east wall of the Biosciences Complex. This spare linear work was made in 1973 and donated to Queen's by Gesta Abols in 1985. Bill Vazan's The Three Observed of 1992 was donated to Queen's by Dr. Michel D'Avirro in the same year. The granite stones incised with cosmological symbols were placed on the east lawn of the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in 2000. Nearby, mounted on the façade of the Art Centre, is Micah Lexier's energetic graphic piece in stainless steel, A Minute of My Time (September 29, 1998 15:04 – 15:05). The piece, from Lexier's series on the passage of time, was commissioned in 1999 with the support of the Millennium Arts Fund of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Chancellor Richardson Memorial Fund and Thyssen Marathon Canada, Limited. All Queen's sculptures are maintained by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.
Secretary of the Board of Trustees. See Secretary of the university, board of trustees and senate.
Secretary of the Senate. See secretary of the university, board of trustees and senate.
Secretary of the University, Board of Trustees and Senate. This official has one of the most important jobs at the University, discharging, as the name suggests, three distinct functions. In discharging these functions the Secretary is assisted by an Associate Secretary of the Senate and Secretary of University Council, an Associate Secretary of the Board of Trustees and Convocation Coordinator, the Coordinator of Dispute Resolution Mechanisms and support staff.. The posts of the Secretary of the Board of Trustees and Secretary of the Senate are as old as the University: the position of Secretary of the Board of Trustees, in fact, was first described in the Royal Charter. For most of Queen's history the two positions were held by separate people, sometimes in combination with other posts. For example, the post of Secretary of the Senate was held jointly from the 1930s to 1968 with the position of Registrar. The position of Secretary of the University was created in 1959, and since then has been held jointly with that of Secretary of the Board of Trustees. The three positions were finally combined in 1989 in order to take advantage of the considerable overlap in subject matter in the three areas, and facilitate linkages between the Board of Trustees and Senate.
The duties associated with the titles of Secretary of the Board of Trustees and Secretary of the Senate are similar, involving in both cases the provision of various kinds of support to these senior policy-making bodies. The Secretary is responsible for undertaking research and preparing background material and agendas for the meetings of these bodies and their committees, taking minutes of these meetings, communicating officially with the bodies and individuals affected by Senate and Board decisions, and providing information about the Senate and Board to the university community and external bodies. The Secretary also serves as an important resource person for the Senate and Board and their committees, helping to ensure continuity in their work despite the periodic turnover in their membership. And the Secretary regularly advises senior university officials on Senate and Board matters, including procedural matters.
The Secretary of the University keeps the corporate seal of the University and is authorized to sign agreements and apply the seal on behalf of the University according to guidelines established by the Board of Trustees, A variety of other corporate functions arise from this role. The Secretary signs and keeps records of many of the University's contracts and agreements with outside agencies, officially receives money bequeathed to the University, and administers the University's tendering process for tenders over $1-million. The Secretary's office is located in Mackintosh-Corry Hall B400.
Senate. The Senate is one of the University's two primary governing bodies, the Board of Trustees being the other. Like the Board, the Senate is as old as the University; it was described in the University's Royal Charter of 1841, which willed that the "Principal and all the Professors of the said College shall forever constitute the College Senate," with powers to "exercise of Academical superintendence and discipline over the Students," and to confer degrees. What was envisioned was a body of faculty with authority over the academic affairs of the university, in contrast to the Board, which would include no faculty except the Principal, and which would have a financial focus. With some changes, this is what the Senate remains today. At first the Senate included every faculty member; but in 1913, after the numbers of faculty had generally grown, the Senate was made a representative body, comprised of elected faculty members representing their respective faculties and schools. In 1970, the composition of the Senate again changed significantly, this time to give approximately one quarter of the seats to student representatives. (Students had first been given four places two years earlier).Today the Senate's general function is "to determine all matters of an academic character which affect the University as a whole, and to be concerned with all matters which affect the welfare of the University." Specifically, the Senate grants degrees (including honorary degrees) and has the final say in all matters relating to examinations; it must approve all programs of study proposed by faculties and schools, and can establish (subject to ratification by the Board of Trustees) new faculties, schools, departments, chairs, centres, and institutes. It sets policies in a wide range of academic areas including but not limited to; Research, Scholarships and Student Aid, Fine Arts and Public Lectures, the Library and Information Technology. It reviews Queen's operating budget to ensure its consistency with the needs of the University and participates in planning the development of the University. It has responsibility for the overall well-being of students, and has final responsibility for their academic and non-academic discipline, including the power to expel students, although initial responsibility for non-academic discipline of students is exercised by the Alma Mater Society and the Society of Graduate and Professional Students. The Senate also establishes a code of conduct for all members of the university community and maintains a grievance procedure and harassment/discrimination complaint procedure for students, faculty and staff. The Senate has 70 members, of which the majority are elected faculty, approximately one quarter are students, and no more than one quarter are "ex officio" administrative officers – the Principal, Vice-Principal(Academic)and Vice-Principal (Research), Deans, the Principal of the Theological College, the Chief Librarian, the President of the Faculty Association, President of the AMS and President of the SGPS. The Principal chairs the Senate. The Senate meets once a month, except in June, July and August, but much of its preliminary work is done by committees which meet at different times (for a list of those committees, see below). The office of the Secretary of the Senate is located in Mackintosh-Corry Hall B400.
Senate Committee on Academic Development.
Senate Committee on Academic Procedures.
Senate Committee on Advisory Research.
Senate Agenda Committee.
Senate Committee on Appointment, Promotion, Tenure and Leave.
Senate Committee on the Ban Righ Board.
Senate Committee on Budget Review.
Senate Committee on Educational Equity.
Senate Committee on Fine Arts and Public Lectures.
Senate Committee on Honourary Degrees.
