University of Suffolk

In 2003 Suffolk County Council established a "stakeholder group" to investigate the possibility of establishing a university in the county. Suffolk was the largest English county that did not host a university. The group included representatives from the University of East Anglia, the University of Essex, West Suffolk College, the East of England Development Agency, the Higher Education Funding Council for England, Suffolk Learning and Skills Council, Suffolk County Council, Ipswich Borough Council, Suffolk Chief Executive's Group and the Suffolk Development Agency.

Following funding pledges from Ipswich Borough Council and Suffolk County Council in 2004, the plan was backed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) with £15m worth of funding in 2005 and attracted a £12.5m grant from the East of England Development Agency in 2006[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/4825934.stm University plan wins £12.5m grant] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905112423/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/suffolk/4825934.stm |date=5 September 2024 }}, BBC News, 20 March 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2012. The institution was officially launched under the name 'University Campus Suffolk' on 1 August 2007[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6925532.stm New university officially opened], BBC News, 1 August 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2012. and welcomed its first students in September of the same year.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/6986896.stm University open to first students], BBC News, 10 September 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2012.

In 2009 the former Suffolk College was split into Suffolk New College, dealing with further education, and University Campus Suffolk dealing with higher education courses.

Because UCS did not have degree-awarding powers, its students received their degrees from either the University of East Anglia or the University of Essex via a cooperative agreement. The institution was later granted degree-awarding powers by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education in November 2015, and in May 2016 it was awarded University status by the Privy Council. As a consequence, UCS was renamed The University of Suffolk in August 2016 and began awarding degrees in its own right.

File:University Campus Suffolk , Ipswich Waterfront - geograph.org.uk - 1077464.jpg

The University of Suffolk's main hub is located in Ipswich on the historical Ipswich Waterfront. The Ipswich campus is spread across a compact area on the Waterfront with various university buildings. The principal university building is known simply as the Waterfront Building and was designed by RMJM Architects,[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/5241742.stm New views of dockside campus plan], BBC news website, 3 August 2006. Retrieved 28 September 2012. the Waterfront Building was opened in September 2008 and cost £35 million to build.[https://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/university-campus-suffolk-ucs-459102.html University Campus Suffolk (UCS)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170706091112/http://www.independent.co.uk/student/into-university/az-uni-colleges/university-campus-suffolk-ucs-459102.html |date=6 July 2017 }}, The Independent Freshers Guide, 2012, 3 August 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2012.[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/suffolk/7641401.stm Flagship university building open], BBC news website, 29 September 2008. Retrieved 28 September 2012. It has three lecture halls and 34 smaller teaching rooms.[https://www.theguardian.com/education/2011/may/16/universityguide-universitycampussuffolk University guide 2013 University Campus Suffolk], The Guardian, 31 May 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2012.

The six-storey James Hehir Building was opened in March 2011 at a cost of £21 million[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-12290025 UCS opens £21m James Hehir Building in Ipswich] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181216123504/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-12290025 |date=16 December 2018 }}, BBC news website, 27 January 2011. Retrieved 28 September 2012. It is named after the former chief executive of Ipswich Borough Council and includes Cult Cafe. Campus North houses the library or "Learning Resource Centre". Onsite student accommodation is provided in the 600-room Athena Hall, located adjacent to the James Hehir building.

The Hold opened in October 2020, housing the majority of the Suffolk Record Office's collection and providing various facilities to the university, including a lecture hall.{{Cite web |date=2020-10-02 |title=First glimpse inside The Hold - the new building for Suffolk’s archives |url=https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/21334391.first-glimpse-inside-hold---new-building-suffolks-archives/ |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=East Anglian Daily Times |language=en}}

The Ipswich campus offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, including Art and Design, Business Management, Computing, Education, Film, Law, Nursing and Midwifery.{{Cn|date=January 2023}}

File:RS1497 Waterfront location (32)-lpr.jpg

The Great Yarmouth centre is located at the Southtown site of East Coast College in neighbouring Norfolk. Subjects such as Computing, Counselling, Engineering, Fashion, Music, and Photography are available at the centre, which has a modern recording studio.

The Lowestoft Centre is located at the site of East Coast College. Lowestoft offers degrees in Children's Care, Learning and Development, Design, Inclusive Practice and Integrated Working, Operations Engineering, Supporting Inclusive Learning and Practice, and Social Science.{{Cn|date=January 2023}}

The University of Suffolk has partnered with two Further Education colleges, East Coast College and Suffolk New College, that serve students in the Suffolk area. It also has partnerships with the Global Banking School, London School of Commerce, Unicaf, and Unitas, an education charity specialising in criminal justice.{{cite web |title=Our Partners |url=https://www.uos.ac.uk/our-partners |website=University of Suffolk |access-date=12 March 2023}}

The university is split into four schools, each facilitating various courses.

