Keele University
Motto	Thanke God for All
Established	1949 (as University College of North Staffordshire); university status granted in 1962
Type	Public
Chancellor	Prof Sir David Weatherall
Vice-Chancellor	Prof Janet Finch
Visitor	The Lord President of the Council ex officio
Faculty	403
Students	12,720 [1]
Undergraduates	9,460 [1]
Postgraduates	3,260 [1]
Location	Keele, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, United Kingdom
Campus	Rural
Website	http://www.keele.ac.uk/

Keele University is a research-intensive campus university located near Newcastle-under-Lyme in Staffordshire, England. Founded in 1949 as an experimental college dedicated to a broad curriculum and interdisciplinary study,^[2] Keele is most notable for pioneering the dual honours degree in Britain.^[3] The University occupies a 617 acre (2.5 km²) rural campus close to the village of Keele and houses a Science Park^[4] and a conference centre.^[5] The University's School of Medicine and School of Nursing and Midwifery operate clinical courses from a separate campus at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire in Hartshill, Stoke-on-Trent.

History

Keele university is walkable distance from Cannock. (according to a cannock resident. Keele University was established in 1949 as the University College of North Staffordshire, at the initiative of A. D. Lindsay, then Master of Balliol College, Oxford. Lindsay was a strong advocate of working-class adult education,^[6] who had first suggested a "people's university" in an address to the North Staffordshire Workers' Educational Association in 1925.^[7]

On 13th March 1946, Lindsay wrote to Sir Walter Moberly, chair of the University Grants Committee (UGC), suggesting the establishment of a college “on new lines”.^[8] Established practice was for new colleges to be launched without degree-awarding powers, instead taking external degrees of the University of London. Crucially, Lindsay wanted to “get rid of the London external degree”, instead forming a college with the authority from the start to set its own syllabus, perhaps acting under the sponsorship of an established university. Lindsay wrote also to the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford, tentatively requesting just such sponsorship.^[8]

An exploratory committee was established by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, chaired by Lindsay and supported by Alderman Thomas Horwood, Vicar of Etruria and leader of the Labour group on the City Council.^[9] Having secured public funding from the UGC in January 1948,^[10] the Committee acquired Keele Hall, a stately home on the outskirts of Newcastle-under-Lyme, from its owner, Ralph Sneyd.^[11] The Hall, ancestral residence of the Sneyd family, had previously been requisitioned by the War Office for military use during World War II, and was supplied with the bulk of the Sneyd estate and a number of prefabricated structures erected by the Army, for the sum of £31,000.^[11]

Growing steadily, the University College was promoted to university status in 1962,^[12] receiving a new Royal Charter in January of that year,^[13] and adopting the name The University of Keele. This remains the official name, although Keele University is now the name used by the University itself. In achieving University status, Keele became the second of the New Universities (after Sussex, Royal Charter 1961).

Since then, student numbers have swelled considerably. The University estimates that there are now upwards of 5,600 full-time students at Keele; 1,300 part-time students; and around 4,000 participants on professional and short courses.^[14] The University is committed to further growth,^[15] with the stated objective of increasing its numbers to 10,000 full-time students.^[14]

Campus

The university is located on a 617 acre (2.5 km²) estate. The campus is home to an increasing number of academic and residential buildings.

There are four halls of residence. Barnes, Lindsay (including The Oaks and Holly Cross) and Horwood are located on the main campus, while The Hawthorns is just outside the university gates in Keele village itself. Together, these halls provide accommodation for approximately 70% of the full-time students.^[14] Many staff are also resident on campus.

Other campus facilities include an astronomical observatory, an art gallery, an arboretum, a chapel, a mosque, and shops, cafes and places to eat and drink. Just outside the entrance to the University is Keele Golf Course and practice range.

The university has also built award-winning science and business parks and conference centres on the campus.

Recently, the university received planning permission to begin a building programme on a 70 acre portion of the campus. This will include a mixture of academic and residential buildings to accommodate the planned increase in student numbers.