Senate Committee on Information Technology.
Senate Committee on Internal Academic Review.
Senate Committee on Libraries.
Senate Nominating Committee.
Senate Committee on Non-Academic Discipline.
Senate Committee on Operations Review.
Senate Orientation Activities Review Board.
Senate Committee on Scholarships and Student Aid.
Separation from Presbyterian Church. See Presbyterian church.
Sesquicentennial Anniversary. Queen's celebrated its 150th anniversary from May 1991 to May 1992 with a long list of high-profile academic and non-academic events, headlined by a royal visit from Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales. The focus of the royal visit, on 28 October 1991, was a convocation ceremony at which Prince Charles received an honorary doctorate of laws and delivered a major speech on Canadian unity. The prince also unveiled a plaque on Fleming Field declaring Queen's a national historic site, unveiled a replica of Queen's royal charter in the john deutsch university centre, and visited the agnes etherington art centre. The other central event of the sesquicentennial anniversary was university day on October 16, which commemorated the granting of Queen's Royal Charter on that date in 1841. The day included a reception at grant hall, at which Governor General Ramon Hnatyshyn unveiled a commemorative postage stamp and officially registered the Queen's coat of arms and flag; a special Sesquicentennial Convocation honouring 12 distinguished men and women from Canada and abroad; and a satellite broadcast of the day's events to alumni branches across Canada. Other prominent non-academic events during the anniversary year included a dress parade of Royal Military College cadets to Queen's in May, 1991 and opening and closing barbecues for faculty, staff, and retirees. Among the most prominent academic events were the Learned Societies Conference, an annual meeting of more than 7,000 Canadian scholars which came to Queen's in May 1991, and the "Citizen and the State" lecture series, which brought an international cast of writers, scholars, activists, and scientists to Queen's to discuss issues related to the development and future of the modern state. Other conferences were on such subjects as the evolution of Canadian business, medicine in the 21st century, engineering and the environment, and the past, present, and future of Kingston. The sesquicentennial celebrations were organized by hundreds of people across campus and coordinated by members of the specially appointed Office of the Sesquicentennial, which was located in the Old Medical Building from 1988 to 1992.
Sexual Health and Resource Centre. Founded in 1971, this student-run volunteer service provides free and confidential information and counselling about birth control, pregnancy options, and general sexual health to people inside and outside Queen's. Volunteers also visit student residences and local high schools every year to lead teach-ins on birth control issues. The centre also sells non-prescription contraceptives at cost. The organization reports to the Alma Mater Society and the Dean of Student Affairs and is a member of the Queen's Student and Community Services Group (see Grey House). It is located in the Grey House at 51 Queen's Crescent.
Sexual Harassment Complaint Procedure. Since 1986, complaints of sexual harassment (unwelcome attention of a sexual nature that a person knows or ought reasonably to know is unwelcome) at Queen's have been dealt with through a process distinct from the university's regular grievance procedures. There is a single process for all groups within the university: students, faculty, and unionized and non-unionized staff. Sexual harassment is defined as unwanted, unasked-for attention of a sexual nature. In 1995, the process was incorporated into the the Queen's Harassment and Discrimination Policy and Procedure, which was revised and updated in 2000. The first step in the process is to contact a Sexual Harassment Advisor, who can provide confidential advice and support, can try to resolve the complaint informally if both parties agree, and will provide assistance in writing a formal complaint if one is to be lodged. The second, optional step is mediation by a mediator acceptable to both parties; the third step is a formal closed-door hearing by a three-member Sexual Harassment Complaint Board, which can recommend sanctions to the principal for implementation. A final appeal can be made by either side to an outside arbitrator. In 1992, the university hired its first paid Sexual Harassment Advisor who now works with volunteer adivsors to deliver a comprehensive program of education and prevention of sexual harassment. The Sexual Harassment Advisor can be contacted through the Human Rights Office, which is located in the Old Medical Building.
Shortt, Adam (1859-1931). Shortt was an influential professor of politics and economics at Queen's and an architect of the modern Canadian public service. He was born near Walkerton, Ontario and educated at Queen's (BA 1883) and Edinburgh University. He was appointed a professor of philosophy at Queen's in 1886, and became the university's first full-time professor of politics and economics in 1891. Around this time he also singlehandedly produced the university library's first card catalogue (see libraries). He held the Sir john a. macdonald Chair of Political and Economic Science from 1899 until 1908, when he was appointed first chair of the Canadian Civil Service Commission, a body created to reform the federal public service. He held this position until 1917 and, under his leadership, the commission transformed the federal public service from an inefficient, patronage-ridden body into a professional organization based on progress through merit. He subsequently served as head of the Dominion Archives (now the National Archives of Canada), served as a prominent labour negotiator, published several works of Canadian history, and was a trustee of Queen's from 1909 until his death. He was married to elizabeth smith, a member of Queen's first class of female medical students and later one of Canada's foremost feminists. See also Ottawa and Queen's.
Skelton, Oscar Douglas (1878-1941). Skelton was a professor of politics and economics at Queen's and the most powerful public servant of his day. He was born in Orangeville and educated at Queen's, where he was a brilliant student in classics and English (MA 1899). He earned a PhD in politics and economics from the University of Chicago in 1908 and, a year later, returned to Queen's to succeed Prof Adam Shortt as Sir John A. Macdonald Professor of Political and Economic Science. He held this position until 1925 and served as Dean of Arts from 1919 until 1925. He was a popular teacher and wrote widely on economics, history, and current affairs. Throughout his career, he believed deeply that Canada must shed the vestiges of its colonial status and take control of its own affairs. He worked through the Liberal Party for this end. He was close to Sir Wilfrid Laurier in the Prime Minister's last years and later wrote his biography. He was engaged by Prime Minister Mackenzie King as a part-time foreign policy consultant after the Liberals won the election of 1921. King took him on full-time in 1925 to serve as undersecretary of state for external affairs, an appointment he held until his death and in which he founded the modern Department of External Affairs. He was offered Queen's principalship in 1930, but chose to stay in Ottawa – much to King's relief. An unassuming, unaffected, and hard-working man, he was the leading civil servant of his day. One of his colleagues in the civil service wrote that Skelton was the de facto "deputy Prime Minister of Canada." He laid the foundations of Canada's foreign policy and, having Mackenzie King's ear, was also a key advisor on domestic policy. See also Ottawa and Queen's, Skelton-Clark Fellows.
