University of Lincoln
|
|
- This page is about the British university. For the similarly named institutions in New Zealand and the USA, see Lincoln University.
| University of Lincoln | |
| Missing image UniLincolnLogoMinerva.gif Official logo of the University of Lincoln | |
| Motto | Excellentia per studium "Excellence through study." |
| Established | 1861 (Hull School of Art); 1992 (University of Humberside) |
| Chancellor | Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll |
| Vice-Chancellor | Professor David Chiddick |
| Location | Lincolnshire & Hull, United Kingdom |
| Students | 9,000 total (1,000 graduate) |
| Member of | East Midlands Universities Association, LiSN, Yorkshire Universities |
| Homepage | http://www.lincoln.ac.uk/ |
The University of Lincoln is one of the newest universities in the United Kingdom, founded in its current form in 1996. It is located primarily in the city of Lincoln but also has campuses in Riseholme, Holbeach and Hull. Its corporate logo is the head of the Roman goddess Minerva. The official fonts of the University of Lincoln are Goudy Modern and Helvetica. Its official corporate colour is Pantone 398 (roughly, HTML colour code #B8C400).
| Contents |
History
Despite being an ancient cathedral city, Lincoln had been without its own university well into the 1990s. At last in 1993 a project company was founded to build a full university campus on disused industrial land at the southwest end of Lincoln's city centre. This was to be combined with the existing University of Humberside to form a new University of Lincolnshire and Humberside.
In 1996 when the new, modern campus beside Lincoln's Brayford Pool was opened by HM Queen Elizabeth II, it was both the most recently-created University in the UK and yet an institution with a 130-year history of education in the wider region.
Higher education in Lincoln was consolidated in 2001 when the University acquired Leicester-based De Montfort University's schools in Lincolnshire: the Lincoln School of Art and Design in uphill Lincoln, and the Lincolnshire School of Agriculture's sites at Riseholme, Caythorpe and Holbeach. Caythorpe was later closed permanently and its activities moved to Riseholme. Courses held in Grimsby were also moved to Lincoln around this time.
Throughout the 1990s, the University's estates in Hull were considerably reduced, and focus shifted more towards Lincoln. In 2001 this process was taken a step further when the decision was made to move corporate headquarters and management to Lincoln, and hand over the Cottingham Road campus in Hull, their previous location, to the University of Hull - the site is now the home of the Hull York Medical School.
As a result of these changes, and because the University's double-barrelled name had come to be regarded as unattractive to students, 'Humberside' was dropped and the University of Lincolnshire and Humberside was rebranded the University of Lincoln, which is how it survives today.
On October 28th 2004, following its redevelopment as a specialist Food science technology park, the campus at Holbeach was reopened by John Hayes, the Member of Parliament for South Holland and the Deepings.
The Present
The University has expanded rapidly on the Brayford site since its opening in 1996. Buildings on the Brayford now include a school of architecture designed by the British architect Rick Mather, a science laboratory facility, a sports centre, and a university library opened in December 2004, which is based in the Great Central Warehouse (GCW), a renovated former industrial railway goods warehouse.
The main academic building on the Brayford campus was designed such that, if the University were to fail, it could be easily converted into a shopping centre. The large, open atrium space is surrounded by balconies on several floors, with lecture halls (larger shops) on the ground and classrooms (smaller boutiques) on the higher floors. The lifts at each end of the building use recorded voices to communicate with passengers, but interestingly are different from each other: the East lift has a chirpy, slightly brassy Australian voice, while the West lift is far more sullen and monotonous with less of an accent. The different lifts are known informally to staff and students as 'Sheila' and 'Jane', respectively.
The University also maintains several buildings of historic interest in uphill Lincoln (the 'Cathedral' campus), including a building named after Chad Varah, CH, CBE, the founder of the Samaritans. At Riseholme, set amongst a 240-hectare estate and working farm is the former residence of the Bishop of Lincoln. The main building at the much-reduced campus in Hull has been renamed in honour of the late Professor Derek Crothall, a former Pro Vice Chancellor of the University.
There are currently five faculties of study:
- Applied Computing Sciences (Dean: Professor Graeme Wilkinson);
- Art, Architecture & Design (Dean: Professor Vincent Shacklock);
- Business & Law (Dean: Dr. Don White);
- Health, Life & Social Sciences (Dean: Professor Brian McGaw);
- Media & Humanities (Dean: Professor Brian Winston);
Plus two extra-faculty academic departments:
- The International Institute for Education Leadership (Director: Fergus O'Sullivan);
- The Lincolnshire School of Agriculture (Director: Clive Bound).
People
As of 2004, there are 8,775 students on campus, including 7,330 full-time undergraduates and 708 postgraduate students. There are 393 academic staff across all the various campuses. The University's Chancellor is Dame Elizabeth Esteve-Coll, and the Vice-Chancellor is Profesor David Chiddick, appointed in 2001.
Student Welfare
The current President of the Students' Union Cooperative is Dean Eldredge - following the resignation in November 2004 of the previous, elected, president.
Student publications include Bullet magazine and Reporter, a free newspaper. The University radio station Siren FM (which began broadcasting on the Hull Campus in 1996) webcasts throughout the academic year, and broadcasts on 87.7FM across Lincoln during April and May.
On October 10th 2000, Russell Griffiths, a former lecturer of the University, was jailed for deceiving the University over the existence of his criminal record for harassment. At the same time, he was acquitted of the rape of a Lincoln student by a jury at Lincoln Crown Court.
Although the people of Lincoln in general welcomed the University and the influx of young people, especially those in the brewery trade, some residents found students to be an unwelcome disturbance. The Students' Union responded to complaints of late-night noise with a "Shhhhh!" campaign, but relations between students and locals remain occasionally strained.
The Future
The University is in the process of transferring its Further Education (foundation) programmes in art and design to Lincoln College. The next phase of the planned redevelopment of the Brayford site includes the establishment of a centre for the arts, and the creation of a new student entertainment venue from another disused railway building.
External links
- The university's website (http://www.lincoln.ac.uk)
- Yorkshire Universities summary of the university. (http://www.yhua.ac.uk/uniregion/uniregion1_cont1f.html)
- The university's students' union website. (http://www.lincolnsu.com)
- Bullet Magazine. (http://www.bulletmag.co.uk)
- Siren FM website. (http://www.sirenonline.co.uk)
- Siren & other UK student radio stations (http://mediauk.com/directory/radio/?starting_with=&type=stu)
- University exam featured on the BBC website. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1333956.stm)
- BBC News on a rift between students and locals. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/2415169.stm)
- People phone in complaints about students. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/3892465.stm)
- Local people air their views on students. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lincolnshire/3109438.stm)
- Pet psychiatrist appointed at the university. (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3709698.stm)
- Lecturer is let off rape charge. (http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,382358,00.html)
- University psychology student is jailed at Lincoln Crown Court for bizarre sex attack on a fellow student in February 2005. (http://www.thisislincolnshire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=156153&command=displayContent&sourceNode=156136&contentPK=11867516&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch)
- The QAA's audit report of the university of May 2003 (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/revreps/instrev/lincoln/summary.htm)