NOTTINGHAM TRENT UNIVERSITY

'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 new universities in the United Kingdom, with over 25,000 students.
The university ranks amongst the top in the country for graduate employment^[2] and has significant international recognition of its work in Art and Design, Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Drama, Dance and Performing Arts, English Language and Literature, Other Studies and Professions Allied to Medicine, French and Law .^[3]

Contents

History

Recent developments

Structure

Unusual courses

Campuses

Estate regeneration

People

Vice-Chancellors

Notable alumni

Nottingham Trent Students' Union

External links

References

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.

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.
The university's in-house MLE is also based around Microsoft technology, namely Exchange with university wide use of the VLP (Virtual Learning Portal) now in its fourth year (3.7 TB of materials served and 5.2 million logins during the 2005/06 academic year).

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. 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. It awards a number of degrees in Griffith College Dublin, Ireland which were recently recognised by King's Inns, Dublin as satisfying the requirements of entry to that institution.
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.
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. The NTIC is proving very successful.

Structure

With the arrival of Vice-Chancellor, Professor Neil T. Gorman, the university underwent a major change in organisation. It is now made of up four colleges, which bring together a number of schools.

★ 'College of Science and Technology'

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★ School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences

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★ School of Biomedical and Natural Sciences

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★ School of Computing and Informatics

★ 'College of Arts, Humanities and Education'

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★ School of Arts and Humanities

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★ School of Education

★ 'College of Art & Design and Built Environment'

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★ School of Art & Design

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★ School of Architecture, Design and the Built Environment

★ 'College of Business, Law & Social Sciences'

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★ Nottingham Business School

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★ Nottingham Law School

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★ School of Social Sciences

Unusual courses

★ Computer Science (Games Technology). The university also has a multi-media course which has a wider focus.

★ Social and Therapeutic Horticulture - at Brackenhurst.

Campuses

Nottingham Trent University has three campuses.(3)

★ The City Campus, located in Nottingham City Centre, around Shakespeare Street.

★ Clifton Campus, located in Clifton on the edge of Nottingham - home to the School of Biomedical and Natural Sciences, School of Education, School of Arts and Humanities, and the School of Computing and Informatics.

★ Brackenhurst Campus - home to the School of Animal, Rural and Environmental Sciences - has its own dairy farm and licensed bar, and is situated near Southwell.

Estate regeneration

2005 saw the start of a regeneration project to update much of the University's estate to meet the growing needs of the university. Improvements to date include:

★ A new £8,000,000 Computing & Informatics building on the Clifton Campus.

★ New CELS (Centre for Effective Learning in Science) 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, as well as a cafe.

★ The Chaucer Building, home of the Business School (again, on the City Campus), has also been fully refurbished, with new paintwork, signage, foyer/reception, lecture theatres and lifts.

★ New accommodation blocks on the Brackenhurst Campus.
Planning permission has been granted for the University's planned improvements of the Newton and Arkwright buildings. The £70 million scheme aims to link the existing Newton and Arkwright Buildings with a 'central court', and a new quadrangle. The new building will house new lecture theatres, as well as student services.^[4]
The 18-month planning phase involved discussions with the local council, English Heritage, and conservation groups.

People

Vice-Chancellors

★ 1992 - 2003 Professor Ray Cowell

★ 2003 - present day Professor Neil T. Gorman

Notable alumni

Main articles: List of Nottingham Trent University people


★ Hazel Blears - Labour Party MP for Salford and Chair of the Labour Party

★ Shane Cullinan - Composer

★ Jonathan Glazer - Award winning film and video director. Studied Theatre Design

★ Nick Easter - Professional rugby player

★ Steve Hogarth - Lead singer with the rock band Marillion

★ Paul Kaye - Dennis Pennis - Studied Theatre Design

★ Adam Leventhal - Broadcaster

★ Tim Noble and Sue Webster - Artists

★ Christian O'Connell - Broadcaster

★ Mike Parry - Broadcaster

★ Six By Seven - band

★ Simon Starling - Turner Prize winner, 2005

★ Simon Taylor-Davis - Guitarist in the Klaxons.

★ David Tress - Anglo-Welsh artist

★ Nick Williams - Ministerial advisor

★ Sam Rose - Singer of Brighton based band The G's

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's executive committee are 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, a shop, and a takeaway. 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, FlyFM, has won the BBC Best Student Show award. 97.5 KICK FM, the original Radio station, was created in 1996 and won three Radio 1 student radio awards.
Started in 2006, the Students' Union now has its own TV station - Trent TV. Programmes have included coverage of Freshers' Week, "Kinki" nights out at Nottingham's Ocean nightclub, video on a student demo over top-up fees held in London, comedies and documentaries.

External links

★ Nottingham Trent University – official website

★ Nottingham Trent Students Union – official website

References

1. Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2005/06
2. The Guardian Education Guide
3. RAE 2001 results; units mentioned have ratings of 5 and 4, and account for 26% of research-active staff
4. Nottingham Trent 'Grapevine' Magazine, Volume 22, Issue 3


★ New energy storage material discovered.

★ Trent's Betting Research Unit.

★ Bonington building reopened by designer Sir Paul Smith - 11 May 2006