Skelton-Clark Fellows. In 1953, friends of O.D. Skelton and W.C. Clark established a memorial foundation at Queen's to honour these two former members of Queen's Department of Political and Economic Science (see economics and political studies). Both had moved on from Queen's to influential careers in Ottawa, where they are credited with helping to found the modern public service. The money from the endowment was to be used to promote research and publication in Fields underlying problems of public policy, and one of its chief uses over the years has been to bring people active or knowledgeable in public affairs to Queen's as Skelton-Clark Fellows, to write, meet with students and faculty, and generally participate in university life. In 1977 the endowment was divided between the Departments of Economics and Political Studies, and while the former department now uses the money for different purposes, the latter department continues to bring Skelton-Clark Fellows to campus. Increasingly they have been drawn from abroad. Recent fellows have included former NDP leader Ed Broadbent, Deputy Minister of Justice George Thomson, South African scholar and activist Mary Simons, Canadian High Commissioner to Pakistan Louis Delvoie.
Small Business Consulting Service. This unit of the School of business, established in 1973, provides a management consulting service at affordable rates to existing and potential small business owners and managers. The consultants are Master of Business Administration (MBA) students and final year Commerce students who draw information from their own studies and experience and some assistance from business faculty and the local business community. SBCS staff have consulted in all areas of business – finance, marketing, accounting, production, personnel, operations, and computer applications. While the majority of the clients are within southeastern Ontario, many clients have been assisted throughout Ontario and as far away as Calgary, Alberta. The office of the service is located in Mackintosh-Corry Hall.
Smith, David Chadwick (1931-2000). Smith was a professor of economics and Queen's 16th principal (1984-1994). Born in Ootacamund, Southern India, to Baptist missionary parents from the Simcoe area, he was educated at McMaster University (BA 1953), Oxford University (BA 1955, MA 1959), and Harvard University (PhD 1959). He came to Queen's in 1960 after two years of teaching at the University of California (Berkeley). He was a specialist in labour economics, macroeconomics, and public policy (especially income policy), and was head of the Department of economics from 1968 to 1981. In 1976 he was instrumental in founding at Queen's the john deutsch institute for the study of economic policy, which he directed from 1976 until 1984. He was selected Principal in 1984. Under his leadership, Queen's worked to maintain its high graduate and undergraduate standards and sought to build on its early roots as a place that welcomes students from all parts of society. His principalship brought three new buildings to Queen's: the School of Policy Studies, Walter Light Hall, and Stauffer Library. Smith was a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1976) and received honorary doctorates from McMaster University and Queen's (Belfast) in 1991. He is survived by the Rev Mary (Taylor) Smith (BA McMaster, MDiv Queen's) and their two adult children, Monica and Geoffrey.
Smith, Elizabeth (1859-1949). A member of Queen's first class of female medical students and later one of Canada's foremost feminists, Smith is also significant for leaving a fascinating diary of her experiences at Queen's in the late 19th century. Born in Winona, Ontario, Smith entered Queen's in 1880 as one of three members of the university's first class of women medical students. Throughout her stay, she kept a diary of her experiences that provides invaluable insights into medical studies in the 19th century – and into the extraordinary battles women had to fight for the right to study medicine. The most dramatic part of the diary involves the banning of women from the medical college in 1882 and the subsequent creation of the women's medical college in Kingston. (See women medical students, expulsion of.) Smith married Queen's graduate adam shortt, later a prominent politics professor at the university and a founder of the Canadian public service. She taught at the Women's Medical College in the 1880s and 1890s and, after moving to Ottawa with Shortt, became one of Canada's leading feminists, active in the Women's Canadian Club and in campaigns for such causes as mothers' allowances and mothers' pensions. Her diaries for the years between 1872 and 1884 are published in A Woman with a Purpose (University of Toronto Press, 1980).
Snodgrass, The Rev William (1827-1906). Snodgrass was one of the most successful of Queen's early principals, serving from 1864 to 1877 and guiding the university through some of its most troubled years. He was born in Paisley, Scotland and educated at Glasgow University, where he was ordained. He emigrated to Canada in 1852 to become minister of St James Church in Charlottetown, PEI. From 1856 to 1864 he was minister of St Paul's in Montreal. He was appointed Principal of Queen's after the death of the Rev william leitch in 1864. Although less academically accomplished than his predecessors, he was patient, steady, and energetic. He put those qualities to good use throughout his term as he dealt with some trying circumstances, including the end of government grants and the collapse in 1867 of the commercial bank – a disaster that cost Queen's about two-thirds of its endowment. He saved the university with a remarkably successful fundraising campaign across Canada. And he led Queen's to some important advances: the university admitted women for the first time in 1869; the quality of staff improved steadily during his term; the library grew rapidly; and a number of now familiar institutions got their start, including the Queen's Journal. Exhausted by the burdens of office, Snodgrass retired in 1877 to a comfortable parish in Scotland.
