Nottingham Trent University
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Nottingham Trent University
Motto:	"Shaping futures"
Established:	1992
Type:	Public
Endowment:	£26,540citation needed
Chancellor:	Sir Michael Parkinson
Vice-Chancellor:	Professor Neil Gorman
Students:	24,2251
Undergraduates:	18,6401
Postgraduates:	5,2651
Location:	Nottingham, United Kingdom
Campus:	City, Clifton and Brackenhurst
Affiliations:	University Alliance Association of Commonwealth Universities European University Association
Website:	http://www.ntu.ac.uk/

Arkwright Building

Nottingham Trent University (NTU) is a university in Nottingham, England. Its origins date back to 1843. It was founded as Trent Polytechnic (later Nottingham Polytechnic) in 1970 before gaining university status in 1992. It is one of the largest universities in the United Kingdom, serving more than 24,000 students.¹

In 2007, The Guardian wrote that NTU "is one of the top places in the country for graduate employment"² and the University has significant international recognition of its work in Art and Design, Communication, Business, Cultural and Media Studies, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts, English Language and Literature, Other Studies and Professions Allied to Medicine, French and Law.³

History

• 1843 - Nottingham Government School of Design opened
• 1858 - The Nottingham Government School of Design moved to Commerce Square
• 1865 - The Nottingham Government School of Design moved to Waverley Building
• 1881 - University College was established. It later became the new university's Arkwright Building.
• 1941- The Victorian Arkwright building, on the corner of South Sherwood Street and Shakespeare street, was hit during the Nottingham Blitz the building was partially destroyed as it took a direct hit, It was rebuilt a number of years later, 45 people were killed
• 1945 - Nottingham and District Technical College was designated.
• 1958 - Nottingham Regional College of Technology was opened.
• 1959 - Nottingham College of Education opens at Clifton
• 1964 - Nottingham Regional College was officially launched.
• 1966 - Nottingham College of Art and Design was linked with the Regional College - as a Polytechnic designate.
• 1970 - Trent Polytechnic was granted polytechnic status.
• 1975 - Trent amalgamated with Nottingham College of Education at Clifton.
• 1988 - The official name change to Nottingham Polytechnic took place.
• 1989 - Nottingham Polytechnic Higher Education Corporation was founded.
• 1992 - The Nottingham Trent University was launched.
• 2008 - Nottingham Trent University is named as the top post-1992 university.

Structure

With the arrival of Vice-Chancellor Neil T. Gorman, the University underwent a major change in organisation. It is now composed of four Colleges, which bring together a number of Schools:

• College of Science
  • School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences
  • School of Science and Technology
• College of Arts, Humanities and Education
  • School of Arts and Humanities
  • School of Education
• College of Art & Design and Built Environment
  • School of Art & Design
  • School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment
• College of Business, Law & Social Sciences
  • Nottingham Business School
  • Nottingham Law School
  • School of Social Sciences

Industrial links

NTU has established industrial links with a number of national and multinational companies such as Microsoft and Lehman Brothers. Representatives from these companies deliver talks to prospective placement students or those pondering career options upon graduation.^{citation needed}

Campuses

Nottingham Trent University has three campuses:

City Campus

Located just north of Nottingham City Centre, the city campus offers subjects such as law, social sciences and art & design. The campus is currently undergoing an ambitious £70 million development, which will see two of the University's largest and oldest buildings, Newton and Arkwright, linked by a postmodern "quadrangle". Stephen Jackson, the University's Chief Financial and Operations Director said in 2006 that when work is completed in 2009, "the project will go a long way towards enhancing NTU’s national and international reputation as a dynamic and forward-thinking institution".⁴

Clifton Campus

Situated at Clifton, around four miles from Nottingham, the Clifton Campus is home to the University's Schools of Arts and Humanities, Education, and Science and Technology. The campus, linked to the city by a regular student bus service, also offers three halls of residence (Peverell, Gervase and College Drive), numerous sports facilities, and a student union bar, "The Point".

Brackenhurst Campus

Home to the School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences, Brackenhurst has its own dairy farm and licensed bar. It is situated near Southwell.

