Southampton Solent University

Press releases

Southampton Institute becomes Southampton Solent University

Category:
Students
Submitted by:
News Editor
Date:
12 July 2005

Southampton Institute is now a university and will officially change its name to Southampton Solent University on 15 August.

The Institute today heard from the Privy Council that its application for university title has been approved, following advice from the Department for Education and Skills and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education.

Southampton Solent University and its new brand will be launched in a series of city-based events and activities over the coming months. New and returning students starting the new academic year in October will be welcomed with a launch of the new name and logo.

Principal, Professor Roger Brown, who will become the first Vice Chancellor of Southampton Solent University, said:

"This is a very exciting time for staff, students and the city. University title is timely recognition for the excellent quality of the student experience and the standard of our degrees and it gives us a great platform for our future development. Gaining university title allows us to take our rightful place in the university sector.

"We aim to make Southampton Solent University a leading university in the South of England but that doesn't mean changing our mission or ethos, or the qualities that have already made us successful. We shall remain a friendly, accessible institution committed to teaching excellence, engaging with the local community, and preparing our students for success in the world of work."

The new university has 16,000 students and offers undergraduate and postgraduate degrees across a wide range of disciplines. Since 1992, Southampton Institute has also awarded more than 100 research degrees.

Chairman of Governors, Professor Glyn Tonge, said:

"This is well deserved recognition for what Southampton Institute has achieved in just 16 years since it became a higher education corporation. It has taken a lot of hard work and I want to congratulate Professor Roger Brown and his team and all staff for the tremendous effort that went into this successful application. I would also like to thank my fellow Governors for all their help and support."

Students' Union President Alex Ellery said:

"Having spent the past three years at Southampton Institute as a student I, like most of my peers, am proud that we have finally become a university! I am privileged to be the first Solent Student Union President and feel that the good work done by my predecessors can only be accelerated by the new title."

MEDIA ENQUIRIES TO GLENN HARRIS, PRESS OFFICER, 023 8031 9040 OR ROBYN MILLS, PR MANAGER, ON 023 8031 9036 OR 07703 126535

More university news can be found at www.solent.ac.uk/news

Notes to editors:

  1. Southampton Solent University's first Vice Chancellor, Professor Roger Brown, is available for interviews.
  2. Becoming Southampton Solent University means Southampton will now have two, highly complementary, universities.
  3. The Privy Council is expected to grant university title to at least six higher education colleges in England over the summer, the biggest expansion in the UK university sector since the polytechnics became universities in 1992.
  4. Subjects studied at undergraduate and postgraduate level include computing, digital communication, construction, engineering, design, maritime, business, management, law, finance, marketing, sport, tourism and leisure, media and communications, visual and performance arts and human sciences.
  5. As well as teaching students, staff conduct a wide range of research and scholarship. Since 1992 there have been 100 research degree completions and currently there are another 100 research degree students enrolled.
  6. About 10% of students come from outside the UK with most of those from outside the European Union.
  7. The new university is among Southampton's largest employers with 1,300 staff. Its annual turnover is about £60 million.
  8. Although Southampton Institute's origins go back to the formation of a private school of art in 1855, it became an independent higher education corporation as recently as 1989. At that stage there were no full-time degree courses and just 5,000, mostly part-time, students.

Media enquiries to the Press Officer, +44 023 8031 9040