Harper Adams University College
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Harper Adams University Collage | |
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| Motto: | Spirit, plant the seed |
| Established: | 1901 (as Harper Adams Agricultural College) |
| Type: | Public |
| Director: | Professor Wynne Jones |
| Students: | 2755[1] |
| Undergraduates: | 2590[1] |
| Postgraduates: | 2695[1] |
| Other students: | 80 FE[1] |
| Location: | Edgmond, Shropshire, England  |
| Campus: | Edgmond |
| Colours: | Blue and gold |
| Website: | http://www.harper-adams.ac.uk |
Harper Adams University College is a higher education institution located near Newport in Edgmond, Shropshire, UK. In terms of the provision of courses relating to the land-based sector, it is the largest provider by student numbers in the UK and is one of only three remaining institutions of its kind in England. The institution is thus of strategic importance to the UK's land-based economy and food supply, the development and security of the rural economy, and the stability of rural communities, by virtue of its specialist graduates working in and sustaining rural enterprise.
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[edit] History
Thomas Harper Adams was a wealthy Shropshire gentleman farmer. On his death in 1892 he bequeathed his considerable estate 'for the purpose of teaching practical and theoretical agriculture'. The marriage of the developing science of agriculture to the practice of farming was seen by an increasing number of people as the only solution to the agricultural depression. The 1890s saw substantial financial support for agricultural education and several colleges and university departments specializing in agriculture made their appearance at this time. Harper Adams Agricultural College, however, was the first institution of its kind to be financed by private bequest. The Foundation was set up with the sum of £45,496.
The College opened its doors to six students in April 1901. The College consisted of the state-of-the-art Main Building with the significant feature of its own farm on its doorstep, 178 acres of Harper Adams land, along with the family farmhouse, Ancellor House. In these early years the College, under the dedicated principalship of Hedworth Foulkes (1901-22), offered certificate courses very much of a practical nature. A College Diploma of a more scientific nature was also on offer, but the National Diploma in Agriculture had less appeal, being considered by many as far too theoretical. Although the College sought to educate the sons of the smaller and tenant farmer groups, students tended to come from the wealthier farming and professional backgrounds. Only men were admitted.
Harper Adams remained open throughout the First World War, fulfilling important duties such as the training of disabled soldiers, primarily in poultry husbandry. A specialist department had been created in 1909 and the egg laying trials, which started in 1912, earned the College a wide following. In April 1915 the College was significantly the first institution to provide courses for women in wartime farm work. In 1916, for the first time women enrolled at Harper Adams on full-time courses and were to remain until after the Second World War when priority of places went to discharged men. Then, for a twenty-five year period women were only admitted to study poultry husbandry. The College was also instrumental in providing a wide range of wartime services, such as courses in tractor driving.
The College was understaffed and overworked throughout the war and with the influx of large numbers of ex-servicemen at the end of the war, organization began to break down. Matters grew worse with low staff morale, the declining health of Principal Hedworth Foulkes, poor facilities and chronic financial problems. Harper Adams was within a whisker of closure in 1922.
The fortunes of the College struggled to revive amid the agricultural depression of the 1920s and 1930s, despite the sterling work of Principal Crowther (1922-1944). Student numbers dipped dangerously low, with just forty-eight students in 1925-26. The difficulties facing farming at this time did, however, strengthen support for the Advisory Services and the number of advisers at the College and the range of work that they undertook expanded dramatically. The College earned an excellent reputation in the areas of sugar beet and soil fertility and for a time provided the facilities for Bobby Boutflour's work with Friesian cows on diet and milk production. By the late 1930s the College was bursting at the seams, with every available space utilized. Restricted finances had resulted in little expansion since the early 1920s.
The other area for growth was poultry husbandry. The College had been instrumental in encouraging national developments, with the establishment of the National Poultry Council in 1920. This in turn resulted in the creation of the National Institute of Poultry Husbandry, the leading section concerned with education, being opened at the College in 1926. From the 1920s the NIPH had a high profile in areas of research and teaching, Poultry student numbers in the mid-1960s represented a third of total student numbers. Henceforth in-house training by poultry firms, fewer requirements for employment as poultry units took to factory lines and a poor image for the Poultry Industry saw a dramatic decline in recruitment. Poultry teaching was transferred to the Animal Department in 1991.
Despite initial fears of enforced closure and a temporary invasion of the Women's Land Army, the College remained open for both agricultural and poultry courses throughout the Second World War. By 1943-44 the College had run into problems of over demand. Strict rules as regards deferment led to a general raising of entry requirements and a subsequent demand for higher qualifications. Larger numbers of students enrolled on diploma and degree courses. At the close of the war the appearance of the Loveday Report led to a clear stratification being given to agricultural education. Henceforth the more practical one-year certificate was dropped and courses concentrated on diploma work, both College and National.
