University of Sunderland
| File:University of Sunderland seal.png | |
Former names | Sunderland Technical College (1901-1969), Sunderland Polytechnic (1969-1992) |
|---|---|
| Motto | Scientiam Dulce Hauriens |
Motto in English | Sweetly absorbing knowledge |
| Type | Public |
| Established | 1992 - gained University status 1969 - Sunderland Polytechnic 1901 - Sunderland Technical College |
| Endowment | £1.07 million[1] |
| Chancellor | Steve Cram[2] |
| Vice-Chancellor | Professor Peter Fidler |
| Deputy Vice Chancellors | Shirley Atkinson, Professor Peter Strike, Professor Julie Mennell |
| Students | 17,055[3] |
| Undergraduates | 14,990[3] |
| Postgraduates | 2,065[3] |
| Location | , , United Kingdom |
| Campus | Multiple campuses |
| Colours | Nasturtium & Dark Blue [4] |
| Affiliations | Coalition of Modern Universities |
| Website | http://www.sunderland.ac.uk |
 | |
The University of Sunderland is a university located in Sunderland in the North East of England. The university has 17,055 students, including 2,405 international students from 117 countries.[3]
Sunderland was one of six universities to be shortlisted for 'University of the Year' in the Times Higher Education Supplement Awards 2012.[5] It was also named the 'Best English University for student experience' by the Times Higher Education Supplement in December 2005.[6]
History
The university's roots can be traced back to 1901, when Sunderland Technical College was established as a municipal training college on Green Terrace (the site of the former Galen Building). It was the first to offer sandwich courses. Pharmacy and naval architecture departments were established in 1921 and 1922 respectively. The Students' Union was first established in 1923, From 1930, some students in the Faculty of Applied Science read for degrees of the University of Durham. Also in 1930, a Mining Department was established and pharmacy students could read for the Bachelor of Pharmacy degree of the University of London.[7]
In the 1960s, a PDP-8 hybrid computer was installed at the Chester Road site.
A new complex of buildings, including a new Students Union and Hall of Residence facilities, on nearby Chester Road was opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1964.
Sunderland Polytechnic was established on 26 January 1969, incorporating the Technical College, the School of Art (which was also established in 1901) and the Sunderland Teacher Training College (established in 1908). In 1992, the Polytechnic gained university status.[8]
The university was recognised by The Guardian as England's best new university in 2001, and in 2005 was named by The Times Higher Education Supplement as the top university in England for providing the best student experience.
Lord Puttnam became the university's first Chancellor in 1998. The Sunderland Empire Theatre was the regular venue for the graduation ceremonies, although they have been hosted at the Stadium of Light since 2004. In July 2007, he stepped down as Chancellor to become the Chancellor of the Open University.[9][10] On 23 May 2008 the University announced that former Olympic athlete Steve Cram had been appointed as Chancellor and would be officially installed at a ceremony on 27 June 2008.[2]
Campuses
There are currently two main campuses, City Campus and the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St Peter's. St Peter's opened during the 1990s on the northbank of the River Wear, the site of St. Peter's Church and monastery built by Benedict Biscop in 674AD. In September 2002, the campus was renamed "The Sir Tom Cowie Campus at St. Peter's" after the local businessman who was one of the university's primary supporters. The Sunderland Business School is similarly named "The Reg Vardy Centre", and another building, primarily used by the School of Computing and Technology, is "The David Goldman Informatics Centre".
St Peter's Campus includes the following: North Shore (formerly Campus and Manor Quay), Wearbank House, Reg Vardy Centre, St Peter's Library, David Goldman Informatics Centre, Prospect Building (including Sir Tom Cowie Lecture Theatre), David Puttnam Media Centre, North Sands Business Centre. The David Puttnam Media Centre, housing television and radio production facilities for the School of Arts, Design and Media and student radio station 107 Spark Fm, and Spark TV, opened in 2003 at St. Peter's. It was officially opened in March 2004 by Estelle Morris. Former Education Secretary Morris was Pro Vice-Chancellor from 2005-2009.
In 2006, the Chester Road Campus was renamed City Campus, and work started on refurbishment of the Edinburgh Building administrative centre, the creation of the Gateway one-stop-shop for student support, and the redevelopment of Murray Library, and the Design Centre. The £12m CitySpace development opened in 2009, and in September 2010 the £7.5m Sciences Complex opened, followed by the opening of the University Quad, in December 2010.
London 'Canary Wharf' Campus
On 26 April 2012, the University of Sunderland announced the opening of a new campus at Canary Wharf in London,[11][12] with a projected capacity of 3,000 students.
