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Establishment The establishment of the University of Warwick was given approval by the government in 1961 and received its Royal Charter of Incorporation in 1965. Its creation was supported by University of Birmingham Chancellor Aitken who acted as 'Godfather to the University of Warwick' (Ives, 2000, p.342). The initial plan was for a university college at Coventry attached to Birmingham but Aitken advised an independent initiative to the University Grants Committee (Ives, 2000, p.343). It is situated on a large 700 acre campus which straddles the boundary between the City of Coventry and the County of Warwickshire. The idea for a university in Coventry was mooted shortly after the conclusion of the Second World War but it was a bold and imaginative partnership of the City and the County which brought the University into being on a 400 acre site jointly granted by the two authorities. Since then, the University has incorporated the former Coventry College of Education in 1979 and has extended its land holdings by the purchase of adjoining farm land. The University also benefited from a substantial donation from the family of Jack Martin, which enabled the construction of the Warwick Arts Centre. Rapid growth The University initially admitted a small intake of graduate students in 1964 and took its first 450 undergraduates in October 1965. In October 2003, the student population was over 15,500 of which a third are postgraduates. 20% of the student body comes from overseas and over 114 countries are represented on the campus. The University has 29 academic departments and over 40 research centres and institutes, in four Faculties: Arts, Medicine, Science and Social Studies. Since its establishment Warwick has expanded its campus to 700 acres with many modern buildings and academic facilities, lakes and woodlands. A recent survey by The Times resulted in the campus being voted the best in the UK by a national poll of university students. A different type of university The campus originally consisted of distinctive Modern architecture, in deliberate contrast with the medieval and classical character of older Universities. The freedom given to academic departments combined with an aggressive and unapologetic commercial approach, both policies of the first Vice-Chancellor Lord Butterworth, were new innovations for UK Higher Education and have subsequently been copied by many other Universities. Even today Warwick has an identity of qualitative independence rather than academic competition. The Guardian commented that while "the outside world imagines universities aspire to Oxbridge, those in the know realise everyone now wants to be Warwick" (The Guardian, 1st May 2001)*. "Elite it may be, but not elitist"* was the BBC's verdict, noting that Warwick is one of the few universities to hit its target for the proportion of state students admitted (86%). This is mainly due to the University's distinctive community policy and commitment to increasing access to higher education. Chancellors Vice-Chancellors Coat of arms The University's coat of arms includes atoms of two isotopes of lithium, a DNA helix to represent science and also the Bear of Warwickshire and the Elephant of Coventry. The bear is not chained in the current depiction of the University's coat of arms, although it was in , and in the letters patent issued by the College of Arms. Campuses
Research The University of Warwick is one of the UK's leading universities for research. According to The Guardian the University was ranked fifth for quality of research out of 124 of the institutions which took part in the UK Funding Councils' 2001 Research Assessment Exercise*. Over 91% of the University's academic staff are located in departments with top research ratings of 5 or 5 Rankings Warwick is consistently well placed in rankings of UK universities such as the The Sunday Times University Guide (6th place overall in 2006), The Times Good University Guide 2007 (8th), and The Guardian University Guide (8th place overall in 2006). Warwick, Oxford, Cambridge, LSE and Imperial College London are the only universities which have never been out of the Top 10 in the British league tables. In many league tables Warwick is currently the best ranked university outside of London and Oxbridge, and the only multifaculty institution aside from Oxbridge to have never been out of the top ten. In the two attempts at producing World University Rankings, Warwick lies at 73rd place in the world according to The Times Higher Education Supplement in 2006, and in the Shanghai Jiao Tong University 2006 ranking (which places Universities in equal groups of approximately one hundred after the first hundred individually ranked Universities), Warwick is placed in the 201-300th rank. Academic staff Current and former notable members of the academic staff at Warwick: Biological Sciences Computer Science Economics English Engineering and Warwick Manufacturing Group History Law Mathematics