University of Bolton
Encyclopedia
The University of Bolton (formerly Bolton Institute of Higher Education) is a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...

 in Bolton
Bolton
Bolton is a town in Greater Manchester, in the North West of England. Close to the West Pennine Moors, it is north west of the city of Manchester. Bolton is surrounded by several smaller towns and villages which together form the Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, of which Bolton is the...

, Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county in North West England, with a population of 2.6 million. It encompasses one of the largest metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom and comprises ten metropolitan boroughs: Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tameside, Trafford, Wigan, and the...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It has around 14,000 students across all sites and courses, with 700 academic and professional staff. Around 70% of its students come from Bolton and the North West region. The Times
Times
The Times is a UK daily newspaper, the original English language newspaper titled "Times". Times may also refer to:In newspapers:*The Times , went defunct in 2005*The Times *The Times of Northwest Indiana...

 Newspaper profile states: ‘The University sees itself as a regional institution, with around three quarters of the students coming from the North West, many through partner colleges.’

History

Bolton Institute of Higher Education was formed in 1982 by the merger of the Bolton Institute of Technology and Bolton College of Education (Technical).

Bolton Institute was awarded the right to award taught degrees in 1992, with the powers to award research degrees in 1995.

In April 2004, the Institute was awarded university status with immediate effect. The institution then set about searching for a new name to match its university status. A long consultation period considered many titles, including 'Bolton University', 'Bolton Institute University', 'West Pennines University', 'Bolton Metropolitan University' and 'Bolton Leverhulme University', before announcing 'University of Bolton' as the new title on 2 September 2004. The title was approved by the Privy Council
Privy Council of the United Kingdom
Her Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council, usually known simply as the Privy Council, is a formal body of advisers to the Sovereign in the United Kingdom...

 on 27 January 2005 and officially adopted.

Academic quality

The UK national Quality Audit of University of Bolton 2005 reports that "broad confidence can be placed in the soundness of the current management of the quality of its programmes and in the University's institutional-level capacity to manage effectively the security of its awards."

In 2006 the university was awarded the highest level of recommendation by the government's quality control agency for universities, the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA).
The University was also ranked top in the north-west region for student satisfaction by The Times Good University Guide 2008, coming in the top 15 of all UK universities. The same survey also found the University was within the region's top five universities for the number of students who found graduate-level jobs or carried on with their education six months after graduation. In the Education Guardian one report ranked Bolton first in the "Fastest Growing University" category. Its course in Building Studies is also ranked No. 1 in the UK by students.

As well as offering research opportunities, Masters and PhD degree, it is known for its vocationally focused and industry-relevant taught degree programmes. Among its most popular courses are its Business and Media programmes. The Times states: ‘The university is not research-driven, but engineering, architecture and the built environment, social work and social policy all contained some ‘world-leading’ research in the 2008 assessments’
UK rankings
League tables of British universities
Rankings of universities in the United Kingdom are published annually by The Guardian, The Independent, The Sunday Times and The Times...

2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001
Times Good University Guide 108th 108th= 111th 93rd 88th 98th
Guardian University Guide 116rd 114th 117th 110th - 67th 102nd 62nd 86th
Sunday Times University Guide 119th 120th 120th= 121st 115th 107th 108th 97nd= 111th 116th
The Complete University Guide 112st= 112th 112th= 91st=
The Daily Telegraph 91st=

Growth and Future Plans

Since being granted university status, the University of Bolton has undergone several changes. In 2008 an £8 million building programme was completed, including an £1.7 million specialist teaching centre for the University’s creative courses. £2.5 million was also spent on improvements to Library facilities.

The Bolton One development is a multi-million pound project set for completion in 2012. The University has contributed around £7 million to it and is working in conjunction with local partners, Bolton Council and Primary Care Trust. The purpose built centre will house new health, science and sports teaching and research facilities - as well as a sports complex.

International Presence

The University also has a campus in Ras al-Khaimah
Ras al-Khaimah
Ras al-Khaimah is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates , in the east of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman's exclave. The capital city and home of most residents is also called Ras al-Khaimah. The city has a population of 263,217 as of 2008. The city...

 in the United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

 and established international links with a number of overseas academic establishments in Germany, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Malawi and Greece.
During December, 2011, University of Bolton will launch their campus in Colombo, Sri Lanka . KES Group of Institutions is partnering with University of Bolten to launch the Bolton Academic Centre in Colombo.

Students' Union

The main Students' Union building is on Deane Road at the centre of the University Campus. As well as being home to the SU bar (Loft bar) and the hub of many social events, the Union provides numerous other roles, such as student support and advice (The Advice Unit), representation and sporting societies. It can also be followed on Twitter and Facebook

Diversity

The University of Bolton has a diverse student population. Around 13% of home students are from ethnic minority communities, with about 8% of its students being classed as international. This portion of students come from 70 countries outside the UK. The university also has a Chaplaincy that accommodates several different faiths.

Academic schools and research centres

The university has three academic faculties and five research centres

Academic Faculties
  • Faculty of Advanced Engineering and Sciences

  • Faculty of Arts and Media Technologies

  • Faculty of Well Being and Social Sciences


Research centres
  • Business, Logistics and Information Systems Research Centre

  • Institute of Materials Research and Innovation

  • Institute of Renewable Energy and Environmental Technologies

  • Institute for Educational Cybernetics

  • Centre for Research Health and Wellbeing

See also

  • :Category:Alumni of the University of Bolton
  • :Category:Academics of the University of Bolton

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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