University of London

Encyclopedia : U : UN : UNI : University of London

The University of London is a federation of colleges and institutes which together constitute one of the world's largest universities. Established in 1836, most of them are widely scattered across Greater London, though it has affiliates in the neighbouring county of Kent, in Scotland, and in Paris.

Contents

1 Overview
2 Location
3 History
4 Organisation

4.1 Recognised bodies
4.2 Listed bodies
4.3 Colleges no longer in existence

5 Student life
6 Sports, clubs, and traditions
7 University of London people
8 Trivia
9 References
10 See also
11 External links

Overview

Senate House, designed by Charles Holden, home to the university's central administrative offices and its library

The University is a federal body made up of 31 highly autonomous affiliates (18 colleges and 13 institutes). Besides UCL and King's, the most famous colleges are Imperial College London, Royal Academy of Music, Royal College of Music, the London School of Economics (LSE), St George's, University of London (SGUL), Queen Mary (QMUL), Royal Holloway (RHUL), Goldsmiths College, and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

For most practical purposes, ranging from admission of students to negotiating funding from the government, the 18 constituent colleges are treated as individual universities. Within the University federation they are known as Recognised Bodies, with the authority to examine students and have the University award them degrees. One of the conditions of membership of the University of London federation is that colleges do not award degrees of their own. At present Imperial College and UCL retain this power, but have yet to use it.

The thirteen institutes, or Listed Bodies, within the University of London system offer courses leading to degrees that are both examined and awarded by the University of London. Additionally, the University licenses the awarding of its degrees to universities outside of the system. Twelve universities in England, several in Canada and many in other Commonwealth countries (notably in East Africa) began life as associate colleges of the university offering such degrees. By the 1970s almost all of these colleges had achieved independence from the University of London, but in recent years this aspect of its work has revived due to the globalisation of the higher education market, and an increasing number of overseas academic institutes are once again offering University of London diplomas and degrees.

It is the largest university in the United Kingdom, after the Open University.

Location

The University of London does not itself own any teaching or research facilities as all teaching and research is organised by the affiliated institutions and colleges of the university. The university does, however, maintain offices and libraries, the most important of which are at Senate House in Bloomsbury, which also includes the official residence of the Chancellor.

History

Founded in 1836, the University at first comprised just two colleges, University College London (UCL), which had previously been known as London University and which did not apply religious tests to its students, and King's College London (KCL), which, like other English universities at that time, admitted only members of the Church of England. Both King's (founded 1829) and University College London (founded 1827) pre-dated the University of London, which initially served solely as an examining body for the constituent colleges.

In 1858 the University expanded its role by offering the [University of London External Programme] to candidates outside of the colleges, the first of its kind in the country. A new headquarters at 6 Burlington Gardens, providing the university with exam halls and offices, was built to accommodate the new role. In 1878 the University set another first when it became the first university in the UK to admit women students on equal terms with men. Four female students obtained Bachelor of Arts degrees in 1880 and two obtained Bachelor of Science degrees in 1881, again the first in the country. http://www.london.ac.uk/history.html a brief history of the University of London]

In 1898, in part as a response to criticisms of universities which merely served as centres for the administration of tests, and calls for research and education to be more central functions of universities, the first University of London Act was passed, reforming the university and giving it responsibility for the monitoring of course content and academic standards within its institutions. The monitoring was conducted through newly formed centralised faculties and Boards of Studies, and King's and UCL now became constituent parts of the University of London. A symbolic element to the new centralisation of the university was the fact that University College London property became property of the University of London. Japanese Students at Cambridge University in the Meiji Era, 1868-1912: Pioneers for the Modernization of Japan, Noboru Koyama. Lulu Press, September 2004.

This significant expansion of role meant the university again needed more space, and so 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated in 1899. Shortly after the 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated the university went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Goldsmith's College joined in 1904, Imperial College was founded in 1907, Queen Mary's College joined in 1915, the School of Oriental and African Studies was founded in 1916 and Birkbeck joined in 1920. This rapid expansion meant that the university's new premises would prove insufficient by the 1920s, requiring yet another move. A large parcel of land in Bloomsbury near the British Museum was acquired from the Duke of Bedford and Charles Holden was appointed architect with the instruction to create a building ‘not to suggest a passing fashion inappropriate to buildings which will house an institution of so permanent a character as a University." This unusual remit may have been inspired by the fact that William Beveridge, having just become director of LSE, upon asking a taxi driver to take him to the University of London was met with the response "oh, you mean the place near the Royal School of Needlework." http://www.cityofsound.com/blog/2003/11/senate_house_un.html City of Sound Holden responded by designing Senate House, the current headquarters of the university, and at the time of completion the second largest building in London. http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=110747 Emporis Buildings

During the Second World War the colleges of the university and their students left the city in favour of safer parts of the UK, while the Senate House was used by the Ministry of Information, with its roof becoming an observation point for the Royal Observatory Corp. Though the building was hit by bombs several times it emerged from the war largely unscathed; rumour at the time had it that the reason the building had fared so well was that Adolf Hitler had planned to use it as his headquarters in London. http://www.c20society.org.uk/docs/building/senate.html The Twentieth Century SocietyThe latter half of the last century was less eventful, mostly characterised by expansion and consolidation within the university, with the only significant threat to the university being some of the larger colleges (most notably UCL, King's, LSE and Imperial) periodically putting forward the possibility of their departure from the university, though this usually only happened when the colleges were negotiating for more powers. On 9 December 2005, however, Imperial College became the first college to make a formal decision to leave the university. Its Council announced that it was beginning negotiations to withdraw from the university in time for its own centenary celebrations, and in order to be able to award its own degrees.