and Statistics Philosophy Other Future development Vision 2020 In November 2005, the University of Warwick made public its vision for the year 2020 and outlined proposals for how it would like to develop its campus over the next 15 years Link. These proposals built upon recent construction activity which included a new Mathematics and Statistics Building, a new Computer Science Building, a new Business School building, the new Heronbank Residences and an expanded Sports Centre. The proposals would see a shift in the "centre of gravity" on campus away from the Students' Union towards the new University House and a proposed "Academic Square", located around the new Maths and Computer Science buildings. University House In 2003 the University acquired the former Headquarters of the National Grid which it converted into its new University administration building (now called University House). The building includes a student learning centre called the "Learning Grid". Singapore Campus In 2004 the University publicly revealed that it planned to open a 10,000-student campus in Singapore. Due to concerns about academic freedom, cost and freedom of speech for students, many students and academic staff opposed the scheme. Following exhaustive research the matter was discussed by the University's Senate, which requested further research to be undertaken, in effect, forcing the University to abandon the scheme. Attempts to establish some firm links with Singapore (albeit not necessarily a full physical campus) are continuing. Student life Undergraduate student life at Warwick is divided into two phases. In the first year, student life revolves around campus and, in particular, the Students' Union (with its sports clubs, societies and entertainment facilities). In the second and third years, as students move off-campus, the focus shifts to either Leamington Spa or Earlsdon in Coventry. There has been criticism of the perceived focus of the entertainment events toward first year undergraduates resident on campus. Campus Facilities Staff, students and visitors benefit from the many non-academic facilities on campus. As well as Warwick Arts Centre (see below), the University hosts a large leisure centre, comprising 25 m swimming pool, two sports halls, gymnasium, squash courts and rock-climbing facility. Elsewhere on campus are a number of other sports halls, outside tennis courts, 400 m athletics track, multi-purpose outdoor surfaces and cricket grounds. Sports facilities are being constantly expanded, following the commencement of Warwick Sport, a joint venture between the University and the Students' Union in 2005. Indoor tennis courts are expected to be built in the next couple of years and an Olympic-size swimming pool has been rumoured in the long-term, depending on Coventry City Council's priorities. Most of the University's sports facilities are open to the general public. There is a Costcutter supermarket, a pharmacy, a number of banks, a hairdressers, STA Travel travel shop and an Oxfam all in the middle of the campus. All food and drink outlets are operated by Warwick Hospitality or the Student Union, apart from a nearby pub. Students Union The University of Warwick Students' Union is one of the biggest Students' Unions in the UK, currently having over 200 societies and around 70 sports clubs. It has an annual turnover of approximately £5 million, the profit from which is used to provide services to students and to employ its staff and Sabbatical officers. The Union is divided into two buildings: Union North (mainly societies and administration) and Union South (entertainment facilities). Union South contains four club venues, seven bars and a cafe over four floors, with some events such as Top Banana and Skool Dayz encompassing the entire building. Drinks prices are not considered to be particularly cheap. The Union has also recently hosted such bands as Sugababes, The Kooks, The Departure, The Subways, Idlewild, Hell is for Heroes and The Killers. The Union is a member of the National Union of Students (NUS), West Midlands Area NUS (WMANUS) and National Postgraduate Committee (NPC). Student events Each year in January, the University of Warwick plays host to the "world's largest student-run international event", One World Week. This incorporates the very successful One World Forum. Other student run events include People & Planet's Go Green Week, Warwick International Development Summit, Warwick Economics Summit, RAG Week and Warwick Student Arts Festival. Campus media Warwick Arts Centre
