Coventry University

We are a forward-looking, modern university with a proud tradition as a provider of high quality education and a focus on applied research. Our students benefit from state-of-the-art equipment and facilities in all academic disciplines including health, design and engineering laboratories, performing arts studios and computing centres. We have been chosen to host three national Centres of Excellence in Teaching and Learning which has enabled us to invest substantial sums of money in health, design and mathematics. Our city-centre campus is continually developing and evolving, and we have plans for further investment in it over the next few years. We are a major presence in Coventry, which contributes to the city's friendly and vibrant atmosphere and also enables us to foster successful business partnerships. Through our links with leading edge businesses and organisations in the public and voluntary sectors, our students are able to access project and placement opportunities that enhance their employability on graduation.Coventry University is a public research university in Coventry, England. The origins of Coventry University can be traced back to the founding of the Coventry School of Design in 1843. It was known as Lanchester Polytechnic from 1970 until 1987, and then as Coventry Polytechnic until the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 afforded its university status that year and the name was changed to Coventry University.With more than 29,000 undergraduate and almost 6,000 postgraduate students in 2019, Coventry is the larger of the two universities in the city, the other being the University of Warwick. It is the UK's fastest growing university and the country's sixth largest overall, being the fourth largest outside of London. It has two principal campuses: one in the centre of Coventry where the majority of its operations are located, and one in Central London which focuses on business and management courses. Coventry also governs their other higher education institutions CU Coventry, CU Scarborough and CU London, all of which market themselves as an "alternative to mainstream higher education". Its four faculties, which are made up of schools and departments, run around 300 undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Across the university there are 11 research centres which specialise in different fields, from agroecology and peace studies to future of transport. In 2017, the university gained a Gold in the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). Coventry is a member of the University Alliance mission group.Our visionA global Education Group with a reputation for equity and innovation that empowers students and communities to transform their lives and society through teaching, learning, research and enterprise.Our missionOur mission - Creating Better Futures embodies our purpose, defining the diverse nature of Coventry University Group, from delivering inclusive and impactful global education for our learners, to addressing societal challenges through our research and innovation.Our values Our values are our identity; driven forward by our people to help bring our mission, vision and strategy to life. They inform our practice and decision making and are essential for addressing challenges and opportunities. We have shaped our values to be enduring and strategic, emphasising our distinctive qualities and reflecting our aspirations.The origins of Coventry University can be traced back to the founding of the Coventry School of Design in 1843. Later renamed the Coventry School of Art, it was again renamed in the early 20th century to the Municipal Art School as part of the Education Act 1902. One final name change took place in the 1950s, when it became known as the College of Art. In the late 1950s, to address the need for a high level of technical training which the existing Coventry Technical College (now City College Coventry) could not meet, the construction of a new institution began. Opened in 1961, it was called the Lanchester College of Technology, named after the car engineer Frederick Lanchester.In 1970, the Lanchester College of Technology and the College of Art, along with the Rugby College of Engineering Technology in the neighbouring town of Rugby, amalgamated to form Lanchester Polytechnic. The institution was designated as such in February 1971 by then Education Secretary Margaret Thatcher. The name Lanchester gave the institution a certain degree of obscurity (it was often confused with both Lancaster and Manchester), notably when none of the contestants on the BBC Radio 4 general knowledge show Brain of Britain could give its correct location. The polytechnic cancelled its graduation ceremony in 1974 following the Birmingham pub bombings in fear that public gatherings could be targeted; the ceremony was eventually held in 2009, 35 years later. Lanchester Polytechnic was renamed "Coventry Polytechnic" in 1987, and when the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 afforded Coventry Polytechnic university status that year, the name was changed to Coventry University.In 2010, a campus in London was established to further attract international students to the university. In 2012 "Coventry University College" was set up within the main university campus, offering qualifications up to degree-level at a lower cost compared to typical university fees. As of 2017 Coventry is the highest-ranked modern university in the UK in both the Guardian University Guide – in which it ranks 12th overall – and the Complete University Guide. It also places in the top 200 in the Times Higher Education Young University Rankings 2017, which ranks universities around the world that are aged 50 years or under. In July 2017, the university announced Margaret Casely-Hayford as its new chancellor, replacing Sir John Egan. The campus in Coventry is undergoing a £430 million investment programme for the period up to 2022, with a new £37 million science and health building and £73 million student accommodation complex – opened in 2017 and 2018 respectively – central to the development scheme. In September 2019, Coventry purchased the 22-acre farm Ryton Organic Gardens from the charity Garden Organic, who remains on site as a tenant along with the Heritage Seed Library and a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) scheme '5-Acre CSA' sitting alongside the university's own Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience.Coventry currently occupies a purpose-built 33-acre (13 ha) campus in Coventry City Centre adjacent to Coventry Cathedral and the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum. It occupies a mix of new purpose-built buildings, converted structures, and those inherited from its predecessor institutions.The centrepiece of the campus is The Hub, an award-winning building which opened in August 2011. The Hub is the home of the Coventry University Students’ Union, student support services, a bar/nightclub, a food hall and food outlets which are catered by Sodexo In September 2012, a new £55 million engineering building was opened, with facilities such as a full-scale Harrier jump jet, a wind tunnel and flight simulators. The Hub was awarded a BREEAM 'excellent' rating and between them The Hub and the engineering building feature sustainable initiatives such as grey-water harvesting, a biomass boiler and a green roof. The opening of the buildings marks the first stage of a £160 million redevelopment plan of the campus phased over 15 years.Coventry's £20 million library opened in 2000 and is on the outskirts of the campus. It was officially opened by Princess Anne in September 2001 and contains over 2,000 print periodicals, 350,000 monographs, and more than 6,000 video tapes, audio tapes and films. The library has a distinctive turreted exterior and has won awards for its interior design which features a light distribution system to make the most of natural light throughout the building. There are two converted buildings on the campus. A former car engine factory built in 1910 located next to the university's library now houses the Coventry Business School, and a cinema built in 1880 on Jordan Well is currently home to the School of Media and Performing Arts, now part of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and formerly part of the Coventry School of Art and Design.To the south of the main campus is the 20-acre (8.1 ha) Coventry University Technology Park, a business park owned by Coventry University Enterprises Limited, a commercial subsidiary of the university, and through which several of the university's commercial subsidiary operations provide business services to local and national organisations. Tenants of the park are small businesses which receive support from the university and are allowed access to the university's library. The park is also home to conference facilities at the TechnoCentre building, the Coventry and Warwickshire New Technology Institute, which works with companies to address skills shortages in ICT and advanced technology,[citation needed] and a digital lab for serious game and other technology development. Coventry has adopted a policy of naming its buildings after people or organisations with a significant local or regional impact. These include former Coventry-based automotive company Armstrong Siddeley; Shakespearean actress Ellen Terry; Coventry-based automotive pioneer Frederick Lanchester; Victorian novelist, critic and poet George Eliot; the father of the bicycle industry James Starley (building demolished in early 2020); former MP for Coventry East and political journalist Richard Crossman; artist Graham Sutherland; and founder of the Morris Motors automotive manufacturer William Morris

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