West London Institute of Higher Education
Encyclopedia
The West London Institute of Higher Education was located in Isleworth, West London, UK from 1976 until 1995 when it merged with Brunel University
.
in Southwark. As a College of Higher Education from 1976, West London received funding from local government, and it had to perform adequately in the higher education sector. It was placed under the direction of a geographer, Murie Robertson, who served as Vice-Principal. It awarded HNDs and undergraduate degrees (CNAA), and continued to train teachers. Operating over two campuses, one on St. Margaret's Road in East Twickenham, Middlesex
alongside the Thames River, and the other one north on the Great West Road in Osterley, Isleworth
. The Institute had a strong reputation for sport, and trained several star athletes, particularly in track and field sports and rugby. The Borough Road name persisted on the rugby field and on the sports strip.
. For its size and status (Higher Education colleges in the UK were not really expected to be high research performers), the Institute performed relatively well in research, with several Departments achieving national recognition in the Research Assessment Exercises of the 1980s and 1990s (1992 result here), and a few staff held national research awards from the ESRC and other bodies.
, Michael Sterling
, went amicably - WLIHE had expertise and subject areas that Brunel did not. In 1993 WLIHE ceased to exist - for the next two years, its campuses and departments were known as Brunel University College, under the stewardship of a Provost, Prof. Eric Billett; and then simply Brunel University from 1995. This status prevailed for about six years, before Brunel decided to centralise all of its operations on its Uxbridge campus, 8 miles away. By this time, many departments had already moved from Osterley to Uxbridge. The East Twickenham campus - which contains several older buildings and has a riverfront location - was sold off in 2005 and has largely been demolished and converted into housing. Gordon House is currently for sale for £15,000,000. The Osterley campus suffered the same fate in 2006 and is now a development of new and converted housing, the famous sports fields no longer operational.
The merger with Brunel was generally seen as a positive development by WLIHE staff, given the attraction of a University name for student recruitment and prestige. Almost all staff continued in their jobs, eventually moving to Uxbridge, although the greater expectation of research output at a 'proper' university forced a few into early retirement. In addition, Sterling's replacement, Stephen Schwartz
, later forced several Brunel staff into redundancy, closed the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, and merged several other groups. The Brunel merger ended most teacher-training activity. The subsequent sale of the two campuses is mourned, and the history slowly being erased in publicity material: for example in 2007, "Brunel celebrates the unification of the entire University on one campus for the first time in 25 years" with no mention of its lost assets. The Rambert Ballet School went independent in 2003, citing financial and creative reasons for this move.
Former staff of some renown include:
Brunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
.
Establishment
West London Institute was created in 1976 from the merger of Borough Road and Maria Grey teacher training colleges and Chiswick Polytechnic. Borough Road College, on the Osterley campus, dated back to 1889 in that location, and to 1804 in its previous home on Borough RoadBorough Road
Borough Road is in Southwark, London SE1. It runs east-west between St George's Circus and Borough High Street.- History and location :The route was created as part of the planning and road improvements associated with the completion of Westminster Bridge in 1750, to provide access to Southwark...
in Southwark. As a College of Higher Education from 1976, West London received funding from local government, and it had to perform adequately in the higher education sector. It was placed under the direction of a geographer, Murie Robertson, who served as Vice-Principal. It awarded HNDs and undergraduate degrees (CNAA), and continued to train teachers. Operating over two campuses, one on St. Margaret's Road in East Twickenham, Middlesex
Middlesex
Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...
alongside the Thames River, and the other one north on the Great West Road in Osterley, Isleworth
Isleworth
Isleworth is a small town of Saxon origin sited within the London Borough of Hounslow in west London, England. It lies immediately east of the town of Hounslow and west of the River Thames and its tributary the River Crane. Isleworth's original area of settlement, alongside the Thames, is known as...
. The Institute had a strong reputation for sport, and trained several star athletes, particularly in track and field sports and rugby. The Borough Road name persisted on the rugby field and on the sports strip.
The 1980s
By the 1980s the degree and diploma programmes at WLIHE were operating in a variety of disciplines. The Osterley campus was home to Business Studies, Social Work, Geography, Geology and Sports Studies, while the arts, music and and humanities were clustered a mile away at the old Maria Grey College site at East Twickenham. For a number of years the College was affiliated to The University Of London's INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION and therefore offered University of London degree courses. The courses offered were mostly joint honours awards in various combinations including: American Studies, Drama, Art, French, Business Studies, English Literature, Geography, Geology, History, Physiotherapy, Social Work, Music and Sports Studies. By the 1990s a few Masters programmes were also offered, for example in Social Work, and Environmental Change. A small number of PhDs were also awarded across the disciplines. The British and Foreign Schools Society http://www.bfss.org.uk/ kept an archive and ran a National Religious Education Centre on the Osterley site. The Twickenham site also contained a ballet and dance school, the RambertRambert Dance Company
Rambert Dance Company, is a leading British dance company. Formed at the start of the 20th century as a classical ballet company, it would exert a great deal of influence on the development of dance in the United Kingdom, and today, as a contemporary dance company, it continues to be one of the...
. For its size and status (Higher Education colleges in the UK were not really expected to be high research performers), the Institute performed relatively well in research, with several Departments achieving national recognition in the Research Assessment Exercises of the 1980s and 1990s (1992 result here), and a few staff held national research awards from the ESRC and other bodies.
