Identity + Mission
Identity
Located in Treaty 6 territory at asiniskaw sipisis (Stoney Creek), the University of Alberta’s Augustana Faculty was founded by Norwegian settlers as Camrose Lutheran College in 1910 to provide advanced educational opportunities for their community. In 2004, this liberal arts college evolved into a faculty and campus of the University of Alberta. Today, our broad mandate for education, research and community outreach remains rooted in the arts and sciences. In collaboration with community and university partners, we welcome learners from all backgrounds to participate in educational experiences that blend theory with practice while encouraging active engagement with each other and our environments.
Mission
We are committed to providing a distinctive university education through campus experiences, project-based curriculum, multidisciplinary majors and professional programs. Our programs are delivered by a diverse community of scholars who challenge and support students to engage creatively and critically in their studies. Through academic programs and a campus that nurtures belonging and leadership, we aspire to cultivate lifelong learners who ask difficult and important questions and pose innovative solutions for the classroom, for our communities and for the world.
“providing for their young people an education that would fit them for living, not merely to make a living”
History
The Augustana Campus was established in 1910 by Norwegian settlers on Treaty 6 land at asiniskaw sipisis (Stoney Creek) under the name Camrose Lutheran College (CLC). Classes began in Heather Brae Hotel in fall of 1911 while a campus building was constructed. In 1912, classes were moved into Founders' Hall, which still stands on the campus today.
The college’s founders imagined CLC as a place that would help them preserve their Norwegian culture and Lutheran beliefs, and they also described the college as a place where students may obtain a liberal education in the arts and sciences. In the 1930s, the emphasis on providing a liberal education further shaped the college’s mission and identity, with president Chester Ronning insisting on the importance of educating “the whole person” while attending to relationships and community.
CLC began offering university courses in collaboration with the University of Alberta in 1959, and attained full degree-granting status in 1985. Four years later, the campus became known as Camrose Lutheran University College before being renamed Augustana University College in 1991.
In 2004, Augustana merged with the University of Alberta to become the Augustana Faculty. As a faculty of the University of Alberta, Augustana continues to build on its reputation for high-quality teaching in a residence-based setting, providing a distinctive small-campus experience within one of Canada's leading universities.
More campus history is detailed in our 2020 Circle Magazine.