Recent developments

The City Campus recently benefited from the completion of the Nottingham Express Transit (NET) light rail system in December 2003, which provides a tram stop outside the Boots Library. This allows a direct link to the main railway station.

The University also recently joined forces with Microsoft to form the Microsoft Academy at Nottingham Trent University.^{citation needed}

The University's in-house managed learning environment is also based around Microsoft technology, namely Exchange, with University-wide use of the Virtual Learning Portal now in its fifth and final year (4.85 TB of materials served and 6.7 million logins during the 2006/07 academic year. ⁵. The in-house MLE is due to be replaced by Desire2Learn for the 2008/09 academic year.

Rebranded signage.

In October 2004, the University underwent a rebranding, which included the amalgamation of Faculties into new Colleges, the introduction of a new logo and the dropping of the definite article from the official University name.^{citation needed} The old logo still appears around department buildings, although much of the old signage has been removed and replaced with rebranded versions on all three campuses.

The University has partnerships with many universities and colleges throughout the world. Since 1998 NTU has awarded a number of business and law degrees Griffith College Dublin, Ireland⁶ the law degrees since 2004 has been recognised by King's Inns, Dublin as satisfying the requirements of entry to that institution, the first independent institution to do so.⁷

In July 2005, the University purchased the Belgrave Centre, thus releasing Nottingham Law School from its ongoing rental commitment along with the added benefit of providing rental income from the Government Office of the East Midlands, which currently has a tenancy agreement until 2010 for approximately half of the building.⁸

The University has recently entered into a partnership with Kaplan Inc. to form the "Nottingham Trent International College" (NTIC) which, through foundation courses and pre-masters courses, helps international students to progress to undergraduate and postgraduate programmes at NTU and other UK universities.^{citation needed}

In June 2008 Sir Michael Parkinson was named as the first Chancellor, responsible for a number of duties, including representing the university on special occasions and conferring degrees at graduation ceremonies. The official installation as Chancellor of Nottingham Trent University will take place in a special ceremony on Tuesday 11 November 2008, at the Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham.⁹

Estate regeneration

New Computing & Informatics Building.

2005 saw the start of a regeneration project to update much of the University's estate to meet the growing needs of the University.^{citation needed} Improvements to date include:

• A new £8 million Computing & Informatics building on the Clifton Campus.
• New Centre for Effective Learning in Science (CELS) building.
• The Art & Design Bonington Building on the City Campus has been completely refurbished, with a new front section, a two-storey atrium, an increased number of exhibition spaces, and a cafe.
• The Chaucer Building, home of the Business School (again, on the City Campus), is currently being fully refurbished, with new paintwork, signage, foyer/reception, lecture theatres, and lifts.
• New accommodation blocks on the Brackenhurst Campus.

Union derecognition

In July 2008, the management of Nottingham Trent University terminated its recognition of the University and College Union (UCU), a step UCU assert ¹⁰ will profoundly damage its members' ability to negotiate with their employers at NTU. As of July 9th 2008, UCU has contacted its members to recommend a greylisting, or academic boycott of the university.

Nottingham Trent Students' Union

The students' union, "NTSU", has bases at all three campuses.

On the City Campus, the Union is based in the Byron House building. Facilities include a bank, two bars (Glo and Sub), a gym, catering facilities (including a cafe and diner), a shop, and a sports hall. The Students' Union executive committee is also based there. The building is home to the Union's "Climax" night on a Saturday, with a capacity of 3,000 students accommodated by both bars, and much of the remaining building (which is transformed to allow its special use for the night). Other nights include "The Tone Club" (a specialist indie band night), and "Assault" (for rock and punk fans).

On the Clifton Campus, the Union is based in the Benenson Building. Facilities there include a bank, a bar and diner (known as "The Point"), a gym and shop. Clifton's flagship night is on a Friday, and host to the nationwide club night, "Flirt!".

Brackenhurst also has an NTSU presence, featuring a shop and bar ("The Orangery").

The student magazine is called Platform and is published every fortnight.