Social Program Evaluation Group (SPEG). Founded in 1980, this applied research group draws together researchers from a variety of disciplines to conduct research to evaluate the effectiveness of social programs. The program is jointly funded by the Faculty of Education and Faculty of Health Sciences. It also undertakes studies to develop evaluation theories, programming techniques and methodologies to assess community needs. Queen's researchers have come from education, law, nursing, business, psychology, sociology, and physical and health education; in some projects, researchers from other universities, the private sector and from outside health, social service or educational agencies have also participated. Major projects have included a national study of attitudes towards sex and Aids among Canadian youth, involving 38,000 young people, and a study of the quality of life of Canadian teachers. An important ongoing undertaking is the Better Beginnings, Better Futures project (see separate entry). The group reports to the School of Graduate Studies and Research. Its office is located in Duncan McArthur Hall.
Society of Graduate and Professional Students. Until 1982, graduate students were represented by the alma mater society. But many felt their unique interests were poorly served as a minority within a society dominated by undergraduates – especially since many undergraduates are taught and supervised by graduate students. Originally called the Graduate Student Society, the GSS was recognized formally in 1982 as the autonomous representative body for all students within the School of graduate studies and research. (It therefore does not include MBA or medical students.) In 1998, the Faculty of Law formally severed ties with the AMS and joined the GSS, which was subsequently re-named the SGPS to better reflect the diversity of students within the Society. The society has an elected, six-person executive (one President and four Vice-Presidents) and several committees, including a finance committee which helps to fund educational, cultural, and athletic activities for graduate students, and a Judicial Board with initial responsibility for the non-academic discipline of graduate students (see discipline, student). Through a cost-sharing agreement with the AMS, the SGPS buys into a variety of that undergraduate society's programs and services, including the queen's journal and Walkhome. The President of the SGPS is an ex officio observer on the board of trustees and an ex officio member of the Council of the School of Graduate Studies and Research. The SGPS also has representation on the Senate and the University Council. A new executive is elected every spring.
Society of Graduate and Professional Students Judicial Board.
Sociology, Department of. Courses in sociology were first taught at Queen's in 1952 by Prof John Meisel in the Department of Political and Economic Science (see economics and political studies). In response to rapidly growing interest in the discipline, a separate department was established in 1969. Sociology focuses on social relations themselves rather than the individual, and the department offers a variety of courses on social relations and their development and change. Courses in social anthropology are also included in the department's offerings. The department was the first at Queen's to offer a course in women's studies; the course Women and Social Structure was devised and offered in the early 1970s. There are more than 25 full-time faculty in the department who teach and administer both undergraduate and graduate degree programs. The department is part of the Faculty of Arts and Science and is located in Mackintosh-Corry Hall.
Sororities. See fraternities and sororities.
Southern African Migration Project. Established in 1996, SAMP exists to encourage and support new regional approaches and policies on migration. SAMP is an international partnership network linking organizations in Canada and six Southern African states committed to collaborative research, training, public education and policy development on migration issues, funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). The SAMP project has four main components: applied migration research, policy advice and monitoring, migration training and public education. During the period 1996-99, the primary focus was on cross-border migration to South Africa. From 2000, the program will be more regional in character. It is located at 11 St. Lawrence Avenue.
Southern African Research Centre. The Southern African Research Centre (SARC) is a focal point within Queen's University for research and international development programmes focused on the SADC region. The overall aim of SARC is to contribute to regional cooperation and development in Southern Africa through basic research, training and capacity building, the delivery of Canadian expertise and policy inputs; and the planning and development of academic and applied research and development projects. This Centre reports to the Vice-Principal (Research).
Spanish and Italian, Department of. Spanish and Italian were first taught at Queen's early this century in the old Department of Romance Languages. The Department of Spanish and Italian was formed in 1920 under the guidance of Professor J.H. Brovedani, who remained head of the department until 1949. The department offers a comprehensive range of courses in the language, literature, and culture of Spain, Latin America, and Italy, as well as a Master's program in Spanish (Peninsular and Latin American literature). It offers at the undergraduate level a major in Spanish, a medial in Italian, and administers an honours degree in Spanish and Latin American Studies. While the number of full-time faculty has dropped slightly in recent years from its traditional number of six, the number of undergraduate students has doubled. The increase is partly due to the demand for language proficiency in professional faculties, and an awareness of the growing importance of Latin America, especially in its dealings with Canada. The department, located in Kingston Hall, is part of the Faculty of Arts and Science. See also Language Laboratory.
Special Collections. See Douglas library.
Special Needs Office. See Health, Counselling and Disability Services.
Sports. See athletics.
Staff Association, Queen's University (QUSA). The association, established in 1972, advances the interests of all non-unionized, non-academic staff. It conducts regular discussions with the university administration on matters of mutual interest, and tries to arrive at annual or multi-year agreements with the administration with respect to salaries, benefits, and other working conditions. It is not a full-fledged union: membership is not compulsory, and the association has no right to strike and no power to invoke outside conciliation or binding arbitration. If no agreement is reached in a given year, the principal can proceed uni-laterally. The Principal consults the association in naming staff observers to the board of trustees and senate, and staff observers or full members to various Senate and Board committees. Members of the association's executive committee are elected to one-year terms. The association has an office in the John Deutsch University Centre (JDUC).
Stanley Cup. See athletics.