Courses are now offered in nursing, business, tourism and hospitality, as well as accounting and financial management.
There are future plans, however, for the campus to cover other subjects such as art and design, media, applied sciences and education.
Halls of residence
The University of Sunderland has six halls of residence; Scotia Quay, Panns Bank, Clanny House, The Precinct, The Forge U-Student Village and All Saints. All Saints is the only halls situated on the north side of the river Wear, at Roker near St Peter's Campus.
Clanny House is the largest halls of residence and is located on Hylton Road across the road from the Sunderland Royal Hospital.
The Forge is near Clanny House and was closed in 2006 but re-opened in 2008/9 due to high housing demand. The Forge is currently undergoing a full refurbishment programme which will offer 249 room for September 2010 increasing to 552 for September 2011. There will be new on-site social facilities (The Meeting Place) and a convenience store.
The Precinct is located on Chester Road and is a short walk from the City Campus.
Scotia Quay and Panns Bank are based across the River Wear from St Peter's Campus, across the road from The Bonded Warehouse. The location of these halls used to be one of the many locations on the river that were used by the former ship building industry.
Previous halls of residence include Ashbrooke, Clifton, Westfield, Park and Williamson Halls. All were located in and around the area of The Cloisters.
Organisation
The University has four academic faculties, responsible for teaching and learning, academic development and research, and working with partners in business and industry. The University also has a Graduate Research School which provides a focus and catalyst for research, especially in cross-School developments and activities, for research students and as a vehicle for enhancing the level of intellectual debate within the University.
The Faculties are supported by a number of service departments responsible for a wide range of activity such as student welfare and accommodation and includes teams with responsibility for managing the University estate, financial matters, and human resources.
- Arts, Design, Media: Creative and Performing Arts, Design, Dance, Drama, Music, Journalism, PR, Film, Media, Cultural Studies, Fine Art, Glass, Ceramics, Photography, Radio, TV, Video, New Media
- Business & Law: Accounting, Business, Management, Law, Tourism
- Education and Society : Education, English, Health Studies, History, Social Sciences, Combined Subjects
- Applied Science: Computing, Engineering, Psychology, Nursing, Environment, Pharmacy, Clinical Sciences, Sport and Exercise Sciences
Subsidiaries
The University has formed a number of commercial enterprises over the years. Wholly owned subsidiaries include:
- Globalscreen Ltd.
- Integra Environmental Ltd., was originally established as an environmental consultancy in 1993. It now provides health and safety training & consultancy services.
- MTC Training, the North East of England's leading provider of accredited IT training for Microsoft, Novell, Citrix, VMware, ITIL, PRINCE2, Cisco and EC-Council, was established in 1984.
- Learning North East Ltd.
- Learning World Ltd.
- University of Sunderland Enterprises Ltd.
- University of Sunderland Services Ltd.
- Usefine Ltd.
Academic profile
According to Guardian League Tables 2012, University of Sunderland was ranked 49th overall.[13]
In 2010, the University of Sunderland won the UK's top student experience title at the annual Times Higher Education (THE) awards 2010. It is the sector's most prestigious national awards. Sunderland was the only university in the North East region to return with an award.
Research
In 2008 the national Research Assessment Exercise rated 65% of the output from the university's Centre for Research into Media and Cultural Studies (CRMCS) as "world leading" (4* ) or "internationally excellent" (3*) - the highest performing subject area in the institution[14]
Student life
The University of Sunderland Students' Union is headed by 5 sabbatical officers who run the Union and are elected into the roles by their peers for a period of 1 year. The current officer positions are President, Vice President, Education and Welfare Officer, Sports and Activities Officer and Entertainments and Media Officer.They are augmented by 5 lay Trustees to make up the Trustee Board.
The Students' Union is responsible for providing events, offering support and advice, fundraising and supporting campaigns and being the 'voice' of the student body.
The Students' Union currently has two bars, one being The Bonded Warehouse, located near the Panns bank and Scotia Quay halls of residence, and North Shore (formerly Manor Quay/Campus) located on the St. Peters campus. Both venues offer cheap food and drinks, and have a variety of theme nights throughout the course of the academic year. North Shore is a brand new 'Student Hub' for the academic year 2010/11 and encases a green centre, bar & grill, theatre and nightclub.
The student union magazine is called DN (Degrees North) magazine and student/community centred radio station Spark FM, part of the wider Spark Media Group, operates from within the Media department but is not exclusively operated as a student concern.
Sport and Physical Activity
The University’s Institute of Sport organises training events, courses and other sporting activities for students, staff and the local community.