The merger with Brunel University
For this reason a merger approach by the Vice Chancellor of Brunel UniversityBrunel University
Brunel University is a public research university located in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom. The university is named after the Victorian engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel....
, Michael Sterling
Michael Sterling
Professor Michael Sterling FREng began his career as an electrical engineer in 1964 joining AEI as a student apprentice with a scholarship to the University of Sheffield to read electronic and electrical engineering, graduating with a 1st class honours degree and subsequently a PhD in computer...
, went amicably - WLIHE had expertise and subject areas that Brunel did not. In 1993 WLIHE ceased to exist - for the next two years, its campuses and departments were known as Brunel University College, under the stewardship of a Provost, Prof. Eric Billett; and then simply Brunel University from 1995. This status prevailed for about six years, before Brunel decided to centralise all of its operations on its Uxbridge campus, 8 miles away. By this time, many departments had already moved from Osterley to Uxbridge. The East Twickenham campus - which contains several older buildings and has a riverfront location - was sold off in 2005 and has largely been demolished and converted into housing. Gordon House is currently for sale for £15,000,000. The Osterley campus suffered the same fate in 2006 and is now a development of new and converted housing, the famous sports fields no longer operational.
The merger with Brunel was generally seen as a positive development by WLIHE staff, given the attraction of a University name for student recruitment and prestige. Almost all staff continued in their jobs, eventually moving to Uxbridge, although the greater expectation of research output at a 'proper' university forced a few into early retirement. In addition, Sterling's replacement, Stephen Schwartz
Steven Schwartz (vice-chancellor)
Steven Schwartz is an American and Australian academic and the current Vice Chancellor of Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia. He was previously Vice Chancellor of Brunel University in the UK and of Murdoch University in Western Australia....
, later forced several Brunel staff into redundancy, closed the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, and merged several other groups. The Brunel merger ended most teacher-training activity. The subsequent sale of the two campuses is mourned, and the history slowly being erased in publicity material: for example in 2007, "Brunel celebrates the unification of the entire University on one campus for the first time in 25 years" with no mention of its lost assets. The Rambert Ballet School went independent in 2003, citing financial and creative reasons for this move.
Alumni
- Caroline Strong, English stage and screen actress.
- Ian Taylor (1976) GB Hockey goalkeeper and Olympic gold medalist
- Kevin Browring (1978) Wales National Ruby Union coach
- Kathy Smallwood-Cook (1981) 13 medals at the Olympics, World, European and Commonwealth Games in athletics
- Paul Stimpson (1981) GB and England Basketball Captain and most capped player of all time
- Paul HoneyfordPaul HoneyfordPaul Honeyford is an English biographer and writer who has worked on a number of music and sport related materials. His biography of Paul Weller's band The Jam was the first such biography, written in consultation with the band at a time when they were at the peak of their success...
, a successful author and linguist - Richard Hill (flanker)Richard Hill (flanker)Richard Hill MBE is a former rugby union footballer who played flanker for Saracens and England.Often portrayed as the 'silent assassin' at both club and international level, his effective and abrasive style of forward play has made him legendary in rugby union circles...
Rugby international cap. - Ian Tullett (1991) Commonwealth Games silver medal; pole jump
- Olympic athlete Iwan ThomasIwan ThomasIwan Gwyn Thomas MBE is a sprinter who represented Great Britain and Northern Ireland at the Olympic Games in the 400 m, and Wales at the Commonwealth Games. Thomas is the current UK record holder at 400 m with a time of 44.36 seconds and is a former European and Commonwealth games champion...
, Silver medallist for 400m at the Commonwealth Games (2002); European 400m Champion (1998), Gold medallist in the 4 x 400m team at the European Championships (1998); Silver medalist in the 4 x 400m Relay at the Olympics (1996) and a member of the winning 4 x 400m relay team at the World Championships (1997) - Dave HeavenDave HeavenDavid Andrew Rhys Heaven is a Welsh-descended musician of some renown with a focus on smooth jazz and fusion. Songs such as Midnight Dean Street, Do It Again and Moonflower brought him to the attention of guitarist Pete Downes who invited him to play with PD3, a jazz group with significant and...
, a musician. - Jason Wing. Olympic Bobsleigh team
- Courtney Rumbolt. Olympic Bobsleigh team & Bronze medallist from 1998 Winter Olympics (Nagano)
- Dave Rotheram. St Helen's RL coach and Scotland RL Coach
- Steven Callow. Professional rugby League player with Fulham RL
- Roddy Smith. Scotland Cricket. CEO of Scotland Cricket
- Bill Wynn. GB and England Decathlete
- Jamie Quarry. Decathlete and Bronze medallist from Commonwealth Games 2002 (Manchester)
- Fraser Lewry. Author of the book "Kittenwar", The GuardianThe GuardianThe Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
newspaper food writer and music journalist
Former staff of some renown include:
- Prof. Bill McGuire, UCL, geologist, TV presenter and author
- Prof. Iain Stewart, University of Plymouth, earth sciences television presenter and geologist http://www.plymouth.ac.uk/pages/dynamic.asp?page=staffdetails&id=istewart&size=l
- Prof. David Marsland, "new right" sociologist.
- Prof. Della Fish, Professor of Education, Swansea University
- Prof. Christine Bold, School of English & Theatre Studies, University of Guelph, Canada