University of Essex

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University of Essex
Motto:	Thought the harder, heart the keener.
Established:	1964 (Royal Charter 1965)
Type:	Public
Chancellor:	Lord Phillips of Sudbury OBE
Vice-Chancellor:	Professor Colin Riordan[1]
Staff:	410 academic/teaching 110 research 220 other academic 680 other
Students:	11,660[2]
Undergraduates:	8,355[2]
Postgraduates:	3,305[2]
Location:	Colchester, Essex, UK
Campus:	Wivenhoe Park - Over 200 acres (809km²)
Colours:	Red
Affiliations:	1994 Group Universities UK
Website:	http://www.essex.ac.uk/

The University of Essex is a British plate glass university. It received its Royal Charter in 1965. The University's main campus is located at Wivenhoe Park on the outskirts of Colchester in the English county of Essex, less than a mile from the town of Wivenhoe. Apart from the Wivenhoe Park campus, there are campuses in Southend, Loughton (home of the East 15 Acting School) and Writtle (the former Essex Institute of Agriculture). The University's motto, Thought the harder, heart the keener, is adapted from the East Saxon poem The Battle of Maldon.

[edit] History

[edit] Founding

In July 1959, Essex County Council accepted a proposal from Alderman Charles (later Lord) Leatherland that a University be established in the county. A University Promotion Committee was formed chaired by Lord Lieutenant of Essex, Sir John Ruggles-Brise, which submitted a formal application to the University Grants Committee requesting that a University of Essex should be established. Initial reports suggested that the Promotion Committee had recommended Hylands Park in Chelmsford as the site for the new University, however in May 1961, the foundation of the University was announced in the House of Commons with Colchester as the preferred location and in December of the same year, Wivenhoe Park was selected and acquired for the new university. In July 1962, Dr Albert Sloman, MA, DPhil, Gilmour Professor of Spanish and Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Liverpool, was appointed as Vice-Chancellor and the Rt. Hon. R A (later Lord) Butler, CH, MP, was invited to be Chancellor, with Mr A Rowland-Jones appointed as Registrar.

The first Professors were appointed in May 1963: Alan Gibson in Physics, Peter Townsend in Sociology, Donald Davie in Literature, Richard Lipsey in Economics, Ian Proudman in Mathematics, Jean Blondel in Government, and John Bradley in Chemistry. With its first staff appointed, a development plan for the university was published and a £1million Appeal Fund was launched, and within six months the Appeal Fund had exceeded its £1million target with The Queen Mother and Sir Winston Churchill among contributors, while work began on clearing the site for building work. In Autumn 1963, red was chosen as the University colour and the first prospectus was prepared and work began on the first permanent buildings; the science block and boiler room next to Wivenhoe House. In January 1964, Hardy Amies designed the university's academic robes and temporary teaching huts had to be erected close to Wivenhoe House, while in March Sir John Ruggles-Brise was appointed the first Pro-Chancellor and Alderman Leatherland the first Treasurer of the University. Two months later the university's Armorial Bearings were published, with the motto "Thought the harder, heart the keener".

[edit] Arrival of students

In October 1964, the first 122 students arrived with 28 teaching staff in three schools: Comparative Studies, Physical Sciences and Social Studies. Departments of Chemistry, Physics, Government, Sociology, Literature, Mathematics and Economics open along with the Language Centre (later the Department of Language and Linguistics) and the Computing Centre (later the Department of Computer Science) with Denis Mesure elected as the first President of the Students' Council. Work started on the first residential tower, Rayleigh in December with The Queen approving the grant of Charter to take effect from 11 January, 1965.

A view from one of the North Towers

1965 brought 399 students enrolling for the start of the new academic year; the number of academic staff more than doubled to 61; and the first degrees, five MSc and five MA degrees were awarded. The Physics building opened and the first six floors of Rayleigh tower were ready for occupation, while work began on the Albert Sloman Library. The first female lecturer was appointed: Dr D E Smith in the Department of Sociology. In December, University Court met for the first time with around 500 members. Six months later, work started on the Lecture Theatre Building, plus the 'Topping out' of Keynes tower. In October 1966, the Hexagon Restaurant and General Store opened, with the number of students reaching 750. Lord Butler was installed as Chancellor at a ceremony held in Colchester's Moot Hall in 1967 and the first Honorary Degrees were presented, the University's Mace was carried for the first time, while the first annual Degree Congregation saw 135 degrees conferred in July. At the start of the next academic year, the departments of Computer Science and Electronic Systems Engineering accepted their first students, the SSRC Data Bank (later renamed the UK Data Archive) was established and the Lecture Theatre Building and Library opened along with the first phase of the Social and Comparative Studies building, while work proceeded on Tawney and William Morris residential towers.

