University of Staffordshire
The University of Staffordshire is a public research university in Staffordshire, England. It has its main campus in Stoke-on-Trent and four other campuses in Stafford, and London.
History
In 1901, industrialist Alfred Bolton acquired a site on what is now College Road and in 1906 mining classes began there. In 1907, pottery classes followed, being transferred from Tunstall into temporary buildings, and in 1914 the building now known as the Cadman Building was officially opened as the Central School of Science and Technology by J. A. Pease, President of the Board of Education. A frieze over the entrance depicts potters and miners. In 2013, the Library Conference room in the Cadman Building was renamed the Alfred Bolton Room.In 1915, a department was established for the commercial production of Seger cones used to measure and control the temperatures of ceramic furnaces, based upon research completed by the principal, Joseph Mellor. Grants from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust in 1924 were used to develop the ceramics library and in 1926 the name of the institution was changed to North Staffordshire Technical College. By 1931 extensions to the Cadman Building ran along Station Road and housed the Mining Department. A grant was awarded from the Miners’ Welfare Fund to fund the building work. The new extension also housed the library, which by now had 35,000 volumes. By 1934 the college consisted of four departments: Engineering, Pottery, Mining, and Chemistry.
In 1939, new engineering workshops were occupied for the first time and the land opposite the Cadman Building was purchased. By 1950 Victoria Road had been renamed College Road and the site now extended over. The Mellor Building and Experimental Production Block were constructed for the North Staffordshire College of Technology by 1960.
Various faculty movements and further building work resulted in North Staffordshire Polytechnic being formed in 1970 with the merger of Stoke-on-Trent College of Art, North Staffordshire College of Technology, and Staffordshire College of Technology in Stafford. In 1977, the polytechnic absorbed Madeley College of Education, formerly County of Stafford Training College, a teacher training facility in Madeley, Staffordshire specialising in physical education.
The polytechnic developed traditional strengths of the component institutions, e.g. ceramics, computing and sports education. The mining department closed as result of the decline of coal mining in the 1980s. New subjects were developed. North Staffordshire Polytechnic was among only a handful of third-level institutions in the UK to offer International Relations as a dedicated degree. The 1992 UK government Research Assessment Exercise placed the International Relations Department as the highest-rated in the institution.
In 1988, the institution changed its name to Staffordshire Polytechnic. In 1992, it became Staffordshire University, one of the new universities based on former polytechnics.
On 23 September 2024, the university was rebranded as University of Staffordshire.
Campuses
The university has one main campus, and two other campuses in Stafford, and London, and extensive links with national, European and transnational academic institutions.Stoke-on-Trent
The main campus is in Shelton, Stoke-on-Trent, and primarily offers law, business, sciences, applied computing, engineering, arts, design, games, journalism and media production courses. These are split into two areas, one on College Road, and the other on Leek Road. A Science Centre was opened in 2012 as part of a major redevelopment adjacent to Stoke-on-Trent railway station. In 2022, the University opened a new £42 million building on the Leek Road site - The Catalyst. This 8,800 sqm, four storey building, brought together the delivery of apprenticeships and skills.The Stoke campus also features its own student nightclub called LRV. This nightclub hosts a variety of student nights on various days of the week but its main open nights are on a Wednesday and Friday.
A public film theatre is situated on the side of the Flaxman building on College Road, which shows mainstream and independent films on a regular basis to an audience of up to 180 people, as well as being used for large lectures. In 2006, a TV studio facility was opened by former BBC Director General Greg Dyke in the Arts, Media and Design faculty building on College Road, Stoke. The £1 million development features up-to-date technology and industry specification equipment.
The Stoke-on-Trent campus is also home to the Sir Stanley Matthews Sports Centre. Named after Stoke City footballer Sir Stanley Matthews CBE, the sports centre is located on Leek Road campus and is open to students, staff and the public.