Students' Union

Main article: Keele University Students' Union

Keele University Students' Union is active in organizing social activities throughout the year. The Student Union holds student social nights most nights, with the busiest being "Rewind" on a Wednesday (with a monthly "Flirt!" night) and "Reloaded" on a Friday. The Union has several bars - The Lounge, Sam's Bar, Barista and K2. Restaurants are Harveys Coffee Shop and The Kiln. The union formerly owned the Golfer's Arms, adjacent to the campus but this was finally sold to the local council at the end of 2005.

Concourse is the name of the student newspaper. It is issued biweekly.

There is also a very popular student radio station called Kube Radio, It broadcasts over the internet ^[16]

In the early 1990s the Keele Students Union RAG committee was instrumental in the formation of the "National Association of RAGs". This wider scope of activity lead to good natured rivalry with other RAG committees, especially Warwick and Cardiff.

Keele Rev is an active branch of the charity Revelation Rock-Gospel Choirs

Reputation and academic organisation

The University's distinctive profile^[17] reflects the aims of its founders: breadth of study and community atmosphere.^[18]

Breadth of study was guaranteed by the "pioneering"^[19] four-year dual-honours degree programmes initially offered by Keele. The University's curriculum required every student to study two "principal" subjects to honours level, as well as further "subsidiary" subjects, with an additional requirement that students should study at least one subject from each of the subject groupings of Arts, Sciences and Social Sciences.^[20] The cross-disciplinary requirement was reinforced by the Foundation Year, an innovation which meant that for the first year of the four-year programmes, all students would study a common course of interdisciplinary "foundation studies". In the words of the first UCNS Prospectus, the programme offered:

"...a broad education based upon an understanding of the heritage of civilisation, movements and conditions, and of the nature, methods and influence of the experimental sciences"^[21]

Standard three-year degrees were introduced in 1973^[22] and the number of students following the Foundation Year course have steadily dwindled since. The Foundation Year has never quite been formally discontinued, however, and remains an option for prospective students who qualify for entry into Higher Education, but lack subject-specific qualifications for specific degree programmes.^[23] By contrast, the Dual Honours system at Keele remains distinctive and popular, with almost 90 per cent of current undergraduates reading dual honours.^[24]

As an experimental community, Keele was initially founded as a "wholly residential"^[18] institution. Of the initial intake of 159 students in October 1950, 149 were resident on campus,^[25] and it was required of the first professors appointed that they should also be in residence.^[26] With the expansion of the University, total residency has long since been abandoned, but the proportion of students and staff resident on campus remains above average: 70 per cent of full-time students^[14] and "a significant proportion of staff"^[27] currently live in campus residences.

The University also has a reputation for political activism, especially left-wing radicalism,^[28] having been dubbed, in its early years, a "School for Socialists"^[29] and "The Kremlin on the Hill".^[30]

Teaching

The Times Good University Guide 2007
Institution Ranking:	52 of 109[31]
Best-ranked subjects:	American Studies (10th)[32] History (17th)[33] Anatomy and physiology (18th)[34] Social Policy (20th)[35]
Sunday Times University Guide 2006
Institution Ranking:	41 of 119[36]
National Student Survey 2006
Averaged satisfaction score:	4.0 (of a possible 5.0)[37]
Highest score:	Biology and related Sciences (4.4)[38]
Lowest score:	Computer Science (3.7)[39]

The Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) last conducted an institution-wide audit of Keele's teaching between 10 and 14 May 2004. The Agency reported "broad confidence" in the management of the University's teaching quality.^[40]

The QAA discontinued the "graded profile" method of individual subject review in 2001,^[41] At that time, the highest-graded areas of teaching at Keele were: American studies, education, philosophy, politics and international relations (scoring 24 out of a possible 24); economics and psychology (scoring 23); maths and statistics, physics and astrophysics, organismal biosciences, sociology (scoring 22); and management, nursing and midwifery, biochemistry and biomedical sciences (scoring 21).^[3]

Departments at Keele are organised into three faculties:

• The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences contains the Schools of
  • Criminology, Education, and Sociology & Social Work (Criminology, Education, Social Relations)
  • Economic & Management Studies (Economics, Health Planning and Management, Human Resource Management and Industrial Relations, Management)
  • Humanities (American studies, English, History, Languages, Culture and Creative Arts)
  • Law (Professional Ethics, Law)
  • Politics, International Relations & Philosophy.