One of the lakes

[edit] Departments and research centres

The University is organised into four faculties, comprising 18 schools and departments, spanning the Humanities, Law and Management, Social Sciences and Science and Engineering. Its departments of Economics, Government (Political Science), Sociology and Language and Linguistics are particularly well-known and are among the best in Europe. Essex's research in politics, economics and sociology received top (5*) ratings in the UK government's 2001 Research Assessment Exercise.^[3]

The Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) is a leading research centre for the analysis of panel data in Economics and Sociology. It opened in 1989 as the ESRC Research Centre on Micro-Social Change in Britain.

Broadening the University's Social Scientific approach is Chimera - the Institute for Social and Technical Research that specialises in analysing the relationship between technology and society. With strong industrial links to British Telecom, Kodak and Sun Microsystems and responding to the themes of ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence is the institute's Digital Lifestyles Centre and it's research facility the iSpace, which provides a flexible testbed for future digital-home technology. Also within Chimera is the Technology and Social Change Centre (TaSC). With research funded by the ESRC, the European Commission, UK Government Departments and industrial partners such as Intel, TaSC applies advanced quantitative and qualitative methods including spatial microsimulation, regression analysis and focus group work, to understand how technology interacts with a range of social, political and economic outcomes.

The Centre for Computational Finance and Economic Agents (CCFEA) studies evolutionary methods to simulate markets with artificially intelligent agents.

In September 2000 the East 15 Acting School became part of the University. The School is based in Loughton in southwest Essex and will shortly establish a branch in Southend.

The University has a number of partner institutions: Colchester Institute, South East Essex College (in Southend), Writtle College (near Chelmsford), the Tavistock and Portman Trust (in London) and Insearch. Its largest partner is University Campus Suffolk, a joint venture with the University of East Anglia, and its latest partner is Kaplan Open Learning delivering on-line foundation degrees.

[edit] Reputation

Essex is among the smallest multi-faculty universities in Britain and is a member of the 1994 Group. Despite its size Essex has developed an international reputation for teaching and research. The annual Summer School in Social Science Data Analysis and Collection , now approaching its 41st year, attracts faculty and students from all over the world as does the world renowned human rights centre celebrating its 25th year.

The university was known as a left-wing hotbed with respect to faculty and students, but today hardly anything of this heritage remains.

The University uniquely in the UK achieved top 5* rankings in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) for the three core social science disciplines - economics, government and sociology - with government and sociology being ranked at this level for the second consecutive time.^[4]

In 2005 the University won the Queen's Award for Enterprise for its contribution to the UK economy.

According to an annual Times Higher-QS world ranking exercise, Essex University is ranked in the worlds top-300 universities, placed 272 (2007 rankings).

A view across the lakes

[edit] Wivenhoe Park campus

The main (Colchester) campus, Wivenhoe Park, which was once painted by famous landscape painter John Constable, with its concrete architecture is typical of England's 60s' universities and quite similar to that of the University of East Anglia. Wivenhoe Park houses the main 1960's buildings along with an 18th century house that also features in Constable's painting. Wivenhoe House is now operated as a hotel and conference centre, forming one of the facilities marketed under the Venue Essex banner.

There are 2 small lakes on campus (in the middle of one is the Vice-Chancellor's House).

The architect of the University of Essex campus took the Tuscan town of San Gimignano with its squares and towers as an inspiration (the University has six residential towers mainly for undergraduates, but the original plan was to build 29). As well as the towers, South Courts and the University Quays residences provide enough space to guarantee every first year a place on campus as well as all overseas students.

[edit] Student body

The University has a very large population of international students, with around 30% being international.

[edit] Student organisations

The University of Essex Students' Union is well regarded nationally. It has a very successful volunteering programme that is a national award winner. It has been successful in expanding services offered including considerable expansion and relocation of its Advice Centre. The Students' Union runs the majority of commercial services on campus. Its shops stock a great deal of imported food products, reflecting the University's international community. It has many licensed venues, the primary venues being the Student Union Bar and the Top Bar. There are club-style venues: Mondo, Level 2, and the newly refurbished Sub Zero (formerly the Underground), which have hosted many bands and top name DJ's, including AC/DC, The Kinks, The Pretenders supported by the then little known UB40, Iggy Pop and the Sugababes, whilst in recent times Maxïmo Park, Editors, The Paddingtons, The Subways, Babyshambles, Boy Kill Boy and The Young Knives, Pendulum, and DJ Paul Oakenfold continue its reputation. Sub Zero was voted best student union venue upon its refurbishment and is one of the biggest in the country holding over 1,200.

The Union is known for running a host of extremely successful sports clubs and societies.

Near the Psychology building in winter.