Stauffer, Joseph S. (1896-1978). Stauffer was a Queen's alumnus and one of the most generous benefactors in the university's history. Born in Galt, Ontario, he enrolled in applied science at Queen's in 1914, majoring in metallurgy. He served as a pilot in the First World War before returning to Queen's to complete his degree in 1920 and moving on to graduate work at the Imperial College of Science in London, England. Back in Canada, he noted the growth of the telephone industry, bought a number of small telephone exchanges, amalgamated them, and sold them to Bell for a profit. He invested heavily in mining and, during his long business career, was also involved in ventures in such areas as fuel technology, textiles, and finances. He lived at various times in Toronto, Mexico City, Pennsylvania, and London, England. Stauffer chose to use his money for a variety of worthwhile causes. For example, he felt that Canada had treated natives poorly and gave substantial sums to several universities with native studies programs. He was also one of Queen's most generous benefactors. For years he anonymously provided pensions to widows of Queen's professors. Other gifts from Stauffer and his estate (administered by his wife, Annabelle, until her death in 1983 and by his friend Dennis Jordan, Arts ‘38) have included $1 million for a chair in cancer research, $1.2 million for the construction of School of policy studies, $250,000 for the clinical mechanics group, $2.3 million for walter light hall technology centre, an organ for jock harty arena, and $10 million for the Joseph S. Stauffer Library in his honour. The W.D. Jordan Special Collections and Music Library was named after Stauffer's friend when the Stauffer Foundation contributed fund renovations in the Douglas Library. See also Stauffer Library.
Stauffer Library. Opened in the fall of 1994, the five-storey Joseph S. Stauffer library at the northwest corner of University Avenue and Union Street contains more than 70,000 metres of space and provides room for about 1.5 million volumes. There are more than six kilometres of bookstacks and study and research space for more than 1,200 students. The library houses the university's humanities and social sciences collections, and also contains state-of-the-art computing and information services, seminar and training rooms, meeting rooms, maps, air photos, government documents, data collections and the Union Gallery for art works by students. It also houses the central administrative offices for all Queen's libraries. Stauffer Library is designed in neo-gothic style to match the style of douglas library and is clad in limestone. The $48 million facility was a Queen's Challenge Campaign initiative funded by the Ontario government and the private sector. The library is named in honour of Joseph S. Stauffer, a graduate of Queen's (BSc 1920), and a generous benefactor. In 1997, Stauffer Library was awarded the Governor-General's Award for Architecture. The library is designed by Kuwabara Payne Mckenna Blumberg.
Stewart, John (c 1810-1892). Stewart was a co-founder of Queen's medical school and one of the most colourful figures in the university's early history. He was born in Perth, Scotland and educated at Edinburgh University, where he received his medical license in 1834. He immigrated to Canada shortly thereafter and set up as a surgeon in Kingston in the early 1840s. He played a leading part among local doctors in persuading Queen's board of trustees to set up a medical school in 1854, and was the university's first Professor of Physiology and Anatomy. He delivered the first-ever lecture in the Faculty of medicine in 1854. He was also combative, arrogant, and flamboyant. He was tall and handsome man and was well known for striding about town attired in the Royal Stuart tartan, which he preferred to an overcoat, and for occasionally substituting a highland bonnet for the conventional mortarboard. He was the owner, editor, and chief contributor to the Kingston Argus, a small newspaper that served mainly as a vent for Stewart's overheated opinions. He was initially the de facto leader of the medical school, but was in constant conflict with colleagues, and published vitriolic attacks against them in the Argus. He was dismissed from Queen's in 1862 after bitterly opposing an appointment at Kingston General Hospital supported by most of his peers. With typical spleen, he attacked his opponents in print as "those low, scheming fellows who now compose the Medical Faculty of Queen's College" and, for good measure, called Principal william leitch a two-faced "bungling, arch-blockhead" and the "head sinner" of a "degraded" university. Despite his formidable faults, Stewart was widely regarded as an excellent teacher and a caring doctor; his efforts on behalf of the sick and dying in Kingston's devastating typhus fever epidemic of 1847 were a matter of local legend.
Stewart-Pollock Wing. See Fleming Hall.
Still Running. This book contains the autobiographical reflections of 15 winners of the Marty Memorial Scholarship, an award founded by the alumnae association and given to a Queen's alumna for a year of further study. Published on the 50th anniversary of the scholarship in 1987, the book contains reminiscences dating from the 1920s to the 1980s and covering careers in the arts, letters, science, medicine, industry, and public service. The book was edited by Queen's history professor Joy Parr. The foreword is by the late Pauline Jewett, a Marty winner and a long-time MP who also served as President of Simon Fraser University and as Chancellor of Carleton University. The scholarship is named in honour of Aletta and Sophie Marty, sisters who graduated from Queen's in the late 19th century and who eagerly promoted the higher education of women.
Stirling, John Bertram (1888-1988) Queen's eighth chancellor (1960-1974), Stirling was one of Canada's leading engineers and businessmen. He was born in Dundas, Ontario and educated at Queen's (BA 1909, BSc 1911, LLD 1951), where, among other things, he was a founder of the Queen's bands. He served with the Canadian Engineers in France during the First World War. He was an engineer of international repute and became president of the Montreal-based EGM Cape and Company Ltd. He served terms as president of the Engineering Institute of Canada, the Montreal Board of Trade, the Canadian Construction Association, and other business organizations. A long-time trustee of Queen's, he was elected Chancellor in 1964. He worked tirelessly to raise money for the university and was intimately involved with the university's administration. He resigned from the position in 1974 at the age of 86. He received the Order of Canada in 1969. The Alumni Association's prestigious Montreal Medal for "Makers of Queen's" was renamed the Stirling Medal in his honour in 1988, his 100th year, shortly before his death. His papers are held at Queen's Archives.
Stirling Hall. Built between 1962 and 1964, Stirling Hall houses Queen's Department of physics. The distinctive round building, located on queen's crescent, was originally meant to be situated on the lower campus, between Kingston General Hospital and theological hall. But much-publicized protests from students, faculty, and alumni upset with the rapid pace of campus development preserved that area as green space. A notable feature of the building is a Foucault Pendulum, which hangs in the centre of the second floor. The pendulum swings in a pattern and at a speed determined by the rotation of the earth and the latitude of Kingston. The building is named after john bertram stirling, a Queen's graduate, an engineer and businessman of international repute, and eighth chancellor of Queen's (1960-1974).
