University of Central Lancashire
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This article relies on references to primary sources. (December 2011) |
| University of Central Lancashire | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Motto | Latin: Ex solo ad solem | |||||||||||||||||
| Motto in English | "From the Ground to the Sun" | |||||||||||||||||
| Established |
1828 – Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge established 1992 – University status granted |
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| Type | Public | |||||||||||||||||
| Chancellor | Sir Richard Evans | |||||||||||||||||
| Vice-Chancellor | Dr Malcolm McVicar | |||||||||||||||||
| Students | 32,040[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Undergraduates | 27,845[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Postgraduates | 4,195[1] | |||||||||||||||||
| Location | Preston, England Coordinates: 53°45′47″N 2°42′27″W / 53.763021°N 2.7074°W |
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| Campus | Urban | |||||||||||||||||
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| Affiliations | Million+ | |||||||||||||||||
| Website | http://www.uclan.ac.uk/ | |||||||||||||||||
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The University of Central Lancashire (or UCLan) is a university based in Preston, Lancashire, England.
The university has its roots in The Institution For The Diffusion Of Useful Knowledge which was founded in 1828. Subsequently known as Harris Art College, then Preston Polytechnic, then Lancashire Polytechnic, in 1992 it was granted university status by the Privy Council. The university is the fifth largest in the UK in terms of student numbers.[2]
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History[edit]
The Institution for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge was founded in 1828 by Joseph Livesey's Temperance Society. The society was born from a pledge made by seven Preston working men (whose names can be seen on a plaque in the university's library) to never again consume alcohol.
The institute was housed in a classical-revivalist building on Cannon Street, before eventually expanding under the endowment of a local lawyer, Edmund Robert Harris, who died in 1877. The expansion brought with it several new buildings and houses in the nearby Regent Street were purchased and demolished as a consequence. The institute became a regional centre of excellence for the arts and sciences.
As part of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 1897, the institute's trustees paid the Victorian/Edwardian architect Henry Cheers to design the "Victoria Jubilee Technical School" (later known as the Harris Institute and now known as the Harris Building), to be built on Corporation Street. Its goal was to provide local youths with a technical education in all areas. The building was progressive for the period, being powered entirely by electricity.
The institute existed in this state until 1932 when it changed its name to become the Harris Art College. It underwent further expansion and in 1952 and became the Harris College. In 1973 this became Preston Polytechnic then the Lancashire Polytechnic in 1984. In 1992, full university status was awarded and the University of Central Lancashire came into existence. The first chancellor of the university was Sir Francis Kennedy and he was succeeded in 2001 by Sir Richard Evans.
The journalism division, now part of the School of Journalism, Media and Communication, is one of the oldest in the country, opening as part of the Harris College in 1962. In 1991, it became one of the first to teach journalism undergraduate degrees, with a strong emphasis on practical work.
Central Lancashire is the university sponsor of Visions Learning Trust and Wigan UTC, two university technical colleges which are opening in Sepmtember 2013.[3][4]
Campus[edit]
![[icon]](/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} |
This section requires expansion. (January 2013) |
The university is on an urban campus in Preston. The university also has a Burnley campus, alongside a new €53 million Cyprus campus which opened in October 2012.[5]
Buildings[edit]
The School of Education and Social Science building, Livesey House, was named after the temperance activist Joseph Livesey.
The University opened the brand new JB Firth building in September 2011, at a cost of £12.5 million. The building houses the School of Forensic and Investigative Sciences, which includes subjects such as Chemistry and Forensic science. The new building has a 4000m2 teaching area, which includes six laboratories: two are for Chemistry undergraduate teaching, one for Chemistry research, one analytical laboratory and two fire laboratories. The building was named after James Brierly Firth, a founder of forensic science in Britain.[6]
The Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre opened, replacing the Foster Sports Centre, in 2011. It is a purpose built indoor facility on the main University campus and offers Students' Union sports clubs, instructor-led classes and individual training.
Student accommodation[edit]
At UCLAN there are 11 choices of student accommodation:
- Derwent (Standard hall)
- Douglas (Standard hall)
- Eden (Standard hall)
- Ribble (Standard hall)
- Whitendale (Standard hall)
- Roeburn (En-suite hall)
- Boatmans Court (En-suite hall)
- Bowran House (En-suite hall)
- IQ Kopa (En-suite hall) (university leased)
- Lawson Hall (En-suite hall) (university leased)
- Pendle Hall (En-suite hall)
Academic profile[edit]
The university contains the following schools:
- Art, Design and Performance
- Built and Natural Environment
- Computing, Engineering and Physical Sciences
- Dentistry
- Education and Social Science
- Forensic and Investigative Sciences
- Health
- Journalism, Media and Communication
- Lancashire Business School
- Lancashire Law School
- Languages and International Studies
- Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences
- Psychology
- School of Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education
- Social Work
- Sport, Tourism and the Outdoors
International collaborations[edit]
Through partnerships with local organizations, students have the possibility to register to UCLan undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in almost twenty countries on the globe, in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the USA. In some of the partnerships, students have the possibility to study an entire programme of studies, for instance a bachelor's degree from year 1 to year 3, and thus graduate from the university without being physically present.[citation needed]
Film production[edit]
UCLAN is the only university in the UK to run a feature film module, the most recent of this series is The Wedding (2013). Previous include Wraith (2012)[7] and Needle In The Hay (2011) [8]
Research project[edit]
In 2012, UCLAN announced a partnership with the UK's biggest arms company, (BAE Systems), and four other North-Western universities (Liverpool, Salford, Lancaster and Manchester) in order to work on the Gamma Programme which aims to develop "autonomous systems". According to the University of Liverpool when referring to the programme, "autonomous systems are technology based solutions that replace humans in tasks that are mundane, dangerous and dirty, or detailed and precise, across sectors, including aerospace, nuclear, automotive and petrochemicals".[9]
Student life[edit]
Students' Union[edit]
The nightclub and live music venue at the Students' Union, '53 Degrees', has two floors with a bar on each and occasionally hosts well known musical performers. Across two rooms, total capacities are 1,100 & 350 for club nights and 1,400 and 350 for all live gigs. The adjoining bar, 'Source', is open seven days a week during term times.