• School of Allied Health Sciences
• School of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health
• School of Social Sciences and Humanities
• School of Technology, Business and Arts

The University of Suffolk houses the "East Contemporary Art Collection", which is exhibited at the Waterfront Gallery.{{cite web|title=East Contemporary Art Collection|url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/search/collection:east-contemporary-art-collection-2756/page/2|access-date=14 May 2017|publisher=Art UK}}{{cite web|title=Waterfront Gallery, UCS|url=http://www.culture24.org.uk/am543916|access-date=14 May 2017|publisher=Culture 24}} Founded by artists Robert Priseman and Simon Carter in 2013, the "East Contemporary Art Collection" contains 160 works of art by 115 artists{{cite web|date=11 September 2013|title=Art Collection to go on Public Display at University Campus Suffolk|url=https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/275000-art-collection-to-go-on-public-display-at-university-campus-suffolk-223251141.html|access-date=14 May 2017|publisher=Newswire}} and was formed to make the first public collection of contemporary art in the East of England.{{cite web|date=11 September 2013|title=East of England Contemporary Art Collection|url=https://www.artistsandillustrators.co.uk/news/contemporary/986/duo-launch-first-east-of-england-contemporary-art-collection|access-date=14 May 2017|publisher=Artist and Illustrator}}

Artists represented in the collection all have a working connection with the seven east of England counties of Suffolk, Norfolk, Essex, Cambridgeshire, Lincolnshire, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire; the list of artists includes Maggi Hambling, Amanda Ansell, Susan Gunn, Nicholas Middleton, Justin Partyka, Anne Schwegmann-Fielding, James Dodds, Linda Ingham, Stephen Newton and Mary Webb.{{cite web|date=1 October 2013|title=On display at Ipswich Waterfront|url=http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/new-contemporary-art-275-000-collection-on-display-at-ipswich-waterfront-1-2828285|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181004185719/http://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/new-contemporary-art-275-000-collection-on-display-at-ipswich-waterfront-1-2828285|url-status=dead|archive-date=4 October 2018|access-date=14 May 2017|work=Ipswich Star}} The works of art in the collection were all produced after the year 2000 and are designed to be available for public display and as a learning resource for the university and students from the wider educational community.{{cite web|date=8 October 2013|title=East Contemporary Art Trip|url=https://www.suffolkone.ac.uk/information/news/east-contemporary-art-trip/|access-date=14 May 2017|publisher=One Sixth Form College|archive-date=5 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905112924/https://www.suffolkone.ac.uk/|url-status=live}}

The university operates as a "Centre for Applied Sustainability". The development of the Phase 1 campus was assessed as BREEAM Excellent, representing "best practice in sustainable development".{{cite web|title=News story, 2008|url=http://www.ucs.ac.uk/about/News/2008/pr17032008.aspx|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100309092842/http://www.ucs.ac.uk/about/News/2008/pr17032008.aspx|archive-date=9 March 2010}}

The university is also engaged in the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership Green Economy Pathfinder.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

The on-campus halls of residence, Athena Hall, is located on the Ipswich Waterfront and houses up to 590 students. There is currently no accredited accommodation for the partner colleges in Bury St Edmunds, Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.{{Cn|date=January 2023}}

The Union was formed on 1 August 2007, the same day the university was officially launched. The union represents the student body at the management level and it is composed of paid and unpaid students who are based at the Union office in the campus's East building. It provides support for its students and manages the university social calendar, with multiple events run during the academic weeks and special Freshers weeks at the beginning of each academic year.{{Cn|date=January 2023}}

The president and vice-president of the Union are elected every March from candidates from the student body; they take office for 12 months from July to July, overseeing the totality of one academic year. There is a current two-year maximum term for the positions.{{cn|date=December 2022}}

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| The_Guardian = 99

| Times/Sunday_Times = 124

| TEF = Bronze

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The University of Suffolk is a recently established university in the UK. Its current national ranking is low, however it has seen a rising number of new students from the UK and abroad. The university was ranked in the top 10 for Course and Lecturers in the WhatUni Student Choice Awards 2019, which was based on a survey of over 41,000 students nationwide, rising 60 places from the previous year.{{Cite web|last=Sandalls|first=Katy|date=8 March 2019|title=University of Suffolk shortlisted for award|url=https://www.ipswichstar.co.uk/news/whatuni-student-choice-award-shortlisting-for-university-of-suffolk-2836114|access-date=4 March 2021|website=Ipswich Star|language=en-UK|archive-date=5 September 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240905113005/https://widgets.outbrain.com/nanoWidget/externals/topics/topics.html?r=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ipswichstar.co.uk|url-status=live}}{{Better source needed|reason=More citation needed for this passage.|date=January 2023}}

• Leila Lopes – Miss Universe 2011

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://www.uos.ac.uk/ Official website]
• [https://www.uosunion.org/ University of Suffolk Union]

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{{Universities and colleges in the East of England}}

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Category:University of East Anglia

Category:University of Essex

Category:Buildings and structures in Ipswich

Category:Education in Ipswich

Category:2007 establishments in England

Category:Universities and colleges established in 2007

Suffolk