The student newspaper is The Rabbit, named after the many rabbits which can be seen on campus. It had been suggested that the editing of The Habbit had previously been somewhat prejudiced due to its affiliation with the Students' Union Executive Committee. As of the academic year 2006-2007, it is now loosely autonomous from the Students' Union and is a no more balanced and critical newspaper as a result.^{[neutrality disputed]}

The student radio station is called RED AM1404, broadcasting on 1404AM and over the Internet, and was the second student radio station in the UK. Established in 1971 it was originally called URE (University Radio Essex). There is also a student-run TV production company called R:TV.

The Students' Union is run by an Executive Committee of 5 full time officers and 7 part-time officers. The Students' Union is a member of the National Union of Students and many of its members are involved.

The University of Essex provides a lot of support for its students, such as the advice centre, the health centre, Student Support and Nightline.

[edit] Sports

The University has a wide range of sports clubs, including many unusual sports such as disc golf and American Football. Many of the University's Sports Clubs achieve national success. In the 2007-08 season the University of Essex Rugby Football Club won the BUSA Vase defeating Robert Gordon University 15-10 in the final as well as achieving promotion. The University's Basketball and Netball clubs also reached BUSA finals in the 2007-08 season. The University boasts a well-equipped sports centre, including a fitness suite, squash courts, netball and tennis courts and an 8 m climbing wall used by the University of Essex Mountaineering Club. The University has its own clubhouse and boat-park at nearby Brightlingsea.

[edit] 40th anniversary in 2004 and future

A view of University Quays (student residence).

On 25 November 2004, Her Majesty the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh visited the University as part of its 40th anniversary celebrations (1964–2004). The University's first student, John M. Dowden, who started postgraduate research on fluid dynamics at the age of 23 in 1964, is today a professor of mathematics and was the head of the University's mathematics department until his retirement from the post in 2005.

The University is still expanding. Physically, the new Network Centre opened in May 2004 housing the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering and parts of the Department of Computer Science (who merged in 2007 to create Computer and Electronic Systems). The University Quays, a student accommodation complex housing 770 students, opened in September 2003. A 1,000 seat Lecture Hall, capable of being divided into 2x500 seat lecture theatres, opened in 2006. Current developments include the University of Essex Southend development, and at Wivenhoe Park, a new Social Science Research Centre is nearing completion, to house the University's Institute of Social and Economic Research and the UK Data Archive. A new building for the School of Health and Human Sciences will soon get underway, as will an extension for the Psychology department. Planning permission for a new Research Park was granted in June 2006 and work is expected to commence on this multi-phase project during 2007. The University is also partner in University Campus Suffolk, jointly with the University of East Anglia, and has recently become the validating partner for degrees offered by the Colchester Institute.

A panorama of the University of Essex. Foreground: Boundary Road. Background: [L-R] North Accommodation Towers, Networks Centre, Podium, Psychology Building, Psychology Building Extension, South Accommodation Towers, South Courts.

[edit] Recent Buildings

The Ivor Crewe Lecture Hall

The Ivor Crewe lecture Hall, which opened in October 2006 and was designed by the architect Patel Taylor, has attracted a mixed response, with Prince Charles reputedly referring to it as 'like a dustbin' while The Civic Trust, a charity of which he is patron, have awarded it a Civic Trust award (2008) for making 'an outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the environment'. The building was named after Professor Sir Ivor Crewe in April 2007, to mark his retirement from the position of vice chancellor, a position he had held since 1995.^[5]

The University's new £30m 'Gateway' building in Southend was opened in January 2007, housing the academic activities including business, health and acting, as well as being home to a facility operated by Queen Mary Dental School, a GP practice and a business incubation centre.

Currently under construction on the Colchester campus are new buildings for the departments of Psychology and Health and Human Science.

[edit] Links with industry

Through the 1990s, and the influence of policy activity in the United States stimulated by the Bayh-Dole Act, the British Government has sought to strengthen the links between universities and industry as a means to contribute to economic growth and the technological capacity of companies through technology transfer and exploitation of university ideas. Essex University has received grants from the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) delivered by HEFCE and other government departments to develop such capacity to link with industry. A Research and Enterprise Office has been established, which is to be complemented with the development of a research park adjacent to the campus [1]. Links between the university and industry have mostly been found within the Department of Computing and Electronic Systems (CES). CES has maintained a long standing relationship with the Japanese photography and printing company, Canon. [2] as well as links with British Telecom.

[edit] Notable alumni

See: List of University of Essex people

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

University of Essex

• University of Essex website
• University of Essex Students' Union
• Informal guide to being a student at the University of Essex

[edit] References

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2007)

• University of Essex (2006). 40 years of the University of Essex. Retrieved 19 June 2006.