• The Faculty of Natural Sciences contains the Schools of
  • Computing & Mathematics
  • Life Sciences
  • Physical & Geographical Sciences
  • Psychology

• The Faculty of Health contains the Schools of
  • Health & Rehabilitation (Physiotherapy)
  • Medicine
  • Pharmacy
  • Nursing & Midwifery

Research

In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, the research of one department (Law) was rated 5* and that of a further six departments (English, Mathematics (Applied), History, American Studies, the School of Politics, International Relations and the Environment ("SPIRE") and the Centre for Science and Technology in Medicine ("CSTM")) was rated 5. An interdepartmental submission to the Social Policy and Administration panel was also rated 5.

Research in psychology, biology, Russian, music, business and management studies and community-based clinical subjects was also highly rated in the RAE 2001.^[42]

Research activities are co-ordinated by a Graduate School and organised within seven Research Institutes:

• Research Institute for the Humanities
• Research Institute for Law, Politics and Justice
• Research Institute for Life Course Studies
• Research Institute for Public Policy and Management
• Research Institute for the Environment, Physical Sciences and Applied Mathematics (EPSAM)
• Research Institute for Science and Technology in Medicine
• Research Institute for Primary Care and Health Sciences

Since 2005, an Office of Research and Enterprise has managed Keele's "enterprise activities".

2007 Janet Finch Pay Rise Controversy

Early in 2007 it was announced that the Keele University Vice-Chancellor, Janet Finch, had received a pay rise of 31.7 per cent in the previous year. This took her annual salary to £212,000 which is greater than the salaries paid to the Vice-Chancellors of universities such as Cambridge and Warwick. ^[43]

The salary increase was ten times the pay rise given to lecturers in the same year which drew concern from lecturers' unions that staff workloads were not being accurately reflected by pay increases.

Keele University defended the pay rise citing recently successful university expansion projects. However, critics point out that despite the success of recent expansions, Keele University has suffered the fourth biggest drop in student applications of all UK universities. Students at the university have also claimed that Finch's 'success' is down to ruthless cutbacks rather than careful investment. ^[44]

Finch's pay will remain frozen until 2009.

Sport

Keele has a tradition of participation in many different sports, ranging from rugby to lacrosse, to dodgeball. Sports teams and issues raised are managed by the Athletic Union. The Leisure Centre is one of the largest dry leisure complexes in Staffordshire.^[45] The Centre boasts two national standard sports halls, a single court gymnasium, a fitness centre, dance studio and climbing wall. Outside there is an all weather floodlit astroturf pitch, tennis courts and extensive playing fields. It is also the first University Centre in the UK to offer a full "Kinesis" gym facility.^[46]

People

List of University officers

Principals and Vice-Chancellors

• Lord Lindsay of Birker (1949-52)
• Sir John Lennard-Jones (1953-54)
• Sir George Barnes (1956-60)
• Dr H. M. Taylor (1961-67)
• Professor W. A. Campbell Stewart (1967-79)
• Dr D. Harrison (1979-84)
• Professor Sir Brian Fender (1985-95)
• Professor Janet Finch (since 1995)

Presidents and Chancellors

• The Earl of Harrowby (1949-55)
• HRH Princess Margaret (1956-86)
• Lord Moser (1986-2002)
• Professor Sir David Weatherall (since 2002)

Notable academics

• Martin Dent - Social campaigner and co-founder of Jubilee 2000
• Samuel Edward Finer - Political scientist
• Donald Nicholl - Historian and theologian
• Ronald Frankenberg - Anthropologist
• Roy Fisher - British poet and jazz pianist
• Samuel Finer - Political scientist
• Antony Flew - British philosopher
• Richard Hays - Physician
• Peter Jackson - Medieval historian
• Eva Kolinsky - Germanist
• Eugene Lambert - Russianist
• Johanna Laybourne-Parry - Biologist
• Roy McWeeny - Physicist
• Nicholas O'Shaughnessy - Political commentator and author
• Dan Plesch - Disarmament activist
• David Southall - Paediatrician
• Gill Pearce - Physiologist
• John Sloboda - Psychologist
• Richard Swinburne - Philosopher
• Patrick Thornberry - Political scientist
• Charles Townshend - Historian
• Paul Willis - Cultural theorist
• Kwasi Wiredu - African philosopher
• Margaret Canovan - Political theorist

