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University of Bedfordshire

Coordinates: 51°52′40″N 0°24′41″W / 51.87778°N 0.41139°W / 51.87778; -0.41139
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University of Bedfordshire
File:University Bedfordshire logo.gif
TypePublic
Established2006 elements date back to 1882
ChancellorSir Robin Biggam
Vice-ChancellorLes Ebdon
Students14,550[1]
Undergraduates12,320[1]
Postgraduates2,230[1]
Location
Luton and Bedford
,
Bedfordshire
,
UK

51°52′40″N 0°24′41″W / 51.87778°N 0.41139°W / 51.87778; -0.41139
CampusUrban
Websitehttp://www.beds.ac.uk
University of Bedfordshire - Luton Campus

The University of Bedfordshire is a modern university based in Luton and Bedford. The university was created by the merger of the University of Luton and the Bedford campus of De Montfort University on 1 August 2006 following approval by the Privy Council.[2] Bedfordshire is a county in southern England. The University of Luton purchased the De Montfort campus in Bedford for £15 million [3].

History

The University of Luton was a university based in Luton, the largest town in Bedfordshire. The institution was founded as the Modern School in the 1890s. It became Luton College of Higher Education with the merger of Luton College of Technology and Putteridge Bury College of Education in the mid-seventies. With the passing of the Further and Higher Education Act, 1992 it converted to university status in 1993. On the 15 December 2005, the University announced that it was taking over the Bedford campus of De Montfort University. With permission from the Privy Council, the preferred name of the University of Bedfordshire came into effect on 1 August 2006.[4]

The campus at Bedford dates back to the Bedford Training College for Teachers which was founded in 1882 and Bedford Physical Training College founded in 1903. These merged with a further education college to become the Bedford College of Higher Education. There are currently just under 3,000 students based in Bedford.

Putteridge Bury is a neo-Elizabethan country mansion located on the edge of Luton on the A505 to Hitchin. The campus is situated in approximately thirty acres of landscaped gardens. Putteridge Bury can be traced back to Edward the Confessor's time and has links to the Domesday Book. The building was completed in 1911 and was designed by architects Sir Ernest George and Alfred Yeats in the style of Chequers, having had various redesigns and rebuilds over the years. The campus is home to the university's postgraduate business school as well as the university’s Conference Centre.

Reputation

Bedfordshire was ranked 84th of 113 British universities in The Times Good University Guide league table, released in August 2007[5] and 95 out of 150 institutions in The Guardian's rankings. The Guardian's league tables are compiled mainly on the basis of teaching data (staff/student ratio, job prospects, inclusiveness), and the Times's also include data on research ratings and the percentage of students who complete a degree.

The Sunday Times awarded the University of Luton the title of Best New University in 2004 (prior to the purchase of the Bedford campus and rebranding).[6]

The Guardian's national league tables for 2008 rates the University of Bedfordshire third in the country for Media-related courses[7] with a score of 96.90 out of 100 and 13th for Sport.[8]. However the same rankings list the university as 106 out of 110 in Computer Science and IT.[9]

The Nursing and Midwifery programmes have been ranked fourth in the country.[10][11]

The QAA conducted a thorough institutional audit of the University as a whole in 2005 (prior to the merger of the University), this resulted in the audit team’s questioning of the academic standards of its awards and its lack of confidence in the universities quality standards.[12] However, since the audit was taken in 2005 the QAA has been provided with information that indicates that appropriate action has been taken by the University in response to the findings of this report. As a result the audit was signed off in July 2007.[13]

Since the QAA audit, The University of Bedfordshire has been short-listed for the Times Higher Education Supplement's University of the Year 2007.[14]

In 2008 Professor Les Ebdon said that he had accepted voluntary redundancy from 30 staff members. The university said that less than half were academic staff. Professor Ebdon said: "I don't know of any university in the East of England which isn't making some adjustment to staff numbers. Most of us have squeezed other expenditures as much as we can. Staffing is the area left where expenditure can be taken out, and it is the biggest cost." According to the same article "Relative to many other universities, Bedfordshire spends a low proportion of its income on staff."[15]

According to the THES the university threatened legal action against a web site after one of its course was labelled "shocking" because of its staff-to-student ratio. [16]

In 2006 small number of staff have complained in a survey about racism at the University.[17]

University of Bedfordshire - Bedford Campus Centre

Campuses

The University has three main campuses: Luton (in the town centre), Putteridge Bury (on the outskirts of Luton), and Bedford (on Polhill Avenue). There is also teaching for nursing and midwifery degrees at Butterfield Park and in on-site education centres at the Stoke Mandeville and Wycombe General hospitals.[2]

