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Keele University is a research-intensive campus university located near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire in the West Midlands of England between Manchester and Birmingham.

History

Established in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire on land bought from the Sneyd family, it became the University of Keele in 1962. This remains the official name, though Keele University is now the name used by the university itself. It takes its name from the village of Keele which is located beside the university campus.

The university has grown steadily over the past 40 years and currently has 5,600 full-time students and 4,000 part-time students. It is committed to increasing its numbers to 10,000 full-time students by 2010. With the establishment of the new Faculty of Health with schools of medicine, nursing and pharmacy along with increases in the number of postgraduate students it is expected that this target will be surpassed.

Campus

The university is located on a sprawling 617 acre (2.5 km²) estate. This is considered the largest university campus in Europe. The campus is home to a growing number of academic and residential buildings.

There are four halls of residence. Barnes, Lindsay (including The Oaks and Holly Cross) and Horwood are located on the main campus, while The Hawthorns is just outside the university gates in Keele village itself. Together, these halls provide accommodation for approximately 70% of the full-time students - more than any other UK university. Many staff are also resident on campus.

Other campus facilities include an astronomical observatory, an art gallery, an arboretum, a chapel, a mosque, and lots of shops, cafes and places to eat and drink. Just outside the entrance to the University is Keele Golf Course and practice range.

The university has also built award-winning science and business parks and conference centres on the campus.

Recently, the university received planning permission to begin a massive building programme on a 70 acre portion of the campus. This will include a mixture of academic and residential buildings to accommodate the planned increase in student numbers.

Organization

Departments in Keele are organised into three faculties:

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences

This faculty contains the Schools of
    • Criminology, Education, and Sociology & Social Work:
      • Criminology
      • Education
      • Social Relations
    • Economic & Management Studies:
      • Economics
      • Health Planning ad Management
      • Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations
      • Management
    • Humanities:
    • Law:
      • Professional Ethics
      • Law
    • Politics, International Relations & Philosophy.

Faculty of Natural Sciences

This faculty contains the Schools of
    • Computing & Mathematics
    • Life Sciences
    • Physical & Geographical Sciences.
    • Psychology

Faculty of Health

This faculty contains the Schools of
    • Health & Rehabilitation (Physiotherapy)
    • Medicine
    • Pharmacy
    • Nursing & Midwifery

The University collaborates with the nearby University Hospital of North Staffordshire and other local hospitals in the training of students.

Teaching reputation

Founded to "promote interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary scholarship", Keele emphasises "the strength of a broad educational programme"; The Guardian confirms that the university "is committed to breadth of study" and "pioneered the breaking down of barriers between arts and sciences" *. In the UK university system, where students often specialise in one subject only, Keele's dual honours system is one of the country's broadest, enabling its students to study, for example, two subjects as far apart as English and Physics. Unusually for English universities, Keele also offers a four-year course, including a Foundation Year in which a general course of lectures on all subjects is followed, together with more in-depth study of subjects of interest to the student. Students can then follow a degree based on two majors, subject only to timetabling restrictions. Ninety per cent of students at Keele do opt to study more than one subject.

At one time something of an anomaly and sometimes looked at askance, the dual honours system has proved to be one of Keele's greatest assets in recent years. Many employers now value the broader range of intellectual training that comes from pursuing two subjects, often from disparate fields, at undergraduate level. Keele graduates often display a higher degree of flexibility of thought - and a very high level of social skills because of the high on-campus residence rate - than is the case with many other more conventional universities. Many alumni report that the opportunity to study across disciplines and the friendliness of the compact and integrated campus as the best features of their study there. The loyalty of Keele alumni to the place is very high, particularly among the pioneering alumni from the earliest years of the "Keele experiment".

The Foundation Year option also allows mature students, or those without traditional qualifications to follow an access course in that first year. Keele is proud of the high percentage of its students from non-traditional backgrounds

Research reputation

Keele University is a research intensive institution. In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise its Law department was rated 5* followed by American Studies, English, History, Social policy, Engineering, Applied Mathematics and its innovative, inter-disciplinary School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy (SPIRE). It was also rated highly in Psychology, Biology, Business Studies, Russian and Music.

The University has built on its growing reputation in the field of health in by expanding the former Department of Postgraduate Medicine into a full medical school.

It has recently concentrated its research activities into seven research institutes:

Students' Union

Keele University Students' Union is active in organizing a wide range of social activities throughout the year. The Student Union holds student social nights every Wednesday with a monthly "Flirt" night. The Union has several bars - The Lounge, Sam's Bar, BJ's Bar (non-smoking) and K2. Restaurants are Harveys Coffee Shop and The Diner. The union formerly owned the Golfer's Arms, adjacent to the campus but this was finally sold to the local council at the end of 2005. For those who like it a little heavier, KAOS and Kerplunk are held monthly on Thursdays.

Concourse is the name of the student newspaper. It is issued biweekly.

There is also a very popular student radio station called Kube Radio. It broadcasts over the internet.

In the early 1990s the Keele Students Union RAG committee was instrumental in the formation of the "National Association of RAGs". This wider scope of activity lead to good natured rivalry with other RAG committees, especially Warwick and Cardiff.

Keele Rev is an active branch of the charity Revelation Rock-Gospel Choirs

Sport

Keele has a tradition of participation in many different sports, ranging from rugby to lacrosse, to dodgeball. The Leisure Centre is one of the largest dry leisure complexes in Staffordshire. The centre boasts two national standard sports halls, a single court gymnasium, a fitness centre, dance studio and climbing wall. Outside there is an all weather floodlit astroturf pitch, tennis courts and extensive playing fields.

University officers

Chancellors

Vice-Chancellors

Notable faculty

Notable alumni

Academics

Arts/Media

Politics

Public service

Other

Interesting Facts and Trivia

  • In 1998 and 1999 there was some controversy over the decision by University authorities to sell the Turner Collection, a valuable collection of mathematical printed books including some which had belonged to Isaac Newton, in order to fund major improvements to the University Library. The collection also included first printed editions of Euclid in most of the major European languages. Senior University officials authorised the sale of the collection to a private buyer, with no guarantee that it would remain intact or within the UK. Although legally permissible, the sale was unpopular among the academic community and the controversy was fuelled by prolonged negative press coverage suggesting that the £1m sale price was too low and that the collection was certain to be broken up.

  • The cochlear implant was developed in the Department of Communication and Neuroscience at Keele.

  • Keele University was the subject of a 1980s BBC documentary on student debt entitled A Nightmare on Keele Hill. This name was used in 1991 to 1993 by the Students Union Entertainment Committee as the name for the Friday night disco (previously called the "Mega").

  • Keele University is built over the mine workings of Silverdale colliery.* Barnes Hall has no M block (it has A-L and N-W). This coupled with the large clear area adjacent to L block and the fact that the university is built over mine shafts led to an urban legend that the block sank into the ground due to a collapse of a mine tunnel. This is only partially true - the block became unsafe due to subsidence and was demolished.

  • Keele was the first UK University to sell its student accommodation to a private company.

  • The postmodern sculpture situated outside Keele's Library was stolen by a visiting sports team only to be later retrieved and securely fitted. In 2005 the same statue was damaged in protest of the University's policy of fining regulations against its undergraduate students.

External links

References

Keele University | Universities in England | Education in Staffordshire | Nursing schools in the United Kingdom

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Keele University".

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