Strachan, The Rev John (1778-1867). One of the most powerful men in the early history of Upper Canada, Strachan was also an unwitting founder of Queen's. Strachan immigrated to Canada from Scotland in 1799 and settled in Kingston and shortly thereafter Cornwall. He was ordained as an Anglican minister in 1803 and in 1812 accepted the rectorship of York (Toronto). He took charge of the community when the Americans invaded in 1813 and, after the war, became a leading member of the "Family Compact" of English and Loyalist families who controlled the colony. Influential in politics and religion, he was also was a force in education: in 1827 he founded the Anglican King's College, later the University of Toronto. An unintended consequence of this achievement was the founding of Queen's. Throughout the 1830s, presbyterians sought to become partners in his richly endowed college. But Strachan jealously guarded Anglican privileges and bluntly rejected all suitors. Frustrated by his stubbornness, Presbyterian leaders finally decided in the late 1830s to found their own college: Queen's. The new university's leaders continued to approach Strachan about a merger in the 1840s, but he remained obdurate – thus ensuring that Queen's survived. One Queen's historian has called Strachan Queen's "patron saint" because of his unwitting contributions to the university.
Strathy Language Unit. This is a research unit of the Department of english devoted to the study of written and oral English in Canada. It produced the "Guide to Canadian English Usage" (Oxford University Press, 1997) and is currently involved in electronic dictionary research. The unit has a computer corpus of 18 million words of Canadian speech and writing. It also has collected the Canadian sample for the International Corpus of English project, co-ordinated at the University of London. The unit publishes a series of occasional papers on English in Canadaas well as a series of undergraduate working papers in linguistics. It was founded in 1981 after Queen's alumnus J. R. Strathy left the English department a sum to produce an authoritative guide to English usage in this country. The unit is located in the Jemmett Wing of Fleming Hall.
Stuart Street. This street runs from Barrie Street to Lower Albert Street. It passes Kingston General Hospital, the foot of university avenue, the department of Film Studies, chernoff hall and adelaide and chown halls. It is one of a cluster of five streets on campus named after Archdeacon George Okill Stuart, an Anglican cleric who was the original owner of Summerhill, Queen's oldest building. The others are Arch, Deacon, George, and Okill.
Student Affairs Centre. See Grey House.
Student Awards, Office of. The Student Awards Office plans, manages and implements the provision and coordination of student financial assistance from internal and external sources to students in the form of undergraduate scholarships and awards, student bursaries, work study and emergency relief funds, the Queen's short-term and long-term loan programs, government assistance programs and financial aid counselling. Of the Queen's specific programs, the unit administers over $16 million in operating budget for student assistance. Assistance falls into two categories: that given to recognize academic merit, and that given to assist students in financial need. Student assistance of the latter kind, need-based assistance, accounts for approximately $10 million of the total and is awarded to graduate and undergraduate students by this unit. The Student Awards Office is overseen by the Associate University Registrar (Student Awards), is located in Richardson Hall and is part of the Office of the University Registrar.
Student Clubs. There are more than 120 registered student clubs and associations at Queen's, catering to an enormous range of interests. The two basic kinds are Alma Mater Society Clubs, registered with the AMS, and Athletic Clubs, supervised by the School of Physical and Health Education. All non-athletic clubs must have their constitutions approved by the AMS, after which they are eligible to hold events and apply for AMS funding. The list of AMS clubs includes political, business, ethnic, arts, and charity groups. Athletic Clubs are devoted to activities as diverse as croquet, flying, figure skating, and scuba diving. A list of many student clubs is published in the who's where every year. More information about can be obtained from the Clubs Manager in the Internal Affairs Office of the AMS.
Student and Community Services Group, Queen's. See Grey House.
Student Constables. Paid student constables have been part of campus life since 1936, when the alma mater society instituted a system of constables to keep order at student events, consistent with the university's long tradition of student self-discipline. (See discipline, student.) AMS Student Constables work at AMS events and pubs and faculty society events; they are not allowed to use force, but they can require students to leave events, or to provide their name and student number, information which in severe cases can be used to initiate charges before the Alma Mater Society Judicial Committee (see Discipline entry). The Engineering Society also has its own constables, called Science Constables, whose powers are identical to those of AMS Constables, but who work at Engineering Society events only.
Student Counselling Services. This service offers professional and confidential personal counselling for students, as well as career and counselling and workshops in study and communication skills. Both individual counselling and group programs are available. The service is responsible to the Dean of Student Affairs. It is located in the LaSalle Building. The service began as a pilot project in 1970 and was formally established by the senate in 1972. Please see Health, Counselling and Disability Services.
"Student Ghetto." See student housing area.
Student Health Service. Queen's has offered medical services of some kind to its students since early this century, starting with special rates for students at Kingston General Hospital, and a university physician responsible for examining every first year student and prescribing "corrective exercises in the Gymnasium" when needed. By the 1920s, students were contributing a small sum as part of their tuition fees to pay for medical care provided to students by the university, and supervised by a university medical officer. The modern Student Health Service, offering a full complement of medical, nursing and psychiatric services to all Queen's students, opened in 1964, and moved to the st. lawrence building 10 years later. Upon demolition of the st. lawrence building in 2000 to make way for the construction of Chernoff Hall, the services moved to the LaSalle Building on Stuart Street. It is staffed by qualified professionals chosen for their interest in the health care of young adults. Most consultations are made by appointment, but urgent or same-day requests can be accommodated and a doctor is on call 24 hours a day. The service also sponsors workshops for student groups on health topics relevant to student life. The service is partly funded by the student activity fees that students pay with their tuition. It is responsible to the Dean of Student Affairs. Please see Health, Counselling and Disability Services.
