Keele University
| Motto | Thanke God for All |
|---|---|
| Type | Campus university |
| Established | 1949 |
| Chancellor | Prof Sir David Weatherall |
| Vice-Chancellor | Prof Janet Finch |
| Students | 5600 full time students |
| Location | , |
| Campus | Keele |
| Website | http://www.keele.ac.uk/ |
Keele University is a British university located alongside the village of Keele, the only University in the UK to be located in a village setting. The city of Stoke-on-Trent is five miles away.
The current Vice-Chancellor is the leading sociologist, Professor Janet Finch.
History
Established in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire on land bought from the Sneyd family, it became University of Keele in 1962. This remains the official name, though Keele University is now the name used by the university itself.
Campus
Keele has the largest university campus in Europe, with a 617 acre (2.5 km²) estate, but is relatively small in terms of student numbers, with 5,600 full-time students currently attending, although the university is currently expanding its numbers.
Keele's campus also hosts award winning science and business parks and conference centres, as well as housing more of its students than any other UK university (70%).
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.
Many staff are also resident on campus.
Departments
Departments in Keele are organised into three faculties: the Faculty of Natural Sciences, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Health. The Faculty of Natural Sciences contains the Schools of Computing & Mathematics, Life Sciences, Psychology and Physical & Geographical Sciences. The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences includes the Schools of Criminology, Education, Sociology & Social Work, Economic & Management Studies, Humanities (American studies, English, history, modern languages and music), Law & Ethics and Politics, International Relations & Philosophy. The Faculty of Health contains the Schools of Medicine, Nursing & Midwifery, Health & Rehabilitation (Physiotherapy) and Medicines Management.
The University has built on its growing reputation in the field of health in 2002 by expanding the former Department of Postgraduate Medicine into a full medical school. Among the University's stronger departments are Law (5* RAE) and American Studies, Engineering, Applied Mathematics and its innovative, inter-disciplinary School of Politics, International Relations and Philosophy (SPIRE).
The University collaborates with the nearby University Hospital of North Staffordshire, including in the Keele University Medical School.
Dual honours system
Founded to "promote interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary scholarship", Keele emphasises "the strength of a broad educational programme"; The Guardian confirms that Keele "is committed to breadth of study" and "pioneered the breaking down of barriers between arts and sciences" [1]. 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.
Students' Union
See also the main article Keele University Students' Union.
The Student Union holds the student nights of Rewind and Loaded, 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. Kube Radio broadcasts over the internet. The union also formerly owned the Golfer's Arms, adjacent to the campus, which was finally sold to the local council at the end of 2005.
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.
- Many of the exterior shots for the BBC TV series "A Very Peculiar Practice" were filmed at University of Keele.
- Many of the Student "halls" on campus sport bars which provide its residents with a relaxing and social atmospehere.
- 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.
- There is an astronomical observatory, an art gallery, and an arboretum on the campus.
- 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.
- 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 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 Universities policy of fining regulations against its undergraduate students.
- The Stephenson Building, between the Students Union and Barnes Hall, contains animal testing facilities.
Sport
Keele has a tradition of participation in many different sports, ranging from rugby to lacrosse, to dodgeball. Many of the university's sport teams are disliked by non-AU (Athletic Union) members, due to their occasional anti-social and boisterous behaviour. Many feuds have arisen over the years, predominantly between the Football, Rugby and Hockey clubs. Wednesday afternoons are traditionally reserved for sports and no lectures are aranged for this time. Wednesday is also the traditional AU social night with sports teams out in the Students' Union.
Famous alumni
- Jonathan Dollimore - Cultural and literary theorist
- Clare Short - Politician
- John Golding - Politician and trade union leader
- Michael Mansfield QC - Barrister
- Lord Melchett - Former Executive Director of Greenpeace
- Paul Clark - Politician
- Alun Michael - Politician
- Kojo Annan - Son of Kofi Annan, General Secretary of the UN.
- Adelaide Tambo - South African politician
- Don Foster - Politician
External links
- Keele University website
- Guardian University Guide: Keele University
- 2006 Undergraduate Prospectus
- Keele University Student Union.
- Kube Radio - student radio station.
- Tales from the Barricades