The Union radio station, Fly FM, has won the BBC Best Student Show award,^{citation needed} and recently relaunched as an online station.¹¹ The station broadcasts five days a week, from 11 am to 10 pm, with a vast variety of shows from its flagships, "Off The Record" and "Lunch With..." to shows specialising in a variety of specialist genres including house, drum and bass and soul. 97.5 KICK FM, the original radio station, was created in 1996 and won three Radio 1 student radio awards.^{citation needed}

The Students' Union television station, Trent TV,¹² was launched in 2006. Programmes include coverage of Freshers' Week, "Kinki" nights out at Nottingham's Ocean nightclub, "Student Pads" – a parody of MTV Cribs – and "Pitchside": a sports show that includes interviews with some of the biggest names in Nottingham sport.^{citation needed}

Partner universities

• Ching Yun University, Taiwan¹³
• Espeme-EDHEC Business School, Lille-Nice, France

People

List of Chancellors

• Sir Michael Parkinson (2008 – date)

List of Vice-Chancellors

• Professor Ray Cowell (1992 – 2003)
• Professor Neil T. Gorman (2003 – date)

Notable alumni

• Julius Ayodeji (of Nigeria, West Africa) - Multimedia artist, writer and director [1]
• Olav Bjortomt - quiz setter for The Times and notable contestant
• Hazel Blears - Labour Party MP for Salford and Chair of the Labour Party
• Ana Boulter - Actress, television presenter [2]
• Shane Cullinan - Composer
• Nick Easter - Professional rugby player
• Lynn Elliott - Chair of the English Dept at Chico State University, California, USA [3]
• Bobby Friction - 1Extra DJ
• Heather E. Geddes - Poetry book illustrator.
• Jonathan Glazer - Film and video director
• Steve Hogarth - Lead singer of Marillion
• Samson Kambalu - Artist, writer
• Paul Kaye (Dennis Pennis) - Actor, comedian
• Adam Leventhal - Broadcaster
• Tim Noble and Sue Webster - Artists
• Christian O'Connell - Broadcaster, Virgin Radio
• Mike Parry - Broadcaster
• Alan Simpson - MP for Nottingham South (student union president 1969-70)
• Six By Seven - Nottingham-based rock band
• Simon Starling - Turner Prize winner, 2005
• Simon Taylor-Davis - Guitarist in the Klaxons
• David Tress - Anglo-Welsh artist
• Nick Waplington Artist and photographer

External links

• Nottingham Trent University – official website
• Nottingham Trent Students Union – official website

References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2007)

1. ^ ^{a b c d} "Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2006/07" (Microsoft Excel spreadsheet). Higher Education Statistics Agency. Retrieved on 2008-04-11.
2. ^ "Nottingham Trent University". guardian.co.uk. The Guardian (2007-05-01). Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
3. ^ RAE 2001 results; units mentioned have ratings of 5 and 4, and account for 26% of research-active staff
4. ^ "Newton and Arkwright plans unveiled" (PDF), Grapevine, Nottingham Trent University, p. 1. Retrieved on 27 April 2008. 
5. ^ Virtual Learning Portal (VLP) Headline Statistics
6. ^ Nottingham Trent University - Delegated Centres
7. ^ List of King's Inns' Approved Degrees for becoming a barrister in Ireland - King's Inns' website
8. ^ "Belgrave deal: a ‘vital advance’" (PDF), Grapevine, Nottingham Trent University, p. 3. Retrieved on 28 April 2008. 
9. ^ Sir Michael Parkinson Appointed as First Chancellor
10. ^ "Nottingham Trent University faces strike action in union row". University and College Union. Retrieved on 2008-07-12.
11. ^ "Fly FM - New Music For Britain's Coolest Uni... Nottingham Trent!!". Nottingham Trent Students' Union. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
12. ^ "Trent TV". Nottingham Trent Students' Union. Retrieved on 2008-04-27.
13. ^ "清雲科技大學與外國學校(含學術機構)簽署學術交流合作協約". Ching Yun University. Retrieved on 2008-03-09.

• New energy storage material discovered.
• Trent's Betting Research Unit.
• Bonington building reopened by designer Sir Paul Smith - 11 May 2006
• The university's position in the official league table.