University of Wolverhampton

The University of Wolverhampton is a British university, located on four campuses across the West Midlands and Shropshire. The main campus is located on Wulfruna Street in Wolverhampton.

The university currently offers over 340 undergraduate and postgraduate courses, and was the first to offer degrees in Interactive Multimedia Communication and British Sign Language. In 2006 the University was rated 116th out of 119 by The Times.

History
In 1992 Wolverhampton Polytechnic was granted university status and thus became the University of Wolverhampton. The following year the first stage of construction was completed on the Priorslee Hall site at the Telford campus; this became home to both business and computer aided design students.

1994 saw Wolverhampton become the first UK university to be awarded the Charter Mark for excellence in customer service. The amalgamation of two local nursing colleges in 1995 formed the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the Walsall campus. Wolverhampton Science Park - a collaboration between the university and the local council - opened in 1996. Its aim was to forge a link between local businesses and the university's research departments.

The final years of the 20th century saw a huge amount of development and expansion for the university. Two new state-of-the-art learning centres were opened at the Telford and City campuses in 1998. These learning centres were a fusion of traditional libraries with high-tech facilities, aimed at providing a greater range of accessible materials for students. The following year the university opened the Arena Theatre on the City campus along with the new SC building in Telford. The SC building became home to two new projects: DELTA and the Competitiveness Centre. DELTA was a new department aimed at the propagation of the latest information and communication technologies in education, whilst the Competitiveness Centre had the same goal, but for local businesses.

In 2000 the university announced plans to spend £60m on a seven-year plan to rebuild and revitalise its campuses. This redevelopment aimed to solve its problems with lack of space, and to make it a learning environment truly fit for the 21st century.

One of the most unique degree courses offered at Wolverhampton is the BSc (Hons) in Complementary Therapies, studying human physiology, reflexology, aromatherapy and clinical practice (ie, setting-up a complementary therapy business). Several graduates have gone onto work for the National Health Service, using complementary techniques in conjunction with standard medical practices.

Controversy
In 2002, the university paid out £30,000 in an out-of-court settlement to Mike Austen, a dissatisfied law student, who sued on the grounds of multiple misrepresentations and multiple breaches of the student contract. The news gathered worldwide attention and set a precedent in the UK for students' consumer rights. The settlement was reached after a string of allegations about very serious coursework and examination errors, prejudiced marking, severe overcrowding, and very poor teaching standards.

In July 2006 in a swimming pool at the university's Walsall campus, a disabled rugby player drowned whilst not being supervised properly by lifeguards and managers, an inquest jury ruled. 

In a Times column dated 29 February1988, the writer Bernard Levin cited the then Wolverhampton Polytechnic as an example of how student unions were allegedly dominated by the political hard left.

Student Union
The Student Union employs over 150 people throughout its services and across the campuses, two thirds of which are students working part-time through their studies.

Campuses

 * City (North)
 * City (South)
 * Compton Park
 * Telford
 * Walsall
 * The university used to have a campus in Dudley

Schools

 * Applied Sciences
 * Art & Design
 * Computing & IT
 * Education
 * Engineering & the Built Environment
 * Health
 * Humanities, Languages. & Social Sciences
 * Legal Studies
 * Sports, Performing Arts & Leisure
 * University of Wolverhampton Business School

Alumni

 * Clare Teal (English jazz singer}}
 * David Carruthers (businessman, MBA from the University)
 * James Hearn (Former Chicago Fire Coach)
 * Giles Penfound (professional photographer {Ex-chief Press Photographer for the British Army})
 * Julian Peedle-Calloo (deaf TV presenter and footballer)
 * Michael John Foster (Labour MP)
 * Stuart Hinde (Green Party Candidate)
 * Patrick Trollope (Press Photographer and owner of first UK Online Newspaper)
 * Scott Boswell (former professional cricketer)
 * Trevor Beattie (advertising executive responsible for the fcuk campaign)

The broadcaster/journalist Jeff Randall and the author Howard Jacobson both lectured here. Jacobson's experience formed the basis of his novel "Coming from Behind", set at a "fictional" polytechnic in the Midlands.

Magazine Editor Sean Laffey (Irish Music Magazine Dublin) ran the Polytechnic Folk club in the second half of the 1970s and graduated with a degree in Biology in 1979.

Holders of Honorary Degrees

 * Cornelia Parker (sculptor and installation artist)
 * Jenny Jones (Labour politician) (Labour MP)