Glasgow Caledonian University


Glasgow Caledonian University, is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland. It was formed in 1993 by the merger of The Queen's College, Glasgow and Glasgow Polytechnic.
It is located in the Cowcaddens district, just to the immediate north of the city centre, and is Glasgow's third university, after the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde.
In June 2017, the university's New York partner institution, which was founded in 2013, was granted permission to award degrees in the state, the first higher education institution founded by a foreign university to achieve this status. In June 2023, GCU noted that they planned to sell their New York campus as it had not lived up to its potential. On 31 July 2024, it was announced that IE University had acquired Glasgow Caledonian New York College and would be renaming it IE New York College.

History

The university traces its origin from The Queen's College, Glasgow, and the Glasgow College of Technology. The Queen's College, which specialised in providing training in domestic science, received the royal accolade of being named after Queen Elizabeth II in its centenary celebrations in 1975. Queen Elizabeth was, herself, patron of the college since 1944. Glasgow College of Technology, which was one of the largest central institutions in Scotland, offered externally validated degrees and diplomas in engineering, science, and the humanities: the first of which was a BA in Optics, followed by degrees in Social Sciences and Nursing.
On 1 April 1993, the two institutions amalgamated to form Glasgow Caledonian University. The new university took its name from Caledonia, the poetic Latin name for present-day Scotland. The main campus of the university is built on the site of the former Buchanan Street Station, built by the Caledonian Railway.
Independent research carried out in 2015 revealed that the university contributes over £480M to Scotland's economy each year with the quantifiable lifetime premium of a one-year class of graduates estimated at £400M, bringing the university's total annual economic impact to around £880M in Scotland alone.
In July 2018, Annie Lennox was installed as GCU's first female chancellor, taking over the role from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus. She was succeeded by entrepreneur and computer scientist Anne-Marie Imafidon in February 2024. Stephen Decent is the principal and vice-chancellor of the university, appointed in 2023.

Coat of arms and motto

The university's coat of arms is the work of university academic and artist Malcolm Lochhead and draws on four elements from the coat of arms of the university's predecessor institutions. The oak tree and the Book of Knowledge were borrowed from the arms of Glasgow Polytechnic while the saltire ermine and the crossed keys were taken from the arms of The Queen's College. A visual feature was added to the new arms with the illuminated capital letters in the Book's paragraphs reading: G 'C U'. The coat of arms was matriculated by the Lord Lyon King of Arms and is inscribed into university degree parchments. The university's motto: "for the common weal", which has been adopted since 1975, features in the full design of the arms.

Campuses

GCU's main campus is located in the Cowcaddens area of the city, with most of the buildings dating back to the early 1970s and the construction of the Glasgow College of Technology over the former site of Buchanan Street railway station. GCU also operated out of Queens College' former campus in the Woodlands area of the city on Park Drive, but this was sold to the University of Glasgow in 2001 and everything consolidated on the Cowcaddens site.
In September 2013 the university founded Glasgow Caledonian New York College, which is an independent partner institution whose Wooster Street campus is based in the city's SoHo district.
GCU London is the second campus, specialising in Insurance, Banking and Finance, Risk Management, International Fashion Marketing, Luxury Brand Marketing, Public Health and Construction Management. It is home to the British School of Fashion. Based in Fashion Street, Spitalfields, the centre offers a range of MBA and MSc courses. GCU London opened in September 2010 and it is reportedly the first Scottish university to open a base in London. GCU London offers the UK's first MBA in Luxury Brand Marketing.

Organisation and administration

Academic schools

Computing, Engineering and Built Environment

GCU's IT, engineering and construction experience is housed within the School of Computing, Engineering and Built Environment. The school is composed of eight departments:
  • Applied Science
  • Electrical and Electronic Engineering
  • Mechanical Engineering
  • Construction and Surveying
  • Civil Engineering and Environmental Management
  • Applied Computer Games
  • Computing
  • Cyber Security and Networks
The school performs research into built environment and connections with industry leaders in growing markets such as games design. The school also has a Centre for Climate Justice, which is involved in policy relevant research for development, teaching and learning, and broadening knowledge in the area of climate justice.

The Glasgow School for Business and Society

The Glasgow School for Business and Society brings together disciplines in business, law and social sciences, teaching and research in fashion, tourism, risk management, finance and multimedia journalism.
The school leads the university-wide delivery of the Principles for Responsible Management Education, a United Nations Global Compact-backed initiative which places social responsibility, ethics and sustainability at the top of the agenda for training future leaders. GCU became a PRiME signatory in January 2012 and is a founding member of the UK and Ireland PRiME Chapter.
GCU is a member of Business in the Community Scotland and school students and staff manage the Work Ready Action Programme, which sees students mentor school pupils from the Glasgow area.
In 2015, the school's 10 BA Business Programme Set and its MSc International Fashion Marketing Programmes achieved the EPAS accreditation, becoming the first institution in Scotland and one of only 69 recognised worldwide.
It is designated a centre of excellence by the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment and is the only business school to offer triple-accredited degrees in financial services. The school is also home to the Moffat Centre, one of the world's university research centres in tourism and travel.
The school is composed of the following seven departments:
The School of Health and Life Sciences is one of Scotland's largest research and teaching centres in health care and life sciences; Scotland's only provider of optometry training; and home to an eye clinic, based on campus. GCU is ranked in the Top 20 in the UK for allied health research at world-leading and internationally excellent standards. The school is, since 1993, Scotland's only designated World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Education, Research, and Practice. It is also home to the Scottish Ambulance Academy; the only educational establishment in the UK to be formally endorsed by the College of Paramedics and certified by the Health and Care Professions Council, providing professional training for paramedics on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service. September 2017 saw the first intake of the BSc Paramedic Science course, the first direct-entry undergraduate paramedic course available in Scotland. The school is composed of the following eight departments:
  • Department of Biological and Biomedical Sciences
  • Department of Nursing and Community Health
  • Department of Occupational Therapy & Human Nutrition & Dietetics
  • Department of Physiotherapy and Paramedicine
  • Department of Podiatry and Radiography
  • Department of Psychology
  • Department of Social Work
  • Department of Vision Sciences

    Administration

By statute, the university maintains two internal institutions: the University Court and the University Senate. The University Court is the supreme governing body of the university and is composed of a number of 'governors', statutory mandated with overseeing its overall strategic direction and appointing both the chancellor and the principal of the university. The university's principal and vice-chancellor and the president of the Students' Association are ex officio governors of the Court. The University Senate, on the other hand, is statutory tasked with the overall planning, co-ordination, development and supervision of the university's academic affairs. University degrees and fellowship as well as academic honours and distinctions are awarded by and in the name of the Court, with the advice of the Senate. The current chair of the Court is Rob Woodward and the Senate is presided over by the university's principal and vice-chancellor, currently Stephen Decent.

Academic profile

GCU offers academic programmes in all of the Scottish Funding Council funding groups but medicine, dentistry and teacher education. The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise gave the university an 'internationally recognised' research profile in a multitude of disciplines. Over 70% of the university's research submissions were judged as being internationally recognised and 30% were deemed world-leading or of international excellence. In 2015, the QAA awarded the university its highest judgement for academic standards, whilst praising the university's innovative academic approaches. In 2013, GCU was awarded the HR Excellence in Research Award by the European Commission, in recognition of its commitment to the development of researchers. This has been retained in 2015 following its two-year review.