Sports[edit]
There are over 25 sports clubs run by the students’ union. Many have block bookings at the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre in term-time for training and matches. The sports clubs participate in British Universities and Colleges Sport competitions and have home and away fixtures.
In the Sir Tom Finney Sports Centre there are seven activity areas on seven floors:
- Fitness Suite: Technogym cardiovascular, resistance machines, kinesis and free weights.
- Cardio Zone: Cardiovascular workout area.
- Sports Hall One and Two: Badminton, Basketball, Dodgeball, Fencing, 5-a-side Football, Hockey, Netball, Rock-it-ball, Tennis and Volleyball.
- Studio Red: Belly Dancing, Circuit, Dance, Hatha Yoga, Iyengar Yoga, Karate, Jiu Jitsu, Legs, Bums and Tums, Spinning, Tai Chi, Table Tennis and Yolates.
- Studio Blue: Aerobix, Boxercise, Circuit, Kombat, Kung Fu, Pilates, Salsa, Step, Studio Weights, Tae Kwon Do and Zumba.
- Squash Court
The university outdoor sport facilities can be found at UCLan Sports Arena (USA) which is located just 2 miles away and was opened in 2000 by The Princess Royal. The £12 million[citation needed] arena provides facilities for Rugby League, Rugby Union, Football (5 grass pitches) Hockey (2 floodlit all weather pitches) Netball and Tennis (4 floodlit courts) and Cycling (1 mile (1.6 km) circuit), as well as an eight lane athletics area, equipped for school, club and county competitions.
Local facilities are hired to provide sports not available on the main campus e.g. Canoeing, Climbing, Golf, Horse Riding, Tennis, Trampolining and Windsurfing.
The university's Motor Sports Engineering and Operations students run a motor racing team, UCLAN Racing.[10]
Notable alumni[edit]
- Waqar Azmi OBE, EU Ambassador and former Chief Adviser to the Prime Minister, Cabinet Office[11]
- Jim Bamber, illustrator for Autosport (Preston College of Art)
- Barra Best (Journalist and weather presenter, BBC Newsline)[12]
- Polly Billington, journalist and special adviser to Ed Miliband[13][14]
- Isioma Daniel, journalist
- Victoria Derbyshire, broadcaster on BBC Radio Five Live
- Mary Fitzpatrick, photographer, visual artist Liverpool Art Prize
- Andy Goldsworthy, visual artist
- Nina Hossain, ITV News broadcaster
- Simon Kelner, Editor of The Independent
- Lee Mavers, founding member of Liverpool band The La's
- Paul Nuttall - UKIP MEP
- Ian Payne, Sky sports broadcaster
- Brent Sadler, CNN correspondent
- Ben Sebborn, Co-Founder and Director of Skiddle
- Ranvir Singh, BBC Radio Five Live and television presenter
- John Stapleton, television presenter on Watchdog and many others
- Donald Stokes, Baron Stokes, industrialist and life peer
- Mike Sutton (criminologist) Originator of the Market Reduction Approach
- Bryan Talbot, award winning comic book artist and writer
- Mark Tattersall, television presenter Granada Reports
- Jonathan Thompson Presenter for shows on SKY, BBC and Nickelodeon.
- Don Warrington, veteran actor
- William Watt (journalist), 2010 Digital Journalist of the Year
- Kerry Wilkinson, UK number one bestselling author
References[edit]
- ^ a b c "Table 0a – All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2010/11" (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet). Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
- ^ "HESA Statistics – Higher Education numbers 2008/2009" (Excel). Higher Education Statistics Agency., referenced at List of UK universities by size
- ^ http://www.visionslearningtrust.co.uk/partners/
- ^ http://www.wiganutc.org/partners
- ^ http://www.uclan.ac.uk/information/campuses/cyprus/index.php
- ^ http://www.uclan.ac.uk/news/family_affair_for_jb_firth_building.php
- ^ Internet Movie Database, accessed 18 February 2012
- ^ Internet Movie Database, accessed 18 February 2012.
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Victory for UCLan racing students at Oulton Park". Lancashire Evening Post. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
- ^ http://www.thecompleteuniversityguide.co.uk/central-lancashire
- ^ BBCi Weather: Northern Ireland Presenters – Barra Best
- ^ "The Independent, Inside Story". London. 1 November 2004. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
- ^ "The Guardian, Angelique Chrisafis profile". London. 26 September 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
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