There are over 45 clubs and societies, with over 2500 members in 2011/12. Users have access to the £12m CitySpace building on the City Campus, which features a climbing wall, fitness suite, physiotherapy and injury centre, sports hall, multipurpose suite and spectator seating.
See also
SportsByte
Launched in September 2011, SportsByte is a journalism, news, and multimedia publication dedicated to covering a wide range of sports at all levels of competition across the City of Sunderland, the North East, and Globally. With a press team of over 150 student and community reporters, SportsByte is the largest sports-dedicated news and media publication in the North East of England, and is among the biggest in the UK. Within six months the website had spread its coverage to over thirty different sports and activities, and published three digital magazines. In spring 2012 SportsByte gained national praise, making the final shortlist for the National Union of Students National Student Journalism Awards 'Best Student Media' award.
The University of Sunderland’s Institute of Sport launched SportsByte in 2011 after months of planning and development with the Faculty of Art, Design, and Media’s lead academic Journalism staff. From their work at the forefront of Sport in Sunderland, the Institute were passionate about improving the knowledge and awareness of teams, clubs, programmes, and issues that are typically crowded out by other news stories and features in local and regional press. The two primary objectives of providing first rate journalism and coverage for sport within the area, as well as real-life and professional experience for students studying Journalism, are a perfect match.
SportsByte operates like any other newsroom in the UK, with an editorial team, reporters, feature writers, bloggers, analysts, and other back of house staff, all producing content 24/7, 365 days a year.
See also
107 Spark FM
Spark FM is a community radio station, The station was awarded a full Community Radio licence in 2008 from Ofcom. The station launched in October 2009 from City Space and broadcasts 24/7 from its base, The David Puttnam Media Centre, located at the St. Peter's University campus. In its first year of broadcasting the station won an award for Community Involvement and was nominated for Best Station by the Student Radio Association.[15]
Its origins can be traced back to Wear FM, a community-oriented service for Sunderland which launched in 1990. In November 1997 the station began broadcasting as Radio Utopia under a two week short-term Radio Authority's Restricted Service Licence (RSL) scheme. Over the station's lifetime, it has secured many nominations in the annual Student Radio Awards, winning a gold and a silver in 2004, and three bronze awards in 2005 under the name of Utopia FM.
See also
References
- ^ https://docushare.sunderland.ac.uk/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-5601/accounts_2008_09.pdf
- ^ a b
"Steve Cram named new Chancellor" (Press release). University of Sunderland. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
Steve has a strong relationship with the university, going back 25 years, so he was an obvious choice for Chancellor. In 1983 Steve received his sports studies degree from Sunderland and three years later the former 1500m world record holder was back at the university to receive an Honorary Fellowship for his outstanding contribution to sport. In 1994 he became Honorary President of the University of Sunderland Alumni Association.
- ^ a b c d Facts and Figures about the University, www.sunderland.ac.uk, retrieved 11/9/2012
- ^ Academic Colours Sunderland University Academic Dress
- ^ THE Awards 2012 shortlist, Times Higher Education Supplement, September 2012
- ^ Sunderland voted "Best Student Experience, Times Higher Education Supplement, December 2005
- ^ Sunderland Technical College Education Prospectus for 1967–1968
- ^ "Our History". The University. University of Sunderland. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
- ^
Hale, Dean (2006-11-02). "Lord Puttnam to step down as Chancellor". AblogUS - University of Sunderland blog. University of Sunderland. Retrieved 2008-06-16.
Lord Puttnam has been appointed to the post of Chancellor at the Open University, and will step down from his role of Chancellor at the University of Sunderland following the July 2007 awards ceremonies. When Lord Puttnam presides over his final degree ceremony in July 2007 it will mark ten years since his appointment as the University of Sunderland's first Chancellor.
- ^
"Lord Puttnam is appointed Chancellor of The Open University" (Press release). Open University. 2006-10-03. Retrieved 2006-10-08.
Speaking about the appointment, Lord Puttnam said: "Having enjoyed an incredibly fruitful decade as Chancellor of the University of Sunderland, I'm delighted to have been offered the chance to make a similar contribution to the institution that most clearly mirrors my own academic journey."
- ^ Canary Wharf campus for Sunderland University, The Journal, April 2012
- ^ http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/londoncampus/ University of Sunderland London Campus
- ^ "Guardian League Table" (Press release). Guardian Newspaper. 2011-05-17. Retrieved 2011-05-04.
- ^ "RAE 2008: University of Sunderland results". 18 Dec 2008.
- ^ http://www.studentradio.org.uk/news/3198
External links
- University of Sunderland
- Sunderland Student Union
- 107 Spark FM
- Integra Training and Consulting
- MTC Training
- University of Sunderland Mooting and Debating Society
