Leeds Metropolitan University

From Free net encyclopedia

Leeds Metropolitan University is a University with campuses in Leeds and Harrogate, Yorkshire. It came into existence as a chartered university in 1992; prior to this date it was known as Leeds Polytechnic.

Leeds Polytechnic was formed in 1970 from the amalgamation of four colleges. These were:

Leeds College of Technology. This was originally founded in 1824 as Leeds Mechanics' Institute and in 1868 became the Leeds Institute of Science, Art and Literature, later renamed Leeds College of Technology.
Leeds College of Commerce (founded in 1845)
Part of Leeds College of Art (founded in 1846), the remaining part becoming Jacob Kramer College
Yorkshire College of Education and Home Economics, originally founded in 1874 as the Yorkshire Training School of Cookery.

In the early 1950s the four colleges were housed on a central site and in 1970 were merged to form Leeds Polytechnic. In 1976 James Graham College and the City Of Leeds and Carnegie College of Physical Education joined Leeds Polytechnic.

The City of Leeds and Carnegie College was itself formed when two institutions were merged in 1968:

City of Leeds College of Education (founded in 1907 as City of Leeds Training College)
Carnegie Physical Training College (founded in 1933)

In 1998 a merger with Harrogate College established its Harrogate campus. Its first logo was an owl (the symbol of Leeds City) mid-flight with a plant stem in its beak. In a rebranding exercise instituted by Vice Chancellor Simon Lee, this was replaced in 2004 by a rose. The university was also renamed Leeds Met (previously LMU). The descision to replace the owl proved controversial with staff and public, who saw the logo as a symbol of the universities close relationship with the city. Despite objections, the rose symbol remains in place.

Its Leeds campuses comprise a number of buildings in the city centre called the 'Civic Quarter' and a large site in Beckett Park in the suburbs known as the 'Headingley Campus', which was a teacher training college and housed the Carnegie College of Physical Education, now known as the Carnegie Faculty of Sports and Education. Beckett Park will become the university's main campus. Brunswick Terrace houses Civil Engineering, though is to be sold off soon. Much redevelopment will take place in the next three years, with a new 20 storey Education Centre opening in 2008, being the tallest building in Leeds.

Professor Simon Lee is the Vice-Chancellor of the university. On July 11th 2005 Brendan Foster took over as Chancellor from Leslie Silver OBE, the former Leeds United chairman. The university recently opened a multi-million pound Learning Centre building named in honour of Leslie Silver.

In 2004 the university announced that it would not charge the full rate of £3000 per year for tuition fees from September 2006, unlike most other universities in the country. Recently it has established closer links with Bradford College in Bradford and intends to validate some of Bradford College's higher education courses.

The Student Union has the Met Bar and the Metceno. Headingley Campus has the Becketts Sports Bar and Cafe. Leeds Met students make sure the brewery distribution network is kept busy.

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