University of Teesside
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The University of Teesside, based in Middlesbrough, England, has a student body of over 20,000 students as of 2005. Recording rises in applications of 11.4%/2.5% for degree courses beginning in 2005/2006 respectively has given Teesside, for two years running, the highest such percentage increases of any university in the North East of England.[1]
Location
The University has been situated since its formation in 1930 in the town of Middlesbrough, England on the River Tees, flanked by coastal scenery in one direction and the North York Moors in the other, in what is now a Unitary Borough within ceremonial North Yorkshire. Transport links exist via the A19 and A66 roads. The University's entrance is at the site of the old Constantine College building, fronted by the Waterhouse clock tower.History & Estates
While it was clear enough that, when the time came for a successor to the Middlesbrough-based Mechanics' Institute of 1844, a new technical college was in order, a shortage of funding long proved a barrier to any such plan. The College's launch could otherwise have come as early as 1914. Even after the donation of £40,000 in order to build the college from local shipping magnate Joseph Constantine in 1916, progress was slow. A Governing Council took place in 1922, followed by a doubling of the original financial offer by the Constantine family in 1924. Building work finally kicked into action in 1927, culminating in the beginning of enrollment and teaching formalities on 16 September 1929. But the fanfare had to wait, until the turn of the decade, in order to accommodate the royal schedule.
Constantine Technical College was nonetheless finally opened on July 2, 1930 by the future King Edward VIII, the Prince of Wales. Although not yet a university, from the outset, Constantine was both a further and higher education college. While at one end of the spectrum students at Constantine could be as young as 15, also publicised in its Prospectus were degree courses validated by the University of London. Star disciplines included metallurgy, engineering and chemistry. Five rooms were also reserved for an art department, until cramped accommodation forced the School of Art to split from its parent site for the 1950s.
The 1960s were years of sweeping change for the College. One of the most visible major developments, surviving today, was the extension comprising of an 11-storey "skyscraper", on which construction work began in 1963. Acquiring the neighbouring former High School of 1877 then extended the grounds. All that remained was to briefly restyle itself as Constantine College of Technology, before morphing into a polytechnic (Britain's 13th) in 1969. By now, the institution could boast 17 degree courses.
Investment in the campus facilities continued apace. A merger with Teesside College of Education took place in the 1970s along with the purchase of Flatts Lane. The Clarendon Building was added in 1973, as was the Stephenson Building in 1976, with both remaining in use for the Polytechnic's conversion into a University, its ultimate guise. That happened in June 1992, when Teesside Polytechnic, became one of the United Kingdom's first new universities, adherring to that year's Further and Higher Education Act.
By the 1990s student numbers were already nearing the 8,000 mark, but only in 1997 was the old Polytechnic's library replaced, by today's Learning Resource Centre. Subsequent additions included the Virtual Reality Centre and Centre for Enterprise. Today, historic structures such as the old High School (the Waterhouse building), the Constantine building (complete with 'Middlesbrough heritage' plaque) and Victoria Building of 1891 (a schoolyard-equipped Victorian school housing a series of graduate business incubator units), are all Grade II listed buildings.
Today, as in 1930, the long-marketed 'Opportunity University' takes a hands-on role in furthering educational attainment in the region.
Status & Future Developments
Blazing a trail in reposte to the "elitist" higher education establishment, the University has promptly fulfilled the notion of empowering both students and staff, clocking up second place of all English universities in the eyes of the Funding Council for attracting students from untypical addresses - and three National Teaching Fellowships. Hallmarks of the University include the School of Computing and its achievement of an international reputation in the fostering of digital technologies. Adding to this is the fact that some of the most popular Counter Strike: Source servers on the planet, as well as the most popular Desert Combat server on the planet are hosted by the School of Computing.
The construction of an £11m Institute of Digital Innovation, as part of the 2010 DigitalCity project is now underway and the Animex International Festival is also staged there on an annual basis, complementing the University's coverage of animation and computer games. Its regional and national clout is also enhanced in being home to the Northern Region Film and Television Archive.
The higher education QAA has thus far identified pockets of teaching 'excellence' in Art & Design, computer science, history, social work, sport and exercise, electrical and electronic engineering, nursing, the Foundation Degree in chemical technology and a wealth of subjects branching out from medicine.
The first National Student Survey of student satisfaction in the sector, disclosed its findings in September 2005. Over the full range of criterion, the University mustered a score of 4/5 for overall student satisfaction - level with more seasoned contenders such as Leeds and Newcastle. Within Teesside, English, Law and Art & Design fared best, with all three areas within the top 25% of student satisfaction nationally. In the resulting overall 'league table', the University wound up joint 34th of some 101 entrants. It was also during this year that the University scaled the national top 20 for graduate further study or employment (The Times Good University Guide 2005); the highest ranked 'new university'. The 2006 Times Good University Guide has since granted it its own overall ranking of 91st out of 100 British universities.[link]
In research, the University offers an array of relevant routes of study resulting in the qualification of MPhil, PhD, MProf and DProf. The star research profile is in History, where a score of 5/5 in the recent Research Assessment Exercise, placed it on a par with the University of Oxford.
From a student body tallying in the hundreds in the 1930s, Teesside appears to be increasingly sought after among higher education applicants. Statistics for Autumn 2005 entry showed that Computer Art (applications up 41.7%), Electronic and Electrical Engineering (up 30.4%), Sociology (up 25.5%), Psychology (up 18.09%) and Law (applications up 16.8%) were among the courses with the fastest growing popularity within the institution.
The present Vice-Chancellor is Professor Graham Henderson. In April 2005, the University welcomed in Lord Sawyer of Darlington as its new Chancellor, supplanting the University's first, European Commissioner Leon Brittan of Spennithorne.
Schools
The University consists of 6 schools.
- School of Arts and Media
- School of Computing
- School of Health and Social Care
- School of Science and Technology
- School of Social Sciences and Law
- Teesside Business School
Student Union
The student union produces the newspaper/magazine P.T.O. each month. Previous versions have included Red Rag, Cup of Tees and U2U. It has scooped a number of national accolades for its services to students. It was named as "Students' Union of the Year" at the BEDA Awards, as well as achieving nominations for both the "Club Mirror Students' Union of the Year Award" and "Sport and Fitness Club of the Year Award" in 2004. These in turn succeeded winning the "Club Mirror Students' Union of the Year" award of 2002.Notable alumni
- David Bowe, Member of European Parliament (Diploma in Management Studies in 1988)
- Suzannah Clarke, opera singer (BA (Hons) Business Studies in 1992)
- Wendy Craig, actress (also honorary Master of Arts in 1994)
- Deborah Dyer or "Skin", lead singer of Skunk Anansie (BA (Hons) Interior Design in 1992)
- Paul Marsden, Former Labour and Liberal Democrat MP (up to 1990)
- Ray Mallon, Middlesbrough Mayor (Diploma in Management Studies in 1992)
- Chris Newton, Olympic Games silver medal-winning cyclist
- Marek Reichman, Aston Martin Lagonda, Ltd. Director of Design (BA (Hons) Industrial Design in 1989)
Image gallery
External links
- [University of Teesside Futsal Club website]
- [University of Teesside website]
- [School of Computing website]
- [University of Teesside Students' Union]
- [Library & Information Services (University of Teesside) website]
- [University of Teesside Games Students]
- [BBC2's Working Lunch spends a week at the university]
- [New computer games degree]
- [Teesside Online - Guide to Teesside, essential reading for new students]
- [Unofficial Guide]
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