University of Staffordshire London: Digital Institute
Located at Here East in East London, the Digital Institute opened in 2019 and is focused on new and emerging technology, primarily based around Games and Computing courses, key specialisms of the University since the 1960s. In 2021, the university invested £3.5m to increase its footprint to 31,133 sq feet, and allow the provider to expand the range of courses it has on offer for 2022.Stafford
Nursing, midwifery, operating department practice and paramedic science courses are taught at the "Centre of Excellence" in Stafford on Blackheath Lane.In March 2022, the university opened the £5.8 million Centre for Health Innovation.
The new Centre was part-funded by Stoke-on-Trent & Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership via the Government’s Getting Building Fund. The LEP allocated £2.89m to the scheme to help bring forward the pioneering facility and generate further opportunity for learners and businesses in the area.
As well as being the study base for more than 2,000 student nurses, midwives, operating department practitioners and paramedics, the Centre also offers a platform for new collaborations with local business and healthcare and technology industries.
Overseas
The university has many overseas students studying for University of Staffordshire awards in Belgium, Canada, China, Vietnam, France, Greece, India, Kosovo, Malaysia, Nigeria, Singapore, Spain, and Sri Lanka. The university also conducts a twinning programme with DISTED College in George Town, Penang, Malaysia.University of Staffordshire offers programmes in Hung Yen, Ecopark Township, Vietnam through the British University Vietnam. The university has a strong partnership with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Halls of residence
The university offers guaranteed accommodation for all first-year students, provided the university is their firm UCAS choice. All accommodation is situated close to all teaching, sporting, and Union venues.Stafford
The Stafford campus has its own halls of residence, Stafford Court, comprising over 264 en-suite single study bedrooms and 290 single study bedrooms with shared facilities. The various houses take their names from villages in Staffordshire: Brocton, Derrington, Eccleshall, Gnosall, Haughton, Knightley, Levedale, Milwich, Norbury, Ranton, Shugborough and Weston.A separate block of larger flats, named after the village of Yarlet, is also on the same site. This comprises an additional 51 single-study bedrooms over three floors, each accommodating 17 residents, who share a kitchen, dining room and four shower rooms. All of these halls are directly opposite the Stafford campus buildings on Weston Road.
By September 2016 only the midwifery, nursing, paramedic science, operation department practitioners and other allied and public health courses will remain at the Blackheath Lane site with the rest moved to Stoke.
Stoke
At Stoke, halls of residence are primarily situated on the Leek Road campus. The shared-bathroom accommodation was sponsored by various local potteries, and halls are therefore named after them, for example Royal Doulton, Coalport, Mintons, Spode, Aynsley and Wedgwood halls.The on-campus en-suite accommodation is contained within Clarice Cliff Court, comprising seven halls, each of about 30 students over three floors, each hall named after female ceramicists: Rachel Bishop, Eve Midwinter, Jessie van Hallen, Charlotte Rhead, Jessie Tait, Millicent Taplin and Star Wedgwood. Along with the halls and en-suite, the university also offers 32 houses, known as the Leek Road Houses, each of which accommodates up to 6 people each.
Carlton House, Etruscan House, Caledonia Road, Queen Anne Street Flats, Cromwell Court, Church Street and Sovereign House are situated off campus. They are all within of the Stoke Campus, and are reserved for postgraduate and returning students.
The Shelton area of Stoke is where many students choose to live after their first year. The proximity of Shelton to the university and the large quantity of student accommodation has effectively turned it into a mini-student village. Alternatively, there are also the College Court Halls, which are privately run but operate in a similar way to university-run halls. They are situated opposite Hanley Park and are close to the university.
Organisation
The university restructured in 2021 and has now two academic schools, including University of Staffordshire London.- School of Digital,Technology, Innovation and Business
- School of Health, Education, Policing and Sciences
University of Staffordshire Services
The University and College Union claimed that this would create a "two tier workforce".
In March 2022, Almost three-quarters of staff backed strike action over the matter.