Ulster University Information

Ulster University (Irish: Ollscoil Uladh,Ulster Scots: Ulstèr Universitie or Ulstèr Varsitie), legally the University of Ulster, is a multi-campus public university located in Northern Ireland. It is often referred to informally and unofficially as Ulster, or by the abbreviation UU. It is the largest university in Northern Ireland and the second-largest university on the island of Ireland, after the federal National University of Ireland.

Established in 1968 as the New University of Ulster, it merged with Ulster Polytechnic in 1984, incorporating its four Northern Irish campuses under the University of Ulster banner. The university incorporated its four campuses in 1984; located in Belfast, Coleraine, Magee College in Derry, and Jordanstown. The university has branch campuses in both London and Birmingham, and an extensive distance learning provision. The university rebranded as Ulster University from October 2014 and this included a revised visual identity.

It has one of the highest further study and employment rates in the UK, with over 92 per cent of graduates being in work or further study six months after graduation. The university is a member of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the European University Association, Universities Ireland and Universities UK.

The New University of Ulster (NUU) incorporated Magee College founded in 1865 in Derry. Magee College was a college of the Royal University of Ireland from 1880 and later became associated with the University of Dublin (better known as Trinity College) when the Royal University was dissolved in 1908 and replaced by the National University of Ireland. In 1953 Magee College broke its links with Dublin and became Magee University College. NUU was instigated as part of Her Majestys Governments expansion of higher education in the 1960s. In 1963, the Robbins Committee recommended a substantial expansion of higher education in Great Britain, partly triggered by the Anderson Report of 1960, which increased consumer demand by instigating a grants scheme. In the same year, a committee of eight chaired by Sir John Lockwood, Master of Birkbeck College, London, was appointed to review facilities for university and higher technical education in Northern Ireland. It adopted the aims and principles of Robbins, but aimed to take account of the different economic, social and educational structure of Northern Ireland.

It was hoped by groups led by the University for Londonderry Committee that Magee would become Northern Irelands second university after The Queens University of Belfast. However, this did not happen and instead it was subsumed into the New University, primarily as a result of the unwillingness of the Unionist government at Stormont to have the second university sited in overwhelmingly nationalist Derry, in which "The Troubles" were just beginning to break out. The decision caused an outcry at the time.

However, in a history of the University of Ulster it is pointed out that the submission of Magee University College to the Lockwood Committee was far from satisfactory. Its claims to preferment were historically based, and the Committee felt that those claims could become a source of embarrassment, perhaps undermining the credibility of a future new university with a diverse intake. The Magee submission failed to take sufficient account of the locations criteria of the University Grant Committee; its proposals for student accommodation consisted of a "mishmash of private lodgings and hostels", whereas the Coleraine Promotion Committee referred directly to the given criteria, and stated its arguments on a targeted point-by-point basis. Magee University College itself failed to impress members of the Lockwood Committee during their visit. It manifested an administrative structure that was "eccentric, unique …, and barely workable" (ibid.). The atmosphere was one of "complacency", "lack of dynamism" and it failed to articulate "any clear ideas about how the College should develop or what shape any future university in Londonderry should take". The Committee noted Magees "cramped physical situation" and "circumscribed mental outlook", and turned instead to the Coleraine proposal. It did not even deem Magee worthy of being included as a constituent college in the proposed new institution, though subsequently a role was found for it.

Following a review of higher education in Northern Ireland under the chairmanship of Sir Henry Chilver in 1982 the direct-rule government decided to merge NUU with the Ulster Polytechnic to form the University of Ulster (dropping "New" from the name.) The merger took effect on 1 October 1984. Whilst the university was established in 1968 it can trace its roots back to 1845 when Magee College was endowed in Derry, and 1849, when the School of Art and Design was inaugurated in Belfast.

Campus One, the Virtual Campus of the university, was launched on 8 October 2001 which successfully facilitated the provision on undergraduate and postgraduate level courses via distance learning. The university now simply refers to this as distance learning.

