| Glasgow Caledonian University | |
|---|---|
| Motto | For the common weal |
| Established | 1993 |
| Type | Public University |
| Chancellor | Lord Macdonald of Tradeston |
| Principal | Professor Pamela Gillies |
| Admin. staff | 1,500 |
| Students | 17,045[1] |
| Undergraduates | 13,670[1] |
| Postgraduates | 3,375[1] |
| Location | Glasgow, Scotland |
| Affiliations | EUA WHO |
| Website | http://www.gcu.ac.uk/ |
Glasgow Caledonian University is a public university in Glasgow, Scotland.
The university was constituted by an Act of Parliament on 1 April 1993 as a result of a merger between Glasgow Polytechnic and The Queen's College, Glasgow.
The current Principal and Vice Chancellor is Professor Pamela Gillies, who has been in post since March 2006.
Magnus Magnusson was University Chancellor up until his death in January 2007. Baron Macdonald of Tradeston was installed as his successor in October 2007.
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The origins of The Queen's College, Glasgow date back as far as 1875 when the Glasgow School of Cookery was established. In 1908, the Glasgow School of Cookery merged with the West End School of Cookery, which had been established in 1878, to form the Glasgow and West of Scotland College of Domestic Science, which was affectionately referred to by Glaswegians as "The Dough School".
Glasgow Polytechnic was originally planned by the Corporation of Glasgow as two separate colleges on adjacent sites in central Glasgow: the College of Science and Technology and the College of Commerce. Before opening in 1971 a new polytechnic institution of higher education had been agreed and the Glasgow College of Technology opened to students with the objective of offering Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) degrees at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The Scottish Office and the local authority were both opposed to the creation of further Central Institutions in Scotland and the legislation enabling the creation of Polytechnics was specific to England and Wales. The new institution was constituted under a set of Instruments and Articles of Governance derived from that of the Polytechnics but specific to Glasgow: it had an Academic Board and a Governing Council establishing considerable academic independence but ultimately answerable to the Corporation of Glasgow. The formal opening of the College took place in 1972.
The College was under the governance of Glasgow Corporation until 1975 when the newly created Strathclyde Regional Council became the funding body and a new constitution was put in place. In 1985, ownership passed from the Regional Council to an independent board of governors who received their funds directly from the Scottish Education Department. In subsequent years, the institution changed its name three times for promotional purposes: Glasgow College (1987); 'Glasgow College - A Scottish Polytechnic; and Glasgow Polytechnic (1991).
In 1992, The Secretary of State for Scotland approved the merger of Glasgow Polytechnic and The Queen's College, Glasgow to form Glasgow Caledonian University, which opened on 1 April 1993.
The aim of the new university was to offer non-elitist, high quality education and training to a wide and diverse range of students. It sought to collaborate with commercial and industrial organisations and other providers of education. The university initially offered more than 140 undergraduate and postgraduate courses within three faculties and 22 departments.
The original 3 faculty structure was made up of:
In 2002 the structure was changed and the following schools were established:
In August 2009 the Schools of Health and Social Care and Nursing, Midwifery and Community Health merged to form the School of Health.
Glasgow Caledonian University offers programmes in all of the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council (SHEFC) funding groups except medicine, dentistry and teacher education. In May 2002, it launched the first Scottish Centre for Work Based Learning.
Currently the university has approximately 17,000 students, 1,500 staff, 25% of students studying part-time, 66% of students over the age of 21, and more than 700 international students from over 70 countries.[6]
June 2011 saw the University open The Scottish Ambulance Academy, a facility that will provide the training needs of student Ambulance Technicians and Paramedics on behalf of the Scottish Ambulance Service.[7]
In 2008 the University won the Times University award for outstanding international student support.[8]
The University has had mixed reviews in the League tables. The Times good university guide 2009 stated that 'With Glasgow Caledonian's accent firmly on widening participation in higher education, the university will always struggle in league tables such as ours, but it is well regarded by employers, and applications have been healthy'.[9] Below are the most recent University rankings for Glasgow Caledonian. The league tables contain 114 UK universities.
| University League table rankings as of 2009. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Times Newspaper 2009 | 68 | |
| Independent Newspaper 2009 | 61 | |
| Guardian Newspaper 2009 | 55 |
| University League table rankings as of 2010. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Times Newspaper 2010 | 60 | |
| Independent Newspaper 2010 | TBD | |
| Guardian Newspaper 2010 | 66 |
The complete University guide for 2009 ranked Glasgow Caledonian at number 96 out of 113 Universities. The 2010 edition published in April 2009 ranked Caledonian at number 74.[10] The Times University guide ranked it at number 60.
