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1968: Classes start in College of Dentistry
In 1909, the Board of
Governors had drawn up a list of colleges it hoped to establish at the
University of Saskatchewan.1
Almost sixty years later, Dentistry was the last college on that list to
become a reality. In fact, the
University had been authorized, through the Statutes of the Senate to grant the
degree of doctor of dental surgery since 1907.
By 1918, the University became responsible for conducting professional
examinations in dentistry on behalf of the Council of Dental Surgeons.
Candidates were required to have a degree from a dental school or college
approved by the University of Saskatchewan; in 1918, there were only four
Canadian schools.2
In 1924 President Murray
reported that the prairie universities were trying to avoid unnecessary
duplication of academic programs. In
that spirit, he wrote, “Alberta has begun Dentistry. Saskatchewan will not encroach on Alberta’s field.”3
By the early 1960s, calls for
a dental college at the University of Saskatchewan were being made “from time
to time,” according to President Spinks, but the case for a local college had
grown more compelling. In 1963 the
College of Dental Surgeons passed a resolution asking that “a Faculty of
Dentistry be established in Saskatoon at the earliest possible date.” A deteriorating ratio of dentists to
population and the difficulty of attracting dentists from outside the province
were cited as the main reasons for needing a dental college. The Dean of Medicine, in consultation with a
small committee, “came to the conclusion that the need for such a College can
be demonstrated.” Although Dean Begg
expressed pessimism about how such a proposal would be received by Council –
“in view of the yet unknown costs of the newly established Veterinary College”
– President Spinks recommended to the Executive of Council that it take
action. In December 1964 the Executive
of Council established a committee to study the matter; it reported back
favourably in February 1965, and the following month the Senate accepted the
Council’s recommendation that a College of Dentistry be established. Final approval was contingent on funding;
the provincial government announced 2.25 million dollars of funding in
September 1965, and the Board of Governors approved the College’s establishment
in 1966. The first students were
enrolled in 1968.4
| Images |  |
1968a: First class in session, 1968. Photograph Collection, A-4179.
| Sources | |
1. See Hayden, p. 42
2. Statutes of the Senate and University calendars.
3. President’s Report, 1924.
4. President’s Office fonds, RG 2001, Series IV, file B88; see also Hayden, p. 250.
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