The university formerly had a laboratory named The University of Ulster Freshwater Laboratory at Traad Point on the shore of Lough Neagh in Ballymaguigan. The Freshwater Laboratory, although not a campus, was a site of the university and consisted of on-campus accommodation, classrooms and testing labs. Courses offered were in agriculture, the wildlife of Lough Neagh, water testing and other aquatic courses. The site is now owned by Magherafelt District Council. By 2010, the area had become popular with the locals for camping, fishing and sailing.

In autumn 2011 Vice-Chancellor Barnett announced a programme of financial restructuring with the aim of reducing the number of staff employed by the University from 3,150 to 3,000. Staff at the University expressed concern about the proposed means and impact of the restructuring, citing "the use of the threat of compulsory redundancy to bully and intimidate staff" and the belief that the University was "abdicating its responsibilities to the wider community that funds it".

In April 2012, the Ulster University branch of the University and College Union (UCU) declared a formal dispute with university management over its implementation of the restructuring, stating that the recourse to "premature deadlines and unwarranted threats of compulsory redundancy" was "unreasonable as well as contrary to University policy and corporate goals".

The reasons for cuts are not, however, unique to Ulster University. First of all, there was the Great Recession that began in 2008 and engendered a change in government and a sharp reduction in public spending. Secondly, there were issues pertaining to tuition fees. As a result of political devolution in the United Kingdom (mandated from 1998 onwards), fees differ in the four countries that make up the union. For undergraduate tuition they are currently £9,250 in England but only £4,030 in Northern Ireland. For a while, the low fees in Northern Ireland were hailed as a triumph for devolution and seemed a tool to facilitate access for less advantaged students. Universities in Northern Ireland fared reasonably well financially. However, as Pritchard and Slowey point out, if the government does not make up the shortfall, low fees left Northern Ireland universities at a disadvantage compared to their English counterparts. In 2015, the government reduced the funding allocation for Higher Education Institutions by 8.2%. Both Northern Ireland universities had to make cuts. Queen’s University announced immediate job cuts of 236 and student number reductions of ca. 290 (1,010 over the next three years). Ulster also announced its intention of cutting over 200 jobs and 250 student places in 2015/16 (1,200 over the following three years).

Ulster University is Northern Irelands regional university with four campuses situated in Northern Ireland in Belfast, Coleraine, Derry (Magee College) and Jordanstown. Additionally, two further branch campuses in both London and Birmingham in England deliver courses.

An online distance learning provision also offers Ulster University courses globally. The University was among the first Universities to offer degree level programs through its, previous "Campus One" program and was a pioneer in the introduction of online degree level courses in Biomedical Science. The university was subsequently selected by the European Commission to deliver the worlds first Higher Educational Programme in Hydrogen Safety Engineering.

The Belfast campus is situated in the artistic and cultural centre of the city; the Cathedral Quarter. Although traditionally associated with Art and home to the universitys School of Art, originally inaugurated as the Belfast School of Art and Design in 1849, the campus has a range of subjects including architecture, hospitality, event management, photography and digital animation. The award-winning Law Clinic is based at the Belfast campus, offering free legal advice on social security and employment law.

Ulster University has been expanding and developing the Belfast campus since 2009 as part of one of Northern Irelands largest-ever urban developments, and nearly 15,000 students and staff will soon be based in the city centre. The first phase of this development opened in 2015 and completion of the project is due in 2019.

The Coleraine campus is situated on the banks of the River Bann with views to the North Coast and County Donegal hills. Subjects taught at Coleraine include biomedical sciences, environmental science and geography, pharmacy, psychology, the humanities, film and journalism, travel and tourism as well as teacher training. The Coleraine campus hosts the only optometry school in Northern Ireland and is home to the Riverside Theatre, the third-largest professional theatre in Northern Ireland.

A major and consequential development at Coleraine was the introduction of the degree programme in biomedical sciences in 1980. This subject area grew into a leading UK centre in teaching and research, being ranked first in the UK in three successive Research Assessment Exercises (1996, 2001 and 2008). It also spawned the development of related subject areas including human nutrition, radiography, clinical science, optometry, podiatry, pharmacy, pharmacology and stratified medicine.

The campus now hosts a number of courses which were previously held at the Portrush site which was part of the Coleraine Campus and home to the School of Hotel, Leisure and Tourism. The site closed in 2008 and courses were relocated to the Coleraine and the newly developed Belfast campuses.

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