University of the West of England

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UWE redirects here. For the director Uwe Boll, see Uwe Boll.

**University of the West of England**
Image:UWE crest.gif
Motto	Light Liberty Learning
Established	1970
Type	Public
Chancellor	The Rt Hon Lady Justice Elizabeth Butler-Sloss GBE
Vice-Chancellor	Sir Howard Newby
Students	30,000
Location	Bristol, United Kingdom
Campus	semi-urban
Colours	Grey, Red & Black
Affiliations	EUA, AMBA, Universities UK, Association of Commonwealth Universities
Website	www.uwe.ac.uk

The University of the West of England (abbrev. UWE, often pronounced "you-we") is a university based in the English city of Bristol. Its main campus is at Frenchay, about 7 km north of the city centre with a smaller campus at St Matthias, a Faculty of Health and Social Care at Glenside in north-east Bristol and an Art school, Bristol School of Art, Media and Design, located at Bower Ashton, near Ashton Court in south-west Bristol.

There are also regional centres in Bath and Swindon, and an associate faculty specialising in agricultural and sports related courses in Hartpury, Gloucestershire. This satellite college has staged the European Young Rider Championship, a horse riding competition. Bristol Old Vic Theatre School is an associate school of the Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences.

With around 30,000 students and 3,000 academic staff, UWE is the larger of the two universities in the city (the longer established University of Bristol has 15,000 students). 86% of students at UWE are from state schools. The well-stocked library on the Frenchay site is called the Bolland Library, named after Dr Robert Bolland, the first director of Bristol Polytechnic from 1969 to 1974. The main Frenchay campus is situated close to the M32 motorway, twenty minutes walk from the well-connected Bristol Parkway railway station. By train, Cardiff is half an hour away, and Birmingham one hour and fifteen minutes.

The Chancellor of UWE is the Rt Hon Lady Justice Elizabeth Butler-Sloss, GBE. Sir Howard Newby has been appointed vice chancellor from 2006.

1 History
2 Structure
3 Coat of arms
4 Student Union
5 Notable alumni
6 See also
7 External links
- 7.1 News items

[edit] History

UWE was founded in 1970 as Bristol Polytechnic, but can trace its roots back to the foundation of the Merchant Venturers' Navigation School in 1595. Part of this institution (to which the Universities of Bristol and Bath also partly owe their origins) became a technical college which, after merger with various other colleges, in turn became the polytechnic. Like the other former polytechnics, this gained University status and its present name as a result of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act.

The Bower Ashton site was formed in 1969 as the West of England College of Art. The St Matthias site was a former teacher training college, and became part of Bristol Polytechnic around 1976. The Avon and Gloucestershire College of Health (now the Glenside Campus) and the Bath and Swindon College of Health Studies joined in January 1996. Hartpury joined in 1997.

UWE is rated as a top three "new university" in league tables. A new £200m site is being built at the Frenchay campus which includes a sports centre and rooms for 2000 students, opening in late 2006.

The name 'The University of the West of England, Bristol', is often considered overlong and cumbersome, and the issue of renaming the institution has occasionally raised its head. Possible names have included Bristol Frenchay University, Bristol Severn University and the University of North Bristol, with the Frenchay variant being the most popular.

Image:20050318 023 bristol uwe.jpg

Image:Uwebuiltenvironment.JPG

Image:Map uwe bristol.png Frenchay (north), Glenside & St Matthias (east) and Bower Ashton (south). Right: Bristol within England.

[edit] Structure

The University is divided into faculties most of which are then subdivided into schools:

Faculty of Applied Sciences (Frenchay Campus)
- School of Biomedical Sciences
- School of Biosciences
- School of Environmental & Interdisciplinary Sciences
- School of Human & Analytical Sciences
- School of Psychology
Bristol School of Art, Media and Design (Bower Ashton Campus)
- School of Communication Design and Media
- School of Design and Applied Arts
- School of Fine Arts
- School of Foundation Studies
Bristol Business School (Frenchay Campus)
- School of Accounting and Finance
- School of Human Resource Management
- School of Marketing
- School of Organisation Studies
- School of Operations and Information Management
- School of Strategy and International Business
- School of Economics
Faculty of the Built Environment(Frenchay Campus)
- School of Civil Engineering
- School of Construction Economics, Management and Engineering
- School of Geography and Environmental Management
- School of Housing and Urban Studies
- School of Land and Property Management
- School of Planning and Architecture
Faculty of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (Frenchay Campus)
- School of Computer Science
- School of Information Systems
- School of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Aerospace Engineering
- School of Computing and Electrical Engineering
- School of Mathematical Sciences
Faculty of Education (Frenchay Campus)
Faculty of Health & Social Care (Glenside Campus)
- School of Adult Nursing
- School of Allied Health Professions
- School of Health, Community and Policy Studies
- School of Maternal and Child Health
- School of Mental Health and Learning Disabilities
Faculty of Humanities, Languages and Social Sciences (St Matthias Campus and Frenchay Campus)
- School of Media and Cultural Studies
- School of English and Drama
- School of History
- School of Languages, Linguistics and Area Studies
- School of Politics
- School of Sociology
Faculty of Law (Frenchay Campus)

[edit] Coat of arms

To reflect Bristol's long connection with the sea and the Merchant Venturers' Navigation School the top of the crest depicts a small fleet with a ship's mainmast and rigging. The flaming firebasket depicts guidance, hope and the desire for learning.

The shield at the centre is adapted from that of the College of St Matthias with the wavy line down the middle representing the rivers of Avon and Severn. The unicorn is taken from the arms of the City of Bristol and the sea stag from those of the former County of Avon. Both these creatures have round their necks a crown of King Edgar, regarded as a local monarch because he was crowned in Bath Abbey. The circles with wavy lines on the their shoulders represent the fountain of knowledge and learning.

The unicorn and sea stag each support an apple tree, known as the tree of knowledge and taken from the coat of arms of the Council for National Academic Awards which used to accredit degrees awarded to students of Bristol Polytechnic.

The motto Light, Liberty, Learning is a Disraeli quotation and corresponds directly to the symbolism of the coat of arms. The firebasket represents the Light, the Avon and Bristol supporters Liberty, and the trees of knowledge Learning.

[edit] Student Union

UWESU, the student union, is based at the Frenchay Campus. Though it is not overtly political it boycotts Nestlé. The Frenchay campus has a union shop, a jobshop, a launderette, a NatWest bank and three eating/drinking venues, and hosts a weekly student night, Crunchie. A new sports centre has been constructed recently and the campus also houses a large floodlit artificial pitch. The Hartpury Campus rugby team, which has extensive sporting facilities on-hand, has had national success.

The student magazine, Westworld, is published each month and the newspaper, Western Eye, every fortnight. The student radio station, The Hub, is based in The Rackhay in the centre of Bristol and broadcasts twenty four hours a day on the internet and on 1449AM across Bristol. It was started in September 2004. The University through the Students Union helps funds business that have been set up by the students.