Notable alumni

Academics

• Stan Beckensall - Prehistoric rock art expert
• Sandra Dawson - Organizational theorist
• Sam Nolutshungu - Political scientist
• Joan Stringer - Management theorist

Arts and Media

• Jo Beverley (BA History and American Studies, 1970) - Romantic novelist
• Bob Dickinson - Composer
• Tony Elliott - (French) founder and owner of Time Out
• Jack Emery (BA English and History, 1967) - Television producer
• Jem Finer (BA Computer Science and Sociology & Social Anthropology, 1977) - member of The Pogues
• Robert Henderson (BA History and Politics, 1973) - Writer
• Marina Lewycka (BA Philosophy and English, 1968)- Author
• Keith Ovenden - Writer
• David Pownall (BA English and History, 1960; DLitt, 2000) - Writer
• Alistair Wisker (MA English) - Writer
• James Hart - sports journalist and author
• Mark Hetherington (LLB Law and English Literature) - Artist

Politics

• Don Foster (BSc Physics and Psychology) - Liberal Democrat MP
• John Golding - Labour MP and trade union leader
• Paul Clark (BA Economics and Politics) - Labour MP
• Eric Joyce - Labour MP
• Alun Michael (BA English and Philosophy, 1966) - Labour MP
• Adelaide Tambo - South African politician
• John Taylor, Baron Taylor of Warwick - British politician, first black Conservative member of the House of Lords
• Lynda Waltho - Labour MP

Public service

• Lord Melchett (MA Criminology) - Former Executive Director of Greenpeace
• Richard Mottram (BA Economics/History/Politics, 1968) - UK government Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator, and chair of the UK Joint Intelligence Committee)
• Nick Partridge - AIDS awareness campaigner

Other

• Kojo Annan (BA Economics and Politics, 1995) - Son of Kofi Annan, Former General Secretary of the UN.
• Jonathan Dollimore - Cultural and literary theorist
• The Right Reverend Jonathan Gledhill (BA French and German, 1972) - Bishop of Lichfield
• Michael Mansfield (BA Philosophy and History, 1964; LLD, 1995) - Barrister

Interesting facts and trivia

• In 1998 and 1999 there was some controversy over the decision by University authorities to sell the Turner Collection, a valuable collection of mathematical printed books including some which had belonged to Isaac Newton, in order to fund major improvements to the University Library. The collection also included first printed editions of Euclid in most of the major European languages. Senior University officials authorised the sale of the collection to a private buyer, with no guarantee that it would remain intact or within the UK. Although legally permissible, the sale was unpopular among the academic community and the controversy was fuelled by prolonged negative press coverage suggesting that the £1m sale price was too low and that the collection was certain to be broken up.

• The cochlear implant was developed in the Department of Communication and Neuroscience at Keele.

• Many of the exterior shots for the BBC TV series "A Very Peculiar Practice" were filmed at University of Keele.

• Keele University was the subject of a 1980s BBC documentary on student debt entitled A Nightmare on Keele Hill. This name was used in 1991 to 1993 by the Students Union Entertainment Committee as the name for the Friday night disco (previously called the "Mega").

• Keele University is built over the mine workings of Silverdale colliery.
• Barnes Hall has no M block (it has A-L and N-W). This coupled with the large clear area adjacent to L block and the fact that the university is built over mine shafts led to an urban legend that the block sank into the ground due to a collapse of a mine tunnel. This is only partially true - the block became unsafe due to subsidence and was demolished.

• Keele was the first UK University to sell the rental income from its student accommodation to a private company for a limited time in order to raise short-term funds.

