Napier University

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Napier University


Motto	Nisi sapientia frustra (Latin, "No wisdom frustrates")
Established	1992 (founded 1964 as Napier Technical College)
Type	Public
Chancellor	vacant
Principal	Professor Joan Stringer CBE
Staff	1,648 ^[1]
Students	14,162 ^[1]
Location	Edinburgh, Scotland
Turnover	£70 million (GBP, 2003) ^[1]
Website	www.napier.ac.uk

Napier University is a university in Edinburgh, Scotland.

1 History
2 Campuses
3 Student organisation and media
4 Academic structure
5 Research and activity centres
6 Office holders
7 Alumni
8 References
9 See also
10 External links

[edit] History

It was opened as Napier Technical College in 1964, taking its name from John Napier, the inventor of logarithms, who was born on the site of the Merchiston campus. In 1966, it was renamed Napier College of Science and Technology. Since 1971, it has offered degree-level education. Three years later, it merged with the Sighthill-based Edinburgh College of Commerce to form Napier College of Commerce and Technology, which became a Central Institution in 1985.

The college was renamed Napier Polytechnic in 1986 and in the same year acquired the former Hydropathic hospital buildings at Craiglockhart. It gained full university status in its own right in June 1992, but only a matter of months before other former polytechnics. In 1994, Napier University acquired its Craighouse campus.

In 1996, the university gained a new Faculty of Health Studies, a merger of the Scottish Borders College of Nursing and Lothian College of Health Studies.

It was ranked 78th overall amongst UK universities in the Times Good University Guide 2007. It is especially noted for a range of subject areas including timber engineering and transport studies, and in addition its journalism courses are considered to be of a high standard with some lecturers giving expert testimony to the Scottish Parliament. In 2002 Napier achieved top grades in Accounting, Computing and Law in the Quality Assessment Agency's new Subject Reviews, outperforming all other new Scottish Universities as well as a number of traditional ones.

The University has one of the largest business schools of any university north of the English border. The School of Computing at Napier University is also the largest computing department in Scotland.

[edit] Campuses

Merchiston Tower in the early 1800s, now at the centre of the present-day Merchiston Campus, was home to John Napier

The university is based around its Merchiston, Craighouse, Craiglockhart and Sighthill campuses. There are also smaller, medical campuses at Canaan Lane's Astley Ainslie Hospital and Comely Bank in Edinburgh, as well as in Melrose and Livingston's St John's Hospital At Howden. Other notable Edinburgh buildings have been incorporated, including the former Parish Church at Morningside.

The Merchiston campus is built around the refurbished shell of Merchiston Tower (or Castle), the family home of John Napier, after whom the University is named. Merchiston Tower is also the ancient seat of Clan Napier. This campus plays host to the sports, science, mathematics, engineering and computing courses.

The Napier Students' Association (NSA) is located nearby on Merchiston Place in a converted house. It houses "twelve", the student bar for Merchiston campus - which was closed for the 05-06 session, but has recently been reopened. Its hours of business are 4pm-11pm, Monday-Friday - greatly reduced from the times it was previously open for and no longer serving food.

The Craiglockhart campus incorporates the Craiglockhart Hydropathic Hospital buildings which were for a time known as the Craiglockhart War Hospital, where First World War poets Wilfred Owen and Siegfried Sassoon were treated. This campus is the home of the law and business courses and is also marketed as a conference centre. Tony Blair gave a speech there in 2004. The campus has recently benefited from a £24m development for the Business School at Craiglockhart. The Business School at Napier University is currently seeking EQUIS accredidation.

The Craighouse campus is based around the former Thomas Clouston Clinic which was a mental hospital (The Royal Edinburgh Asylum) until around 1990. Its position allows for panoramic views over the entire city. This campus is home to the social science and communication arts courses as well as the Ian Tomlin School of Music. It was here that Joseph Conrad stayed during his visit to Edinburgh and where he wrote his iconic novella Heart of Darkness, published in 1902.^{[citation needed]} It is also at this campus that the famous composer Stuart Mitchell studies.

The University has ties both locally (with colleges such as Lauder College), and globally. Napier University was the first Scottish institution to allow Chinese students to study for a Scottish degree without leaving their home country in 2004 via links with Zhengzhou University of Light Industry(ZZULI)(Simplified Chinese:郑州轻工业学院). The University also operates an office in Bejing, China and operates through articulation agreements and partnerships to deliver courses with Higher Education institutions in Hong Kong and Malaysia.

[edit] Student organisation and media

Napier University's students' union is called the Napier Students' Association (NSA). The current NSA President is Aran Simm. Recent past NSA presidents include Peter Marshall (2005-06) and Christian Poziemski (2004-05). The student newspaper is Veritas and comes out 6-7 times per year. It was founded as a fortnightly tabloid newspaper in 1993 by Neil McIntosh, then Depute President (Communications). The current Veritas editors are Darren Scott Gleeson and Sarah Gray. Past Veritas editors include Laura Brown (2005-06), Jesse Karjalainen (2004-05) and a co-editorship of David Lewis and Adam Morris (2003-04).

[edit] Academic structure

Napier University comprises three main Faculties each with three constituent schools.

The Napier University Business School comprises the School of Management & Law, the School of Accounting, Economics & Statistics, and the School of Marketing, Tourism & Languages.

The Faculty of Engineering, Computing & Creative Industries comprises the School of Creative Industries, the School of Engineering & the Built Environment, and the School of Computing.

The Faculty of Health, Life & Social Sciences comprises the School of Nursing, Midwifery & Social Care, the School of Health & Social Science, and the School of Life Sciences.

[edit] Research and activity centres

Napier has over 30 research teams operating across the University.

The Centre for Timber Engineering is a focus for excellence in providing research, consultancy, information, education and training in the use of timber in construction.

The Employment Research Institute carries out applied and theoretical research into the changing nature of work and employment.

The International Teledemocracy Centre remit is to research and apply information and communication technologies to enhance and support the democratic decision-making processes.

The Transport Research Institute is a distributed organisation, promoting cross-disciplinarily research in transport.

Napier is also host to the Scottish Resource Centre for Women in Science, Engineering and Technology (SET), the Scottish Centre for Festival And Event Management, and the Napier University Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Commercially, Napier has developed a number of spinout companies. These include Cardiodigital, Micro Emissive Displays, Surfactant Solutions and Freelight Systems.

[edit] Office holders

Napier University's Principal and Vice-Chancellor is Professor Joan Stringer CBE.

The position of Chancellor is currently vacant. The most recent, and indeed Napier's first and only Chancellor since gaining university status in 1992, was the late Viscount Younger of Leckie.

Vice-Principal of Academic Development is Dr Peter Easy. Vice-Principal of Research, Commercialisation & Knowledge Transfer is Professor Peter Strike. Vice-Principal of Academic Quality & Customer Service is Dr Jenny Rees.

Dr Andrew Cubie CBE is chairman of the University Court.

Dr Gerry Webber holds the position of University Secretary & Registrar.

Mr Colin Bryce is Special Advisor to the Vice-Principals.

Professor George Stonehouse is Dean of the Napier University Business School.

Professor Rao Bhamidimarri is Dean of Faculty of Engineering, Computing & Creative Industries.

Dr Morag Prowse is Dean of Faculty of Health, Life & Social Science.

Mr Jack Worden is Dean of International.

Director of Human Resources is Nick Rogers.

Director of Finance Services is Eric Gibson.