Organisation

Most decisions affecting the constituent colleges and institutions of the University of London are made at the level of the colleges or institutions themselves. The University of London does retain its own decision making structure, however, with a senate, responsible for matters of academic policy, and an estates committee, responsible for managing University of London property, underneath a council, which act as the primary executive body of the university. The council is made up of the Chancellor (who does not attend meetings), the Vice-Chancellor, the heads of all the colleges and institutes of the university, 18 academics elected from the senate, 5 student representatives, various lay members (appointed by the council or the government) and various vice-chancellors of different departments. http://www.london.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/about/governance/Council_membership.pdf Council membership, University of London website

The constituent members of the university are divided as follows:

Recognised bodies

Birkbeck, University of London, which specializes in part-time courses for working people
the Central School of Speech and Drama
the Courtauld Institute of Art
Goldsmiths College
Heythrop College, a specialist philosophy and theology college
Imperial College London, incorporating St Mary's Hospital Medical School, the National Heart and Lung Institute, Charing Cross and Westminster Medical School, the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, the former Wye College (now called Imperial College at Wye), and the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology (soon to leave University of London)
the Institute of Cancer Research
the Institute of Education
King's College London (KCL), incorporating the Institute of Psychiatry and The Guy's, King's and St Thomas's School of Medicine
the London Business School
the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
Queen Mary, University of London (QMUL), incorporating Barts and The London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry
the Royal Academy of Music
Royal Holloway, University of London (RHUL)
the Royal Veterinary College
the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), with which the London School of Jewish Studies (formerly Jews' College) is associated
the School of Pharmacy
University College London (UCL), including such pioneering departments as the The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment (founded 1841) and the Slade School of Fine Art (founded 1871) and the Jill Dando Institute of Crime Science, and also incorporating several formerly separate bodies, notably the School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES), the Royal Free and University College Medical School, the Institute of Archaeology, the Eastman Dental Institute, the Institute of Child Health (Great Ormond St Hospital), the Institute of Neurology, the Institute of Ophthalmology, the Institute of Laryngology and Otology, the Institute of Orthopaedics, the Royal London Homeopathic Hospital, London Centre for Nanotechnology and the Mullard Space Science Laboratory. The Institute of Cancer Sciences is currently under construction.
St George's, University of London, formerly St George's Hospital Medical School .

Listed bodies

the University of London Institute in Paris, formerly known as the British Institute in Paris
the School of Advanced Study comprising the following institutes:
*the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
*the Institute of Classical Studies
*the Institute of Commonwealth Studies
*the Institute of English Studies (including the Centre for Manuscript and Print Studies),
*the Institute of Germanic & Romance Studies
*the Institute of Historical Research
*the Institute of Musical Studies
*the Institute of Philosophy
*the Institute for the Study of the Americas
*the Warburg Institute
the University Marine Biological Station, Millport

Colleges no longer in existence

Some colleges of the University of London have been amalgamated into larger colleges. These include

Bedford College - Inner Circle Regent's Park; now part of Royal Holloway and Bedford New College (the registered Royal Charter title of Royal Holloway, University of London)
Chelsea College of Science and Technology - Hortensia Road, Chelsea; now part of King's College
Queen Elizabeth College - Campden Hill Road, Kensington; now part of King's College
Westfield College - Kidderpore Avenue, Hampstead; now part of Queen Mary and Westfield College (the registered Royal Charter title of Queen Mary, University of London)
Wye College - Wye, Kent; now part of Imperial College
Royal Postgraduate Medical School; now part of the Imperial College School of Medicine
St. Thomas' Hospital Medical School; now part of King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry
New College London, was closed in 1980. Despite the name the college never had any association with Royal Holloway and Bedford New College.
University of Zimbabwe (UZ), formely the University of Rhodesia, was affiliated to the University of London from about 1952, but UZ is now independent.

Student life

The front of the ULU building

125,000 students. approximately 5% of all UK students, attend one of the University of London's affiliated schools. Additionally, over 34,000 students follow the [University of London External Programme] http://www.london.ac.uk/aboutus University of London introduction.

The ULU building, on Malet Street adjacent to Senate House, is home to the University of London Union which acts as the student union for all University of London students, alongside the individual college and institution unions. As well as representing students the union plays host to a number of shops and bars (including a nightclub and live music venue), runs the London Student newspaper and offers its own gym and swimming pool for student use.

The University also runs eight intercollegiate halls of residence, accommodating students from most of the colleges and institutions of the University:

Canterbury Hall, Cartwright Gardens, WC1 (paired with Hughes Parry Hall for administration purposes)
College Hall, Malet Street, WC1 (closed for refurbishment 2005-7)
Commonwealth Hall, Cartwright Gardens, WC1
Connaught Hall, Tavistock Square, WC1
Hughes Parry Hall, Cartwright Gardens, WC1 (paired with Canterbury Hall for administration purposes)
International Hall, Brunswick Square, WC1
Lillian Penson Hall, Talbot Square, W2
Nutford House, Brown Street, W1

Sports, clubs, and traditions

Though most sports teams are organised at the college level ULU does run a number of sports clubs of its own, some of which (for example the basketball team) compete in BUSA leagues. The union also organises its own leagues for college teams to participate in. ULU also organises a number of societies, ranging from Ballroom and Latin American Dance to Shaolin Kung Fu, and from the University of London Big Band to the Breakdancing Society.