Canterbury Christ Church
University is a university
in Canterbury
, Kent
, England
.
History
Christchurch College was founded in 1962 by the Church of England.
It was established to meet the needs of church schools at a time of
teacher shortage.
Classes were originally held in the Priory
adjacent to St Martin's Church
, a unique building which had been the private home
of a recent Bishop of
Dover.
The campus for Christ Church College was constructed on North
Holmes Road, Canterbury, on land which had once been used for
orchards and domestic buildings of the adjacent St Augustine's
Abbey, part of Canterbury's World Heritage Site.
In the early 1970s, the first degree programme, the
Bachelor of Education, was
established. In 1977 the College began to offer
joint honours degrees in other subjects. In
the late 1980s the College was substantially enlarged by the
addition of
Health Studies.
In 1995, the College was awarded the power by the
Privy Council to
grant its own degrees for taught courses, which entitled the change
of name to Canterbury Christ Church University College.
In 2000 the Broadstairs campus was opened and in 2004 the Medway
campus was opened.
The award of University title in 2005 recognised both the
successful delivery of high quality degree programmes and the
achievements of students and staff, who underwent the same
processes and assessments as those at other universities.
The
Archbishop of
Canterbury was subsequently appointed, by virtue of office, as
Canterbury Christ Church University's Chancellor, the honorary head
of the institution. The inauguration of the University and the
installation of Dr
Rowan Williams as
Chancellor took place in a ceremony at Canterbury Cathedral in
December 2005.
More recently the University has attracted publicity due to its
controversial policy to forbid civil partnership ceremonies to take
place at its properties. This decision by the University's
governing body has now since been reversed.
In
September 2007 the University opened a campus in Folkestone (known
as University Centre Folkestone) in collaboration with the University of
Greenwich
.
Faculties
Teaching and research work is grouped within the five faculties
- Arts and Humanities
- Business and Management
- Education
- Health and Social Care
- Social and Applied Sciences
Each faculty is led by a Pro-Vice Chancellor and/or a Dean of
Faculty, who reports directly to the Vice Chancellor
The University is well-known as one of the UK’s top providers of
Teacher Education in the University sector and recent external
assessments of teaching and learning activities resulted in fifteen
subjects being awarded a rating equivalent to 'excellent'.
Campuses
As well as the original Canterbury site on North Holmes Road,a few
minutes walk to the city centre, the University has three other
significant sites in the city - Augustine House, Hall Place
Enterprise Centre and The Sidney Cooper Gallery and Grapevine
Gallery.
It also has a further three campuses in Kent
- at Broadstairs
, Tunbridge
Wells
and Medway, where their
facility is part of the Universities at Medway
partnership.
The main campus contains 6 main student buildings: Fynden, Thorne,
Davidson, Lang & Temple. These are considered amongst the best
accommodation the university offers due to its proximity to the
lecture buildings.
In 2000, Canterbury Christ Church acquired the lease of the Sidney
Cooper Centre in Canterbury city centre, originally established as
an art school by the renowned cattle painter Thomas Sidney Cooper
in 1868. Canterbury Christ Church art students moved into the
building in December 2002, taking it back to its original use as an
art school. In 2004, the refurbished gallery space opened to the
public. The gallery exhibits Canterbury Christ Church staff and
student work, as well as work by local, national and international
artists. The Grapevine Gallery and cafe opened to the public in
September 2006, selling affordable artwork by students and staff,
as well as providing internet cafe facilities.
In 2003-2004, two major buildings were acquired in Canterbury – a
large office block formerly known as Clarkson House was demolished
and replaced by Augustine House, a new building that was designed
by architectural practice ADP, and is the home of the University's
integrated library and student support services. The project was
completed in 2009.
Hall Place, a 16th century building in Harbledown, has been
renovated and renamed Hall Place Enterprise Centre. It is home to
the Centre for Enterprise and Business Development, the gateway for
business support and access to academic resources and training
programmes for small businesses.
