University of Winchester

Infobox University
name = University of Winchester


caption =
latin_name =
motto =
established = 1840 (as Winchester Diocesan Training School)
type = Public
staff =
chancellor = Mary Fagan JP
vice_chancellor = Professor Joy Carter
students = 5,300cite web|url= http://www.hesa.ac.uk/dox/dataTables/studentsAndQualifiers/download/institution0607.xls|title= Table 0a - All students by institution, mode of study, level of study, gender and domicile 2006/07|accessdate= 2008-04-12|format= Microsoft Excel spreadsheet|publisher= Higher Education Statistics Agency]
undergrad = 4,250
postgrad = 1,045
city = Winchester
state = Hampshire
country = England
campus = Semi-urban
free_label =
free =
colours =
affiliations =
footnotes =
website = http://www.winchester.ac.uk/
coor =

The University of Winchester is a university in Winchester, Hampshire, England. It was given university status by the Privy Council in June 2005, having previously been known as University College Winchester and earlier as King Alfred's College, Winchester.

History

Formed in 1840 as a College for training teachers, King Alfred's moved to its main campus in West Hill, Winchester in 1862.

King Alfred's College trained thousands of teachers, at first men only, but women as well from 1960. With the sudden change in Government policy in the early 1970s, the College first looked for partners to merge with and also sought to diversify its provision. Its educational partner, the University of Southampton, was lukewarm about offering other forms of degrees, so the College sought approval for its own BEd and then BA degrees from the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA). Interdisciplinary degrees in History and English with Drama, Archaeology and American Studies were first offered. Further programmes followed in the 1980s, but it was only when the College expanded in the early 1990s that CNAA approved a modular course that allowed a large number of new fields of study to grow at undergraduate level within a common regulatory framework. At the same time masters programmes were approved alongside the MEd programme. With the CNAA's demise in 1992, the College became accredited by the University of Southampton resuming a partnership broken off 18 years earlier. When in 1995 the UK government published criteria by which Colleges could become Universities, King Alfred's under its Principal, Professor John Dickinson, set itself the target of becoming a university, by first acquiring Taught and later Research Degree Awarding Powers. Professor Paul Light, Principal from 2000, led the institution through the successful application for Taught Degree Awarding Powers in 2003 and a change of name to University College Winchester in 2004. His leadership culminated in the award of university title in 2005, achieving the target set 10 years earlier and entitling him to be the first Vice Chancellor of the University of Winchester. In August 2008 the University was granted Research Degree Awarding Powers.

Faculties and departments

* Faculty of Arts
** Media and Film School
** Performing Arts
** Theology and Religious Studies
** English, Creative Writing and American Studies
* Faculty of Education
** Education Studies
** Postgraduate Initial Training
** Undergraduate Primary Education
** Post Experience, Training and Professional Development
* Faculty of Social Sciences
** Archaeology
** Health and Social Care
** History
** Psychology
* Faculty of Business, Law and Sport
** Winchester Business School
** Department of Sports Studies
** Department of Law
** English Language Teaching and Support Unit

Campus life

Campuses

The main King Alfred campus is located close to the city centre of Winchester. Some of the buildings on the main campus are named after former staff. The Tom Atkinson Building and The Herbert Jarman Building are two examples of this (the Kenneth Kettle building is named after a long-standing Governor). The university also operates a small campus, Chute House, in the larger town of Basingstoke, several miles to the north.

tudent union

Winchester Student Union is an organisation run for and by the student population of The University of Winchester. It runs many student societies, a bar and shop and helps support and represent students. The student union venue is based in the new University Centre and has a cinema screen, a bar and a venue space (the Vault) large enough for 1200 people.

Halls of residence

University accommodation is available on campus and in the West Downs Student Village nearby.

The halls of residence are:
* West Downs Student Village
* Alwyn Hall
* St Elizabeth Hall
* Beech Glade

Current and future plans

Major redevelopment will take place in the next few years to modernise the main campus. Work has recently finished on the University Centre on site of the former refectory, at a cost of £9 million. The building includes a new Student Union as well as catering facilities, main reception, a bookshop, a mini-mart convenience store and a wi-ifi equipped Learning Café. It was designed by architects Design Engine. Feedback from students indicates a high level of satisfaction with the facilities, especially the Learning Café which facilitates collaborative study.

The redevelopment of the University’s sports grounds at Bar End in Winchester was completed in 2008 after Sport England formally pledged the £908,514 funding required for the project’s completion, in partnership with Winchester City Council. The facilities at Bar End include an Olympic standard 400m eight-lane athletics track with supporting field events, an all-weather hockey and general sports pitch, floodlighting and an extended pavilion.

tudent Media

Students at the University have recently launched a student news website, Alfie [ [http://www.alfieonline.org/ Alfie: Student news from the University of Winchester ] ] .

Chancellorship

Mary Fagan JP the current Lord-Lieutenant of Hampshire was appointed Chancellor of the university in October 2005.

Professor Paul Light, appointed in 2000 as Principal of King Alfred's College, became the first Vice Chancellor in 2005, and was succeeded in April 2006 by Professor Joy Carter.

Notable academic staff

* Michael Hicks - Professor of Medieval History
* Elizabeth Stuart - Professor of Christian Theology and now (2008) Pro Vice Chancellor
* June Boyce-Tillman, Professor of Applied Music, and MBE
* Barbara Yorke - Professor of Early Medieval History

Notable alumni

* Martin Bashir - Television journalist.
* Mike Bushell - BBC Television journalist.
* Lauren Cohan- American actress
* Sara Coburn - Freelance broadcaster/ event facilitator.
* Patrick "Paddy" Falconer - UK Director, International Herald Tribune.
* Bob Taylor - President of the Rugby Football Union
* Steve Furst - Comedy actor ("Little Britain")
* Dirk Maggs - Radio producer.
* Michael Rose - Musical theatre producer ("Oliver! "; "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" etc)
* Angus Scott - Television journalist (also part-time lecturer in journalism)
* David Prosho - Actor and performer

Honorary alumni

*Robert Cohan - Dancer and choreographer
*Sir John Tavener - British composer
*A. S. Byatt - Postmodern novelist
*Colin Firth - Film and television actor
*Alan Titchmarsh - Broadcaster and novelist

See also

* Winchester Student Union
* Winchester School of Art, part of University of Southampton

References

External links

* [http://www.winchester.ac.uk/ University of Winchester]