Warwick Koan The Koan, situated directly outside the main entrance of Warwick arts centre is a piece of modern art designed by the artist, Lilian Lijn. The Koan is about 4m high, white in colour and dressed in tubes of fluorescent light. It rotates whilst generating a grinding sound. Originally, it was intended to be placed on the roof of the Arts Centre, but it was found out that the roof was not strong enough to support its weight. Warwick PLC Under the leadership of its first Vice-Chancellor, Lord Butterworth, Warwick was one of the first UK universities to adopt a business approach to higher education, develop close links with the business community and exploit the commercial value of its research. This approach has resulted in the university being nicknamed "Warwick PLC". Commercialisation of research The University has established a number of stand-alone units to manage and extract commercial value from its research activities. The four most prominent examples of these units are: As a result of these activities, Warwick is the only UK University to generate more income through commercial activities than it receives from Government grants, which has allowed it to invest generously in facilites and undergo rapid growth. Warwick Hospitality
Warwick Retail The University has a small portfolio of businesses under the Warwick Retail umbrella, a private company wholly owned by the University. Operations include: The University also created and owns the temporary employment agency Unitemps and the higher education recruitment website www.jobs.ac.uk. Finances Criticism There has been some criticism that the University has become too commercially minded at the expense of academic creativity and diversity. The most famous proponent of this critique was the noted historian E. P. Thompson, who wrote Warwick University Ltd in 1971. Nevertheless, with the appointment of Sir Nicholas Scheele as Chancellor in 2002, the University has signalled that it intends to continue and expand its commercial activities. In an interview for the BBC, Scheele said: "I think in the future, education and industry need to become even more closely linked than they have been historically. As government funding changes, the replacement could well come through private funding from companies, individuals and grant-giving agencies."* Involvement with Government initiatives Warwick has very close links to the current British Labour Government and has been the academic partner for a number of flagship Government schemes including the National Academy for Gifted and Talented Youth and the NHS University (now defunct). Tony Blair has described Warwick as “a beacon among British universities for its dynamism, quality and entrepreneurial zeal”.* Tuition / Top-Up Fees Warwick has been a very strong supporter of the Government’s policy to introduce Top-Up Fees. This has attracted strong criticism and regular protests from the Students’ Union and many academics, concerned that access to education will be based on ability to pay and not academic ability. In response, the University’s Vice-Chancellor, David VandeLinde, called the policy “a positive one for Higher Education institutes" and promised "70 per cent of the additional money derived from fees will be spent on further improving student services, facilities and support."* Warwick is particularly well placed to benefit from Top-Up Fees as it is one of the few universities to meet its target, set by the Higher Education Funding Council for England, for the proportion of students enrolled from state schools (86%).* This means that it is unlikely to come under the scrutiny of the Office for Fair Access, an issue many other leading Universities are concerned about. Bill Clinton Presidential Visit On the recommendation of Tony Blair, Bill Clinton chose Warwick as the venue for his last major foreign policy address as US President in December 2000. Sandy Berger, Clinton’s National Security Advisor, explaining the decision in his Press Briefing on 7 December 2000, said that: "Warwick is one of Britain's newest and finest research universities, singled out by Prime Minister Blair as a model both of academic excellence and independence from the government."* In his speech Clinton covered a number of issues, including Third World debt relief, fighting infectious diseases such as AIDS, basic education rights, and the digital divide, which he summarized as the new development agenda for the 21st century. Clinton was accompanied by his wife Hillary Clinton and daughter Chelsea Clinton. During his visit, he planted a Pin Oak (Quercus palustris) sapling outside Senate House, the (then) university administration block. The Warwick Agreement The University of Warwick was the location for an important agreement between the Labour Party and the Trade Unions on Labour policy and trade union law, struck in July 2004. Subsequently the agreement has become popularly referred to as the Warwick Agreement. According to The Guardian, "it made peace between discontented elements in the unions and the government. It thereby averted the threat of mass disaffiliation from the party by the unions and helped to secure union support for Labour in the 2005 election."* University legends and myths Alumni Famous include: Politicians Civil servants Mathematicians Journalists Writers Media presenters / Media people Actors / Directors Musicians Entrepreneurs | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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