Ulster University
Ulster University, legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public research university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It is the largest university in Northern Ireland and the second-largest university on the island of Ireland, after the federal National University of Ireland.
Established in 1865 as Magee College, the college took its modern form in 1984 after the merger of the New University of Ulster established in 1968, and Ulster Polytechnic, incorporating its four Northern Irish campuses under the University of Ulster banner. The university incorporated its four campuses in 1984; located in Belfast, Coleraine, Derry, and Jordanstown. The university has branch campuses in both London and Birmingham, and an extensive distance learning provision. The university rebranded as Ulster University in October 2014, including a revised visual identity, though its legal name remained unchanged.
The university is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association, Universities Ireland and Universities UK.
History
In 1963, the Government of Northern Ireland appointed a committee to review facilities for university and higher technical education in Northern Ireland, modeled on the committee on higher education in Great Britain chaired by Lionel Robbins which had reported that year. The Northern Ireland committee was chaired by Sir John Lockwood, Master of Birkbeck College, London. The Robbins Report had recommended a substantial expansion of higher education in Great Britain, partly triggered by the Anderson Report of 1960, which increased demand by instigating a student grants scheme. The Lockwood committee was expected to recommend a second university in Northern Ireland, after Queen's University Belfast.In Derry, groups led by the University for Derry Committee hoped that Magee University College would become the new university. Founded as a Presbyterian training college in 1865, Magee was associated with the Royal University of Ireland which existed between 1880 and 1908, and then with the University of Dublin and Queen's Belfast. However, the Lockwood Report criticised Magee's cramped site, complacent culture, and "eccentric" and "barely workable" administration; it found its claim to be based on historical entitlement rather than planning for future. Instead, the report recommended a greenfield university in Coleraine and closing Magee. This was controversial, with many nationalists suggesting the unionist O'Neill ministry favoured a unionist-majority area rather than nationalist-majority Derry. Disgruntlement fed the Northern Ireland civil rights movement which helped spark the Troubles. The "New University of Ulster" enrolled its first students at Coleraine in 1968. Magee was not closed but incorporated in the NUU, which obtained a charter in 1970.
Following a review of higher education in Northern Ireland under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Chilver in 1982, the Northern Ireland Office decided to merge NUU with another Lockwood Report foundation, the Ulster Polytechnic in Jordanstown. The NUU charter was surrendered and the merged University of Ulster got its charter on 1 October 1984. Later the Belfast School of Art and Design became part of the university.
Campus One, the Virtual Campus of the university, was launched on 8 October 2001 which successfully facilitated the provision of undergraduate and postgraduate level courses via distance learning. The university now simply refers to this as distance learning.
The university formerly had a laboratory named 'The University of Ulster Freshwater Laboratory' at Traad Point on the shore of Lough Neagh in Ballymaguigan. The Freshwater Laboratory, although not a campus, was a site of the university and consisted of on-campus accommodation, classrooms and testing labs. Courses offered were in agriculture, the wildlife of Lough Neagh, water testing and other aquatic courses. The site is now owned by Magherafelt District Council. By 2010, the area had become popular with the locals for camping, fishing and sailing.
Financial restructuring
In autumn 2011 Vice-Chancellor Barnett announced a programme of financial restructuring with the aim of reducing the number of staff employed by the university from 3,150 to 3,000. Staff at the university expressed concern about the proposed means and impact of the restructuring, citing "the use of the threat of compulsory redundancy to bully and intimidate staff" and the belief that the university was "abdicating its responsibilities to the wider community that funds it".In April 2012, the Ulster University branch of the university and College Union declared a formal dispute with university management over its implementation of the restructuring, stating that the recourse to "premature deadlines and unwarranted threats of compulsory redundancy" was "unreasonable as well as contrary to University policy and corporate goals".
The reasons for cuts are not, however, unique to Ulster University. First of all, there was the Great Recession that began in 2008 and engendered a change in government and a sharp reduction in public spending. Secondly, there were issues pertaining to tuition fees. As a result of political devolution in the United Kingdom, fees differ in the four countries that make up the union. For undergraduate tuition, they are currently in England but only in Northern Ireland. For a while, the low fees in Northern Ireland were hailed as a triumph for devolution and seemed a tool to facilitate access for less advantaged students. Universities in Northern Ireland fared reasonably well financially. However, as Pritchard and Slowey point out, if the government does not make up the shortfall, low fees left Northern Ireland universities at a disadvantage compared to their English counterparts.
In 2015, the UK Government reduced the funding allocation for Higher Education Institutions by 8.2%. Both Northern Ireland universities had to make cuts. Queen's University announced immediate job cuts of 236 and student number reductions of ca. 290. Ulster also announced its intention of cutting over 200 jobs and 250 student places in 2015–16.
On 20 June 2023, the Government of Ireland announced that it was providing approximately million in funding to Ulster University.
Campuses
An online distance learning provision offers Ulster University courses globally. The university was among the first Universities to offer degree level programs through its previous "Campus One" program and was a pioneer in the introduction of online degree level courses in Biomedical Sciences. The university was subsequently selected by the European Commission to deliver the world's first Higher Educational Programme in Hydrogen Safety Engineering.Belfast
Ulster University's Belfast campus is in the city's Cathedral Quarter, which is the city's artistic and cultural centre. Although traditionally associated with art and home to the university's School of Art, originally inaugurated as the Belfast School of Art and Design in 1849, the campus has a range of subjects including architecture, hospitality, event management, photography and digital animation. The award-winning Law Clinic is based at the Belfast campus, offering free legal advice on social security and employment law.Ulster University has been expanding and developing the Belfast campus since 2009 as part of one of Northern Ireland's largest-ever urban developments. The first phase of this development opened in 2015 and completion of the project was due in 2019. In September 2021 the first students were welcomed to the new campus. The fully completed campus began accepting students starting in the 2022/23 academic year. In 2024, 15,000 students and staff are based in the city centre.
Coleraine
is on the banks of the River Bann with views to the North Coast and County Donegal hills. Subjects taught at Coleraine include biomedical sciences, environmental science and geography, pharmacy, psychology, the humanities, film and journalism, travel and tourism as well as teacher training.A major development at Coleraine was the introduction of the degree programme in biomedical sciences in 1980. This subject area grew and was ranked first in the UK in three successive Research Assessment Exercises. It also spawned the development of related subject areas including human nutrition, radiography, clinical science, optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, pharmacology and stratified medicine.
In 2002, million was awarded under the Support Programme for University Research to establish the Centre for Molecular Biosciences at Coleraine.
The Coleraine campus now hosts a number of courses which were previously held at the School of Hotel, Leisure and Tourism in Portrush. This Portrush site closed in 2008, with courses relocated to the Coleraine and the newly developed Belfast campuses.
In 2009, the university launched a new Master of Pharmacy course at Coleraine.
In July 2011, in cooperation with Zhejiang University of Media and Communications, 'The Confucius Institute at Ulster University' was developed. The Confucius Institute is part of a network of 322 institutes in over 50 countries which promote and teach Chinese language and culture and facilitate cultural exchanges aimed at fostering trade links with China.
In spring 2015, a new million teaching block was completed at the Coleraine Campus. Later in 2015, a new Faculty of Arts building was opened following a million investment. It is now home to a digital media archive, updated media facilities, including radio and television studios, and a postgraduate research centre as well as office and administration accommodation.