University of Hertfordshire

History

• Post-war technical college (Hatfield), reincarnated as Hatfield College of Technology and Hatfield Polytechnic.
• Gained university status in 1992.
• A model 21st-century university, international business-facing and business-like in its approach.

Location and transport

• Sites in Hatfield, St Albans and Bayfordbury (a rural field station and observatory outside Hertford).
• The £120-million de Havilland campus opened in September 2003. Humanities and Education and Business are based on this campus.
• Good transport links to the rest of the UK, well located with London only 25 minutes by train to London King's Cross tube and rail station.
• Uno Bus, a University of Hertfordshire owned bus company, was set up by the university in 1992 to provide student transport to the expanding university from local areas as well as improving east-west travel across the county and opening up new links from North London.

Entry standards

• Applications welcome from those from non-traditional backgrounds and without formal qualifications. Applications are considered on an individual basis.
• More information on entry standards at the University of Hertfordshire is available online.

Student mix

• More than 27,500 students studying at the university.
• Over 5,200 international students from more than 130 countries enrolled across a range of degree courses.
• There are more than 99 different cultures represented on campus.
• The male to female ratio is 45:55.

Course flexibility

• Courses are up to date, relevant, and responsive to the needs of the students. All courses are devised with input from industry and the professions to create relevant degrees for employable graduates.
• Blended learning, work and industrial placements, part-time, full-time, distance and international learning.

Teaching standards

• An excellent reputation for learning and teaching, with accreditation by professional bodies for many of our courses.
• The university has been awarded a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Chair for Information and Computer Ethics; the fourteenth to be established in the UK.
• For seven consecutive years, members of staff have achieved lifelong Fellowship Awards as outstanding teachers, as part of the National Teaching Fellowship.
• The university's Collaborative Provision in April 2006 found that broad confidence can be placed in the university's present and likely future management of the academic standards of its awards made through collaborative arrangements.
• Shortlisted for the THE University of the Year Award in 2008 and for the University of the Year Award in 2009.
• Awarded the THE Entrepreneurial University of the Year award iin 2010.

Research standards

• The university has three research institutes: Health and Human Sciences Research Institute; Science and Technology Research Institute; Social Sciences, Arts and Humanities Research Institute. Also an expanding research profile with key strengths in areas of nursing, psychology, history, philosophy, physics and computer science.
• Over 470 research students enjoy benefits such as the free generic training program.
• Awarded the European Commission HR Excellence iin Research badge in 2010 and is now one of only 23 UK Universities with this accolade.

Academic strengths

• Centre for Excellence in Blended Learning awarded by the Higher Education Funding Council.
• Lifelong Fellowship Awards for our outstanding staff.
• The university's School of Pharmacy has just been awarded full Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain accreditation.
• Around 90% of our students secure full-time employment (or go into further study) shortly after graduation. Around 20% of them choose to work in Hertfordshire.

Student facilities, including library and computing

• Students are well served in information technology. The library and resource centre on the College Lane Campus is one of the country's largest, offering 24-hour access to hundreds of computer workstations.
• A second centre on the de Havilland campus provides another 1,100 workstations.
• The virtual learning environment has been a leader in its field, giving all staff and students their own storage space. Students can use it for study, revision or communication, as well as to access university information.
• A brand new nursery with 80 places for student and staff children.
• Graduate Futures, a professional service, opened last year helping students and graduates develop their careers throughout their lifetime.
• UHArts is an umbrella organisation promoting the arts and maximising the use of the university's arts venues, performance spaces and galleries for professional arts events.

Disability services

Students' union

• The Students' Union at the University of Hertfordshire represents all students in the university by organising campus activities and running different clubs and societies, from sports to entertainment.
• The main source of nightlife is the Forum, it offers the best live entertainment and club facilities available in Hertfordshire. With a total capacity of 2,000, the Forum is a sophisticated venue with three entertainment spaces, a restaurant, a cafe, multiple bars and onsite parking.
• The 'local pub' on campus, the revamped Ele house, holds comfy seats, big screen TVs, and pool tables providing a convenient location to socialise. Open daily from 11-11 with food served everyday.

Sport

• The £15-million Hertfordshire Sports Village, situated on the de Havilland campus, offers some of the best university-based sporting and fitness facilities.
• The 25-metre pool is rated in the country's top 50 and other facilities include a state-of-the-art gym and climbing wall.
• The Sports Village hosted 2008 Olympians for their pre Beijing training.
• There is a 12-court sports hall accommodating all indoor court sports, 3 artificial turf and 4 grass pitches, squash courts, a cricket hall and an aerobics studio.

Recent/prospective new builds

• Facilities include Film, Music and Media Building, a Health Reseach Building, which houses simulation laboratories and a training pharmacy, and the Maclaurin Building that houses the university's business facing activities.
• The university has acquired a world class research and development centre, BioPark in Hertfordshire. This has been taken over from Roche and provides a focal point for the regions bioscience and healthcare industries.
• Our range of foundation degrees encourages wider participation through links with four local FE colleges.
• The £38-m Forum opened in September 2009. The 8,000 square metre development is designed for students and the wider community housing a main auditorium, a club, and several bars. The new Student Forum is designed to be water efficient, energy saving and waste management effective.
• The university is ranked in the top 3 out of 133 universities in a league table of environmental performance (People and Planet Green League 2010).
• The new Law School opens in September 2011 on the university's de Havilland Campus.  It will host a fully functioning court room with a public gallery,  mediation centre, law clinic, café and a range of teaching rooms.

Availability of part-time work

• The Student Job Centre helps students to find part-time work.
• There are part-time employment opportunities in the local area including retail and office work as well as at the university, for example, working for its own arts organisation, as a student ambassador or EcoRep.

Notable alumni

• Helen Lederer – actress, comedian, writer and television and radio presenter.
• Alistair Spaling – chief executive and artistic director of Sadler's Wells Theatre.
• Nitin Sawhney – world-renowned music producer, songwriter, DJ, multi-instrumentalist, orchestral composer and cultural pioneer.
• Sir Stuart Matthews – 2010 Alumnus of the Year with a highly decorated 53-year career in the aviation industry.
• Frank Ogilvie – former aerodynamics director and deputy head of overall aircraft design for the Airbus A380 double-deck 'superjumbo jet'.
• Kate Bellingham – broadcaster, engineer, keynote speaker and Ambassador for Women in Engineering.
• Diane Maclean – world-renowned sculptor and environmental artist.
• Kevin Rideout – Asian Head of Equities, Citigroup.
• Matthew Saunders – entrepreneur, MD of the Fat Cat Group.
• Nicki Combarro – consultant physiotherapist for the English Institute of Sport and the London 2012 olympics and paralympics, owner of Bodybalance Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic.
• Betina Korshoj Anderson – currently developing a revolutionary foetal monitoring strap for use by midwives (Fetofit).
• Alyssa Smith – international jewellery designer and social media entrepreneur, resident entrepreneur at the Peter Jones Enterprise Academy in Hertfordshire, Theo Paphitis Small Business Sunday award winner, shortlisted iin both Shell's Women of the Future Entrepreneur of the Year 2012 award and the Lloyds TSB Enterprise awards.