2012 Olympics

The Bedford Campus of the University has been selected as an official training site for the London 2012 Olympics. The campus is hoping to attract a major national team to train there for the event. [18]

Faculties

The University of Bedfordshire has four faculties, encompassing a number of schools, departments and divisions.[19]

  • Faculty of Creative Arts, Technologies and Science
    • Computing and Information Systems
    • Media, Art and Design
    • Performing Arts and English
    • Science
  • Faculty of Education and Sport
    • Education
    • Physical Education and Sport Sciences
  • Faculty of Health and Social Science
    • Acute Health Care
    • Applied Social Studies
    • Community Practice
    • Midwifery and Child Health
    • Psychology
  • University of Bedfordshire Business School
    • Accounting and Finance
    • Business Systems
    • Language and Communication
    • Law
    • Marketing and Entrepreneurship
    • Strategy and Human Resource Management
    • Tourism, Leisure and Sport Management

Educational partner institutions

The University works together with a number of partner institutions to offer a range of courses.[20]

The University Of Bedforshire also has a collaboration with University of Management and Technology (Pakistan), which is one of the top ranked universities of Pakistan.[citation needed]

Notable alumni

  • Becky Jago - Presenter of BBC's Newsround - Media Performance.
  • Gemma Hunt - Presenter of CBBC - Media Performance.[21]
  • Rickie Haywood Williams - Presenter of Kiss 100's breakfast show, Presenter on MTV News.[22]
  • Charlie George - Presenter on MAX TV - Media Performance.
  • Matt Fisher - Station Sound Imaging Producer BBC Radio 1 - Media Performance with Radio.
  • Debbie Randle - Senior Broadcast Journalist BBC Radio 1 - Modern English Studies.
  • Marie Kemp - Presenter on BBC Radio Berkshire - Media Performance and Radio.
  • Paul Woloszyn - BBC Digital Text - Modern English Studies.
  • Lucy Tricker - Chiltern FM Radio DJ
  • Abdul Ahad - Author, astronomer [23]
  • University of Bedfordshire, Luton campus
    University of Bedfordshire, Luton campus
  • University of Bedfordshire Bedford campus
    University of Bedfordshire Bedford campus
  • University of Bedfordshire Bedford campus sports hall
    University of Bedfordshire Bedford campus sports hall
  • University of Bedfordshire Bedford campus library
    University of Bedfordshire Bedford campus library
  • University of Bedfordshire Bedford campus
    University of Bedfordshire Bedford campus
  • University of Bedfordshire Putteridge Bury campus
    University of Bedfordshire Putteridge Bury campus
  • Student Union 'Bar Soviet', Bedford campus
    Student Union 'Bar Soviet', Bedford campus

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c "Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2006/07" (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet). Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved 2008-04-05.
  2. ^ a b University of Bedfordshire, History and Locations
  3. ^ University of Bedfordshire Financial Statements http://www.beds.ac.uk/aboutus/qa/foi2005/finres/21fin/2fin-finstat07
  4. ^ http://education.independent.co.uk/higher/article1210272.ece Article in The Independent re the Merger
  5. ^ "University Rankings League Table: Good University Guide". The Times. 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-22. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  6. ^ Best New University 2004
  7. ^ Guardian League table for media studies showing Bedfordshire as 3rd
  8. ^ Guardian rankings for Sports
  9. ^ Guardian Unlimited | Education
  10. ^ Teaching Hospital rating
  11. ^ http://www.beds.ac.uk/courses/bysubject/heacar University of Bedfordshire Healthcare and Nursing homepage
  12. ^ University of Luton - APRIL 2005
  13. ^ Institutional audit - University of Luton
  14. ^ Times Education Supplement shortlists (see page 28)
  15. ^ Times Higher Education - Job losses loom at Bedfordshire
  16. ^ Times Higher Education - Website closes after Hesa withholds data
  17. ^ see Phil Baty, 'Unacceptable harassment claimed by 9% in survey', Times Higher Education Supplement, 6 October 2006).
  18. ^ Bedfordshire to host Olympic training camps - Bedford Today
  19. ^ University of Bedfordshire, Departments
  20. ^ Educational partners
  21. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/cbbc/backstage/cbbc_stars/gemma.shtml
  22. ^ My story | Rise | Jobs Editorial
  23. ^ http://www.publishedauthors.net/aa_spaceagent/news.html
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