University of the West of Scotland

University of Paisley

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Type	Public
Established	1897
Chancellor	Sir Robert Smith
Principal	Professor Seamus McDaid
Chairman of the Court	Professor Bob Beaty
Students	13,155
Location	Paisley , Scotland
Website	http://www.paisley.ac.uk/

The University of Paisley operates across three campus sites in the west and south-west of Scotland: Paisley, Ayr and Dumfries.

Founded in 1897 it has offered a changing profile of mainly vocational courses. Paisley was granted University status in 1992. The University currently has approximately 13,000 students and 1,300 staff on around 100 undergraduate and postgraduate courses spread across seven schools.

Mainly due to partnerships with foreign universities, the international population has greatly increased in recent years and this trend is set to continue. This is especially true of China, with a 40% increase on the previous year in academic session 2005/06).

History

In common with other colleges that became Central Institutions that have in turn become Universities, Paisley was influenced by, and constructed from long-standing and diverse educational predecessors.

These include the Philosophical Institution, (1808) of which Thomas Coats (local industrialist) was a keen member and benefactor and the School of Arts, (1836), which was succeeded by the School of Design (1846). In 1852 Schools of Design in Britain were renamed Schools of Art, then renamed again as Schools of Art and Science.

The renamed College funded a new building with gifts from local industrialists (including Peter Brough, and Thomas Coats). An architectural competition was held and Princess Louise laid the foundation stone in 1897. From the early 1900s the college was a centre for teaching the London University external degree programme.

The College had a financial struggle to retain its independence from central and local Government as Paisley Technical College and School of Art (from 1904).

Central Institution Status meant closing the school of Art (ceding students to Glasgow School of Art) but it had become a financial necessity. It became Paisley Technical College, a Government funded Central Institution in 1950.

In the 1960s a large physical expansion took place on the main 20 acre (81,000 m²) Paisley town centre site. Paisley in common with other Central Institutions and the former Polytechnics offered a range of degrees under the Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA).

In 1992 (along with English Polytechnics and most Scottish Central Institutions) it was granted the title University. This prompted a merger with Craigie Teacher Training College in Ayr, an incorporation of Nursing colleges, and the setting up of a joint venture with the University of Glasgow on a new campus site in Dumfries.

University of the West of Scotland?

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The University of Paisley is currently pursuing a merger with Bell College (Hamilton, Lanarkshire). This merger would create one of the largest Universities in Scotland with around 17,000 students- based over 4 campuses (Paisley, Hamilton, Ayr and Dumfries).

The University of Paisley consulted widely on a new name for the merged institution. Understadably, there has been some local opposition in the town of Paisley to the removal of 'Paisley' from the name of the university.

In November 2006 the proposed merged University name was "The University of the West of Scotland". This is awaiting confirmation from the office of the First Minister of Scotland, due spring 2007.

Schools

The University of Paisley is organised into seven schools:

• Paisley Business School
• Computing
• Education
• Engineering & Science
• Health, Nursing & Midwifery
• Media, Language & Music
• Social Sciences

The University offers over 100 degree courses at undergraduate and postgraduate level. It also carries out research and consultancy work for industry. Many courses at the University of Paisley have an emphasis on vocational skills and offer students the option of spending a year working in industry and home or abroad.

External links

• University of Paisley website
• University of Paisley Students' Association website
• Bell College website