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise the University submitted 14 units of assessment. The University's submission in Allied Health Professions was a joint submission with the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde.[11]
In the Architecture and the Built Environment unit of assessment, the university's research was ranked in the top twenty in the UK.[12]
As a result the University has received more funding for Research purposes than previous years.
Glasgow Caledonian is located on a single campus site in the Cowcaddens area of Glasgow. The university used to have three campuses: Park Campus located in Glasgow's West End, Southbrae Campus leased from and adjacent to Jordanhill College of Education, and the current City Campus. However, Park Campus was sold to the University of Glasgow in January 2001 and Southbrae was given back to Jordanhill after the lease had expired.
The campus contains a variety of lecture theatres, seminar rooms and laboratories. The university also has a 'virtual hospital' where students can develop clinical and interpersonal skills in a realistic environment. Glasgow Caledonian is the only university in Scotland which has this facility.
The campus contains a health and recreation centre known as the Arc. It has three gyms, each catering to different types of users. There are two large halls within the sports centre which host a number of classes such as yoga, football, circuit training and thai boxing. The Arc also offers classes such as reflexology and Swedish massage. The health and recreation centre was opened by Thabo Mbeki who named it in honour of his father.
The university has a number of shops, automated teller machines and restaurants.
The [13] Students' Association is located in the Students' Association Building. The main reason the Students' Association exists is to represent the students at GCU. The Students' Association runs sports clubs, societies, active lifestyle programme, radio station, magazine, provides welfare support and runs an events programme. Other services within the Students' Association Building include a 24 hour computer lab, student social space, games room and cafe. There is no student bar on campus although the Students' Association has strong links with local bars.
The university has a campus in Muscat, Oman, which is known as the Caledonian College of Engineering.
Graduation ceremonies are held in Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall.
In 2008 the university considered a move to the East End of the city, following the Commonwealth Games to be held in 2014.[14] However, these plans have been shelved due to the economic climate.
Student accommodation include Caledonian Court, with rooms for 660 students sharing self-catering flats with between five and eight bedrooms, located in Glasgow City centre, behind the University campus.
The Saltire Centre is a £23m learning centre, situated in the heart of the university's campus. The futuristic award-winning[15] building was opened in January 2006 aiming to integrate educational and students services. It contains 1800 study places, 400 computers and 250 laptops across four floors. There are walkways from within the centre to the George Moore and Hamish Wood Buildings. The centre houses the university's library collection, a learning café, and the students' support services[16]
In recent years the University has started offering student exchanges for periods of 3 to 10 months abroad. The University have exchange agreements in Europe, America, Canada and Australia. Some of the exchange Universities are :
| Exchange Universities. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Northern Kentucky University | USA | |
| Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania | USA | |
| Iowa State University | USA | |
| Ohio Northern University | USA | |
| Middle Tennessee State University | USA | |
| Brock University | Canada | |
| Ryerson University | Canada | |
| University of Winnipeg | Canada | |
| RMIT University | Australia | |
| Ecole Supérieure du Commerce Extérieur Paris (ESCE Paris) | France | |
| University of Granada | Spain |
|- | Complutense University of Madrid | Spain |} Students at Glasgow Caledonian can undertake a Student Exchange in year 2 or 3 of their Undergraduate degree; the University fully recognises the exchange as part of the degree.
Glasgow Caledonian University Students' Association (GCUSA) is an organisation which aims to provide a wide range of services for the benefit of the students at the University. It is located on a campus site in Glasgow City Centre.
The Association is autonomous from the University and is democratically controlled by students at all levels. All Glasgow Caledonian University students are automatically members.
In January 2009 it was reported by Ucas that the majority of universities in the UK experienced an increase in the number of applications for undergraduate degrees. It was reported that Glasgow Caledonian had 12,568 applications by the January 15th deadline. This was a 2.7% increase from the previous year which saw the University attract 12,243 applications.
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