The post war years were the period of Principal Bill Price (1946-1962). They saw a steady expansion in student numbers. In 1956-57 numbers reached 222. In the late 1940s and early 1950s a thorough modernization programme took place. The most notable event was the opening of Jubilee Hostel in 1951. The Advisory Services had left in 1946, but, research, essentially applied, was carried out in the areas of pigs and poultry, earning the College the nickname 'The Eggs and Bacon College'. The Pig Feeding Experimental Station had been established at the College in 1926. These were seen by many as the golden years of the College, before tighter government control and expansion in buildings and numbers weakened a sense of intimacy.
The most significant changes yet witnessed at the College took place in the 1960s, under the principalship of Reginald Kenney (1962-77). A massive influx of money in the late 1950s led to the opening of the Queen Mother Hall and Bradford and Ward Halls in the early 1960s, expanding the site for the first time across the Caynton Road. Within years, New Boughey Hall, a modern teaching block with library, and a student union building followed. In 1964 responsibility for funding the College passed from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Department of Education and Science, bringing with it tighter financial control. The College was being drawn into a more rigidly structured national plan. Government concern to expand opportunities in Higher Education and to raise the standard of national qualifications in agricultural education led to the introduction of the Higher National Diploma with its sandwich period. The first students enrolled for the HND in 1969. Enrolments for the NDA ceased two years later. Significantly, women were among entrants for the HND. At the same time the College moved into post-diploma teaching with the introduction of courses such as the Post-Diploma in Agricultural Marketing and Business Administration. Consequently, in 1969-70 student numbers rose for the first time over 300.
Further re-organisation took place under Principal Tony Harris (1977-94). The Government sought expansion in Higher Education, but at the same time imposed considerable financial restraint. Government initiatives sought to make education institutes more cost-effective and to promote the generation of income, creating the atmosphere of a corporate body in place of the financial dependency of the grants system. In order to spread overheads there was the recognition that the College had to get larger, but this was against a background of falling numbers of eighteen-year olds. There was enormous pressure on smaller colleges to amalgamate, but Harper Adams remained independent. By 1991-92 student numbers had passed the thousand mark.
Much of Harper Adams' success was due to diversification in course provision. The College, for example, recognized the move towards the multi-purpose countryside and introduced subjects such as rural enterprise and land management. Nevertheless, agriculture remained at the core. Similarly, the College widened the qualifications on offer, notably with the introduction of degree teaching in 1981. In 1996 Harper Adams was awarded its own degree awarding powers for its taught courses. Research was also a real growth area and increasingly, it was undertaken by postgraduate students. The first award of a Ph.D. to a student at Harper Adams was in 1989. Efforts were also made to widen access to Higher Education by means of continuing education and part-time studies. Increasingly, there was short course provision.
Wynne Jones as Principal has the task of steering the College in the twenty-first century. Student numbers now stand at a healthy 2,200, despite the problem of the decline in the number of students entering agriculture. The trend towards public accountability and financial efficiency continues unabated. As for its educational role, new ideas are constantly being tried and the perimeters of experience being stretched. Harper Adams as a consequence evolves along with the industry that it serves. There is an ever widening portfolio of courses. The demand for higher qualifications grows unabated, with by 1997 sixty-six percent of the total student population studying for degrees. New ventures include a raft of masters programmes. Research, as before, remains essential to the establishment of a Higher Education culture. Since 1998 the College has been officially recognised as Harper Adams University College.
At the end of 2001, Harper Adams' submission to the Research Assessment Exercise received a 3b grading, confirming that more than half of the staff who took part are undertaking research work deemed to be of national excellence and importance.
In the last few years the College has invested significantly in its learning and teaching resources. The new Bamford Library Building opened in the 2003/04 academic year. The building, funded in part by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, JCB Ltd, the Parker Bequest and the Frank Parkinson Agricultural Trust reconfirmed Harper Adams' commitment to providing the best possible learning environment for its students and the rural industries and communities it serves.
In June 2004, HRH The Princess Royal visited the College to open newly refurbished teaching accommodation in the Foulkes-Crowther Building. The College has also invested in new sports facilities for students and in new academic facilities to take forward its research and reach-out programmes. Also in June, the College was awarded significant funding totalling over £2.1m from the Higher Education Innovation Fund to develop its work with rural businesses. The award included a substantial element for the creation of one of only 22 centres of knowledge exchange activity. The College will lead a consortium of 14 higher education institutions in the National Rural Knowledge Exchange, which will be formally launched in the 2004/05 academic year.
[edit] Courses
Undergraduate courses are offered in the fields of agriculture, animal health and veterinary nursing, agricultural engineering and off-road vehicle design, estate and countryside management, tourism, agri-food marketing and business management, fresh produce management, food studies and food retail management. The University College also offers a range of masters courses (MSc and MBA) and research opportunities at PhD and post-doctoral levels. The Times Good University Guide 2005 awarded Harper Adams University College 23 out of 24 points for teaching quality.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Harper Adams University College homepage
- Harper Adams University College Students' Union homepage
- Harper Adams University College MBA programme
- Harper Adams University College Specialist Food Industry undergraduate courses
- WiRE (Women in Rural Enterprise) is a network organisation, within the Countryside Development Unit, Harper Adams, set up to help rural businesses succeed.