Developments in Folkestone
In February 2004, Canterbury Christ Church opened The Sidney de
Haan Research Centre for Arts and Health in Folkestone as part of
the town’s new Creative Quarter. The Centre, which is the first
higher education venture in Folkestone, researches the link between
arts and health.The Folkestone People’s History Centre was opened
in November 2005.The Centre is a joint initiative between
Canterbury Christ Church, the Folkestone Creative Foundation, local
Folkestone historians and historical societies, archaeological
services, Kent County Council Arts and Libraries and the Local
Education Authority.The Centre will make history accessible and
meaningful to the people of Folkestone and its environs and provide
a base for strong academic research.The University Centre
Folkestone was opened in September 2007 in partnership with the
University of Greenwich.
The University has five campuses across Kent, located in
Canterbury, Medway, Broadstairs, Tunbridge Wells and
Folkestone.
North Holmes Campus
North Holmes Campus in Canterbury is the original site for the
University, which was established in 1962 as a teacher training
college. It now offers a broad and flexible range of undergraduate
and postgraduate programmes across four faculties: Arts and
Humanities; Business and Management; Education; Health and Social
Care and Social and Applied Sciences. The University is the largest
centre of higher education in Kent for the public services, notably
teacher training, nursing, social care and policing.
Medway Campus
Medway Campus opened in October 2004 as part of the Universities at
Medway partnership, which includes the three universities of
Canterbury Christ Church, Kent and Greenwich and Mid Kent
College.
Comprehensive programmes in health, education and policing are
offered at the Chatham Campus. The Campus has been equipped with a
mixture of teaching space, specialist facilities and staff
accommodation. It houses lecture theatres, seminar rooms, an open
access learning centre, computer laboratories and a full skills
laboratory floor with x-ray suite, occupational therapy facilities,
two hospital wards, a paediatric and midwifery suite and an
operating theatre.
Students and staff also have access to the new Learning Resources
Centre, which has been created in the former Drill Hall and is used
by all students from the Universities at Medway partnership.
Broadstairs Campus
The Broadstairs Campus opened in October 2000. Students study
subjects as diverse as commercial music, digital media, business,
police studies, computing, child and youth studies and early years
and nursing.
The wide range of teaching and learning facilities are in three
purpose-built buildings including areas with acoustic and sound
isolation specifications and a simulated hospital ward. Digital
media students benefit from digital video and sound production
facilities, editing suites, specialised computer animation
resources, web and multimedia authoring systems. Music students
utilise the campus’s 24 track recording studio, music computing
suite and performance facilities.
The campus has very strong links with local schools, colleges and
business. It works closely with
Kent
Police in the delivery of probationary training for all newly
appointed Kent Police Officers.
The Salomons Centre
The University acquired the Salomons Centre from the NHS in 1995.
The Centre, just outside Tunbridge Wells, is housed in a
substantial mansion, set in parkland.
Salomons has retained and built on its strong links with the Health
Service, local authorities, businesses and schools and offers an
extensive range of programmes, consultancy and research.
The Centre for Leadership and Management Development provides post
graduate Certificate/Diploma/Masters in leadership and management
development as well as bespoke programmes in this field. It is also
contracted by external organisations for consultancy work.
The Centre for Applied Social and Psychological Development offers
a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and a Post Graduate Certificate
in Primary Care Mental Health. It also provides training for local
NHS Trusts.
The Centre for Careers and Personal Development provides a
qualification in Careers Guidance and Masters in Careers,
Education, Development and Guidance. It also produces career
guidance material.
The Centre for Education Leadership and School Improvement (CELSI)
and the Quality in Study Support Unit (QISS) provide a Masters in
School Leadership and a Masters in Leadership and Management for
Learning. The teams are developing study support schemes for
disaffected pupils and a method to assure the quality of study
support.
University Centre Folkestone (UCF)
Canterbury Christ Church offers a range of programmes at the new
centre, which can be studied full time and part time. They include
Performing Arts; Visual Art and Professional Practice; Early Years
Education; Entrepreneurship (combined with a creative subject); and
Professional Development by Work Based Learning.UCF is based at the
refurbished 30,000sq ft Glassworks, a redundant industrial
building, just off Tontine Street, near Folkestone harbour. The
Glassworks is owned by the Creative Foundation, a charity
established by Roger De Haan to lead efforts to regenerate
Folkestone through the arts. The Glassworks is part of Folkestone’s
new Creative Quarter, a regeneration area being established around
the Old High Street and Tontine Street.
Notable alumni
References
External links
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