Student Housing Area. This is the neighbourhood just north of the university in which most undergraduates live after spending their first year in the university's residences. It is still widely called the "Student Ghetto," despite concerted efforts by university administrators and student leaders in recent years to get rid of the name because of its perceived negative connotations. There are no clear boundaries, but the core of the area is between union street in the south, Princess Street in the north, Barrie Street in the east, and Albert Street in the west. Most of the houses in this area are middle-class late Victorian or Edwardian homes, many of them converted into apartments. Students have lived in this area throughout Queen's history, but it was not until the number of students tripled in the 1950s and 1960s that they came to dominate the area. It was about the same time that boardinghouses, where students were to some degree supervised, went into decline, and students began to rent houses independently with small groups of friends, often from absentee landlords. This pattern has contributed to some of the area's problems in recent years – including rambunctious student behaviour, some complaints of lax property standards, and tensions between students and permanent residents. Conditions have improved in recent years, however, through the work of student and university leaders, and such special initiatives as the town-gown office.
Student Records and Services. This unit plans, manages and implements an extensive array of student and administrative support services for the University. Functions and services provided by Student Records and Services include: student record collection, maintenance and retention; tuition fee assessment and collection; student photo-ID, tuition tax receipts, transcripts ordering, diplomas and replacements and many academic support services including exams, convocation, registration, course evaluations and classroom allocation as well as numerous reporting functions for internal administrative use and for official provincial audit requirements. This unit is overseen by the Associate University Registrar (Student Records and Services), is located in Richardson Hall and is part of the Office of the University Registrar.
Student Residents-Community/Town-Gown Liaison. This office was set up in 1991 to promote better relations between students living in the student housing area and the area's permanent residents, its landlords, the city of Kingston, and the university. It is staffed by one part-time liaison officer, who meets frequently with members of all the groups, undertakes educational activities for students on their rights and responsibilities as tenants and residents, and provides advice in specific disputes between students and residents, landlords, or city departments. The office is located in the John Deutsch University Centre and reports to the associate dean (student affairs).
Student strikes. Students have gone on strike twice in Queen's history – and one of these walk-outs contributed to the resignation of a principal. The first strike was in the spring of 1875, after two students were suspended for drinking. John Francis White and Charles Macdonnell had cut both chapel and classes to go to a hotel downtown where each, it is reported, quickly drank two glasses of brandy. They then returned to classes where they had the misfortune to encounter Principal william snodgrass in the corridor. He noticed their condition and promptly brought the matter before the senate, where the two were found guilty of "an offence against moral propriety and good discipline" and suspended from their rank as undergraduates. They might continue to attend classes, but must not wear gowns and could not sit for any exams for the duration of their sentence. Their fellow students thought the punishment too harsh, and petitioned for a remission of the sentence. When they received no reply, most refused to go to classes. In less than a week they sullenly backed down, however, when Snodgrass replied that the Senate could not change its decision and that any further absences would be punished by expulsion. A more serious crisis was the strike of 1928, which took place after a dispute over a student dance. Due to previous disciplinary problems, students had agreed with Principal robert taylor not to hold a dance after the "Frolic," an annual variety night and one of the biggest social events of the year. But three students went ahead anyway and organized an unofficial dance downtown – a move that resulted in their being suspended for two weeks. Although the Senate reduced the sentence to one week, students still protested, claiming the university had no jurisdiction over students' off-campus activities. Following a mass meeting sponsored by the alma mater society, they voted to go on strike until the trio were reinstated. The strike lasted just one day before the head of the alumni association, R.O. Sweezey, told them that he would look into the management of student conduct at the university as long as they returned to class. The students, nervous about the drastic measures they had taken, agreed and gave up on their insistence that the three rebels be reinstated. This would have been the end of it, but members of the board of trustees, who had been concerned about Taylor's management of the university for some time, held him responsible for the crisis and the bad publicity it had created. (Editorial comment about the strike in local and Toronto newspapers generally sympathised with the students.) It was the last straw and, in April of 1929, they suggested that he resign. Taylor, who had no desire to run the university without the trustees' confidence, agreed and left the university in 1930.
Student Team on Alumni Relations. This venture of the alumni association is intended to increase student awareness of the Alumni Association and strengthen interaction between students, their parents, and alumni. One of its main activities is its Send-Off program, which arranges introductory gatherings in the summer for Queen's-bound students and their parents in more than 30 cities. Run by student volunteers, "STAR" organizes a variety of activities for students and alumni, as well as providing numerous services for parents of Queen's students. STAR's offices are located in Summerhill.
Students' Memorial Union. See John Deutsch University Centre.
Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO). This huge Queen's-led project, completed in 1998, is a highly sophisticated underground laboratory for observing neutrinos, elusive sub-atomic particles from space. It is located two kilometres underground in INCO's Creighton Mine in Sudbury, a region remarkably free of the background radiation that normally masks the presence of neutrinos. By observing neutrinos, scientists hope to unravel mysteries about the sun and even more fundamental aspects of nature. The lab houses giant acrylic vessels filled with 1000 tonnes of heavy water and surrounded by sensitive light detectors, designed to observe small flashes of light generated by neutrinos passing through the water. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Institute, the nerve centre for the lab, is located at Queen's, and Queen's scientists have played a major role in the development of the project since its inception in 1984. The project is backed by a consortium of Canadian, American and British universities and labs, as well as INCO, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Monenco/Canatom, and the Canadian and US governments. The Sudbury Neutrino Observatory Institute at Queen's reports to the School of Graduate Studies and Research. See also Department of Physics.