• The postmodern sculpture situated outside Keele's Library was stolen by a visiting sports team only to be later retrieved and securely fitted. In 2005 the same statue was damaged in protest of the University's policy of fining regulations against its undergraduate students.

• In 2007, Keele University students were responsible for getting Keele featured as a location on the UK 'Here and Now' version of the traditional board game Monopoly. People in the UK had an opportunity to vote for which places should make the board, and Keele was the highest "wild-card" location which made it on. It even finished higher on the board than London, and takes the place of "Fleet Street" in the game ^[47].

Notes

References

• Harrison, Jane; Thorley, Helena (2006-03-14). love:keele – undergraduate 2007. Undergraduate Prospectus 2007. Keele University. Retrieved on 2007-03-07.
• Kolbert, John Murray (2000-11-19). Keele: the first fifty years – a Portrait of the University 1950-2000. Keele, Staffordshire: Melandrium Books. ISBN 1-85856-238-4. 
• The British Society for the History of Mathematics' page opposing the sale of the Turner Collection in 1998

External links

• Keele University website
• Guardian University Guide: Keele University
• Expansion plan
• Tales from the Barricades

• Maps and aerial photos for 53°00′″N 2°′″W / 53.003, -2.273Coordinates: 53°00′″N 2°′″W / 53.003, -2.273
  • Maps from Google Maps, Live Search Maps, WikiMapia, Yahoo! Maps, or MapQuest
  • Topographic maps from TopoZone
  • Landuse survey from GlobalGuide

Keele University
About	Main Article • Academic dress • Kube Radio • Students' Union • Halls of Residence • Keele University Medical School
People	Chancellor: David Weatherall • Vice-Chancellor: Janet Finch • Alumni • Academics
Commercial operations	Science Park • Conference and Facilities Management
Places	Keele • Newcastle-under-Lyme • Staffordshire

Universities in the United Kingdom
England	Anglia Ruskin · University of the Arts · Aston · Bath · Bath Spa · Bedfordshire · Birmingham · Birmingham City (Birmingham Conservatoire) · Bolton · Bournemouth · Bradford · Brighton · Bristol · Brunel · Buckingham · Cambridge  · Canterbury Christ Church · Central Lancashire · Chester · Chichester · City · Coventry · Cranfield · Cumbria · De Montfort · Derby · Durham · East Anglia · East London · Edge Hill · Essex · Exeter · Gloucestershire · Greenwich · Hertfordshire · Huddersfield · Hull · Imperial · Kent · Keele · Kingston · Lancaster · Leeds · Leeds Metropolitan · Leicester · Lincoln · Liverpool · Liverpool Hope · Liverpool John Moores · London (Birkbeck · Central School of Speech and Drama · Courtauld Institute of Art · Goldsmiths · Heythrop · Institute of Cancer Research · Institute of Education · King's · London Business School · LSE · LSHTM · Queen Mary · Royal Academy of Music · Royal Holloway · Royal Veterinary College · St George's · SOAS · School of Pharmacy · UCL) · London Metropolitan · London South Bank · Loughborough · Manchester · Manchester Metropolitan · Middlesex · Newcastle · Northampton · Northumbria · Nottingham · Nottingham Trent · Oxford · Oxford Brookes · Plymouth · Portsmouth · Reading · Roehampton · Royal College of Art · Salford · Sheffield · Sheffield Hallam · Southampton · Southampton Solent · Staffordshire · Surrey · Sunderland · Sussex · Teesside · Thames Valley · Warwick · UWE · Westminster · Winchester · Wolverhampton · Worcester · York · York St John
Scotland	Aberdeen · Abertay · Dundee · Edinburgh · Glasgow · Glasgow Caledonian · Heriot-Watt · Napier · Paisley · Queen Margaret · Robert Gordon · St Andrews · Stirling · Strathclyde
Wales	Aberystwyth · Bangor · Cardiff · Glamorgan · Lampeter · Newport · Swansea · Trinity · UWIC · Wales
Northern Ireland	Queen's · Ulster
Non−geographic	Open University

Donate to Wikimedia