University of Plymouth

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University of Plymouth


Established	1992, from Polytechnic South West
Type	Public
Vice-Chancellor	Prof. Mark Cleary (acting)
Staff	3,000
Students	28,775 ^[1]
Undergraduates	24,360 ^[1]
Postgraduates	5,415 ^[1]
Location	Plymouth, Devon, United Kingdom
Address	UoP, Drake Circus, Plymouth, PL4 8AA
Telephone	+44 (0)1752 600600
Campus	Urban
Affiliations	Alliance of Non-Aligned Universities, Association of Commonwealth Universities
Website	http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/

The University of Plymouth is the largest university in the southwest of England, with over 30,000 students and is the fifth largest UK university based on student population. (Larger universities are Open, London, Manchester, and Manchester Metropolitan respectively.) It has almost 3,000 staff (one of the largest employers in the southwest), and an annual income of around £110 million.

Plymouth is an up-and-coming 'Modern University' that is currently undergoing a great deal of development, including several new buildings and restructuring. The University jumped a highly impressive 33 places in The Guardian’s national university league tables published in May 2006- from 73rd place in 2005 to 40th place in 2006^[2]; the Times table, which unlike the Guardian's takes research performance into account, places it 55th^[3]and is billed as one of the top two modern universities in the UK.^[4] The Guardian describes the university as "forward thinking", as well as placing Plymouth in the coveted "top 20" for ten subjects including social work (5th), architecture, fine art and drama. ^[5]

Prof. Roland Levinsky was the University's vice-chancellor up until his death on the 1st January 2007 caused when a wooden pylon collapsed bringing down live power cables on top of him during a storm.^[6]He has been replaced by acting vice-chancellor Prof. Mark Cleary who was the deputy vice chancellor. Prof. Cleary had already planned to leave the University of Plymouth and will become the vice-chancellor of the University of Bradford in May.^[7]

1 Background and History
2 Courses
3 New Developments
4 Famous Staff
5 Students' Union
6 Sport
7 Societies
8 References
9 External links

[edit] Background and History

Portland Square Building, University of Plymouth, Plymouth Campus, UK

The University of Plymouth has a wide variety of Undergraduate and postgraduate programmes which are currently taught across campuses in Plymouth, Exeter, Exmouth. The University of Plymouth was previously (and unpopularly) known as Polytechnic South West between 1989-1992. Before that, its constituent bodies were known as Plymouth Polytechnic, Rolle College, and Seale-Hayne College.

Designated as a university in 1992 along with the other former polytechnics, Plymouth has a reputation as one of the UK's leading new universities. In part because of its coastal location and strong maritime history.

[edit] Courses

One of the University of Plymouth's newly renovated buildings in the City of Plymouth with the university logo on it

It is particularly renowned for its courses in maritime business, marine engineering, marine biology and ocean sciences. The university is also internationally renowned for its courses in shipping and logistics.

In October 2005, The Sun national newspaper voted the University of Plymouth as having the most bizarre degree course in the country, the BSc (Hons) in Surf Science & Technology. Commonly known as surfing, this course is centred on surfing equipment design and surfing-related business, which has its popularity increased by the geographical location of the University.

It also scores well in law, psychology, geographical sciences, computer science and art history. The Planetary Collegium, the international centre for research in art, technology and consciousness is based at Plymouth, with nodes in Beijing, Milan and Zurich. The university offers a course in "MediaLab Arts" (which recently changed name to "Digital Art and Technology"), a unique new media and computer science hybrid course. Another possibly unique course is the BA in Business & Perfumery, whilst there is a renowned MSc in E-Commerce on offer^[8].

The University also provides professional diving qualifications on a numbers of its courses, the only university in the country provide this. This is provided by the University's own diving centre absed next to QAB, with its full time team of instructors and dedicated boats and equipment.

[edit] New Developments

Construction of the new Arts Complex on the Rowe Street building site at the Southern end of campus.

The university's current policy is to centralise its campus activities in Plymouth. Many of the University's Faculty of Arts subjects (such as History, English, and Media Arts) have already moved to Plymouth. Subjects currently based at Exeter (such as Fine Art, Art History, Photography and 3-D Design) and Exmouth (such as Theatre & Performance) will be relocating to Plymouth in Autumn 2007. An exception to this trend is the university's extensive activities in education for the health professions; in addition many of its students are taught at Further Education Colleges throughout Devon, Cornwall and Somerset, such as Dartington College of Arts. However, a new building which opens in 2008 will be shared between the Peninsula Medical School and the Faculty of Health and Social Work highlighting some movement towards Plymouth.

Recent completed developments include Portland Square, the library extension, refurbished and new laboratory and teaching facilities in many of the campus buildings. Halls of residences near the Business School and a new £16 million Peninsula Medical School headquarters at Derriford.

Jointly with the University of Exeter and the National Health Service in the region, the University runs the recently founded Peninsula Medical School. A new dental school has also been approved in 2006 and will open in 2007.^[9] A new £13 million building on the University of Plymouth's main campus will provide teaching rooms, office space, a clinical skills laboratory and research facilities for the Plymouth-based activities of the School from 2008 along with the Faculty of Health and Social work. Other investment in campus facilities includes a £30m arts complex, due to open in September 2007, a new £25m building for the Faculty of Education, which is relocating from Exmouth to the main campus in Plymouth in 2008 and an £800,000 extension of the fitness complex.

[edit] Famous Staff

Staff include Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, who have written extensively on electoral systems, voting behaviour, polling results and British politics and have regularly appeared on national television election programmes for both the BBC and ITV over the last 15 years. Dr. Roy Lowry who in August 2006 broke the world record for launching the most rockets at once^[10] and Dr. Iain Stewart who has hosted BBC documentaries like Journeys into the Ring of Fire and Journeys from the Centre of the Earth.