Summer School. The university first began to offer non-credit summer courses in the 1880s, mostly as a cultural service to the community. But university officials soon realized that there could be a large demand for summer courses from teachers, who at that time did not need a university degree to get a teaching certificate but often wanted one to improve their career prospects. Credit summer courses began in 1888 – a year before the start of correspondence or "Extension" Studies, also aimed mostly at teachers (see separate entry). Correspondence was at first more popular, and enrolment at summer courses remained low. But around the turn of the century, in response to concerns all over the continent about the calibre of "extramural" degrees, the university started to require students to spend some time attending Queen's "intramurally" before they could graduate. To accommodate these students, an expanded and better organized Queen's Summer School was formally opened in 1910, offering six-week courses in seven disciplines. The Summer School now flourished, attracting students – still mostly teachers – from across Canada, and spawning an active summer school association with its own publication and social events. Attendance remained steady at about 400 or 500 until 1971, when the intramural attendance requirement ended. More recently, enrolments have increased considerably, with the introduction of a spring term in May and June and spring-summer courses, which run from May to August. All courses are offered in the Faculty of arts and science only. Since 1952, Summer School and Correspondence Studies have been administered by the same department, known as Extension Studies until 1979, when it was renamed part-time studies. This department is now Continuing and Distance Studies.
Summerhill. This is the oldest building at Queen's. The graceful neoclassical villa was built for the local Anglican archdeacon George Okill Stuart in 1839. However, his family was not comfortable in the house – partly because a stream running through the basement made it depressingly damp – and they soon returned to their smaller and cosier home in downtown Kingston. In the early 1840s, when Kingston was the capital of Canada and parliament met across the road at Kingston General Hospital, Stuart rented the home to MPs. When the capital departed for Montreal in 1843 the Stuarts unwillingly moved back in. Finally, in 1853, the archdeacon sold the building to Queen's, which had been moving from one small house to another in Kingston since it was founded in 1841 (see original buildings). At first, Summerhill housed the entire university. But as Queen's grew the building came to serve more specialized purposes. At different times in its history it has housed students, professors, classrooms, laboratories, the medical school, a gymnasium of sorts, and the library, which dispensed the requested books through an outside window. Since the 1860s it has been the Principal's official residence, although only the east wing is now designated for that purpose. Former Principal david smith (1984-1994) was the first principal to maintain his actual residence elsewhere and to use Summerhill's east wing as accommodation for special guests of the university, for official dinners, and for receptions for honorary graduates and royal visitors. The west wing and the central block of Summerhill house the offices of alumni affairs and the development department. The building is located at the top of a grassy knoll set back from the east end of stuart street. The rear of Summerhill forms one side of the Medical Quadrangle.
Surface. This student newspaper contains a blend of arts and literature and, especially in the early 1990s, radical political commentary. It has frequently been at the centre of the campus debates because of its controversial stands on political and social issues. Launched in 1989, it was funded by the Arts and Science Undergraduate Society (ASUS) until the fall of 1993, when the society's members voted in a referendum to cut off funding. They voted to restore funding again in the spring of 1994. In recent years, the publication has become more politically moderate, focusing on issues relating to campus events and cultural politics. Prior to the start of Surface in 1989, ASUS published a weekly paper called The Lictor, which began in the early 1970s.
Surgery, Department of. This department dates from the establishment of the Faculty of medicine in 1854, when Dr James Sampson was appointed the first Professor of Clinical Medicine and Surgery. Today, the department consists of eight separate surgical divisions: Cardiac, General, Neurosurgery, Orthopaedics, Plastics, Thoracic, Vascular and Maxillofacial. The department has 32 full-time faculty plus numerous adjuncts and is accredited for the subspeciality resident training hospitals are the Kingston General Hospital and the Hotel Dieu Hospital; faculty and residents provide tertiary care for patients at these hospitals. Faculty and residents are involved in a variety of research endeavours in surgery. The main office of the department is located in Kingston General Hospital.
Survey School. Survey school is a rite of spring at Queen's. For three weeks after final exams every year the campus is crowded with engineering students armed with tripods and other equipment, taking physical measurements of the university. The "school" is in fact a first-year course in elementary surveying offered by the Department of civil engineering. Students in the course learn the basic techniques of surveying in a combination of lectures and field work. Instruction in surveying has been offered since engineering began at Queen's in 1893. Some surveying methods and equipment have changed very little since then; in fact, some of the transits and levels used by students today are the university's original instruments, carefully maintained over a century of use. Other methods have changed dramatically due to modern electronics, and so sleek electronic distance-measurement instruments now keep company at the school with the century-old equipment. The department also offers a two-week field course in advanced surveying, conducted in the vicinity of Kingston every September.
Sutherland, Robert (c1830-1878). Sutherland was the first student of colour at Queen's and one of the university's most important early benefactors. He was born in Jamaica to unknown parents, though there is some evidence that his father was Scottish. He entered Queen's in 1849, just eight years after the university was founded. He may have been the first student of colour in Canada, as well as at Queen's; the subject has not been fully researched, but none of the handful of other universities that existed then have uncovered records of an earlier entrant. Sutherland led an extraordinarily successful academic career at Queen's, winning 14 academic prizes, including one for general merit in Latin that was awarded after a vote by fellow students. He graduated in 1852 with honours in classics and mathematics and went on to study law at Toronto's Osgoode Hall. He was called to the bar in 1855 and moved to the growing town of Walkerton, south of Owen Sound, where he practised law for more than 20 years. He died unmarried in 1878 after contracting pneumonia. He had drawn up his will just three weeks before his death and left his entire $12,000 estate to Queen's. It is unclear why he did so, but friends recalled that he often said Queen's was one place where "he had always been treated as a gentleman." His donation was the largest that any one person had yet given to the university and came at a time when Queen's was still battling its way out of poverty. Principal george grant ordered that a large granite tombstone be placed on his grave in Toronto's Mt Pleasant Cemetery – where it still stands – to mark his connection with Queen's. The City of Kingston dedicated a plaque in grant hall to his memory in 1973. In 1997, the Robert Sutherland Memorial Room was unveiled, located on the third floor of the John Deustch University Centre.