Sheffield Hallam University


Sheffield Hallam University is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England and one of the UK's largest and most diverse universities. It is based on two sites; the City Campus is located in the city centre near Sheffield railway station, while the Collegiate Crescent Campus is about two miles away in the Broomhall Estate off Ecclesall Road in south-west Sheffield.
The university is the largest university in the UK with students, 4,494 staff and 708 courses.

History

Foundation and growth

In 1843 as the industrial revolution gathered pace and Sheffield was on the verge of becoming the steel, tool and cutlery making capital of the world, the Sheffield School of Design was founded following lobbying by artist Benjamin Haydon. The day-to-day running was controlled by the local council, whilst the Board of Trade in London appointed the head. Tuition began in a 60x40ft rented room off Glossop Road. In 1850 the School of Design was renamed Sheffield School of Art.
In 1905 the City of Sheffield Training College on Collegiate Crescent admitted its first 90 students. During the First World War, the Collegiate Hall was requisitioned by the War Office to create the 3rd Northern General Hospital, a facility for the Royal Army Medical Corps to treat military casualties.
In 1967 the Owen Building was constructed. Built in a functional 1960s design, it has since been modernised and comprehensively renovated with an atrium linking it to four adjacent buildings. In 1969 the Sheffield School of Design merged with the city's College of Technology to form Sheffield Polytechnic. In 1976 Sheffield Polytechnic merged with the city's two teacher training colleges and was renamed Sheffield City Polytechnic. In 1987 Sheffield City Polytechnic became a founding member of the Northern Consortium.

University status to present day

In 1992 Sheffield City Polytechnic became Sheffield Hallam University, with the right to award its own degrees.
In 2005 SHU was reorganised into four faculties. The new Faculty of Development and Society, with an emphasis on 'people, places and spaces', brought together education, geography, humanities, law, and social sciences. At the same time, with the intention of further developing research and teaching in the new Faculty of Health and Wellbeing, a new Clinical Academic Group was launched. The building that had been designed and constructed to house the National Centre for Popular Music became the university's students' union building. The Nelson Mandela Building, the former students' union building, was sold and has since been demolished.
In 2007 SHU took over the teaching of nursing and midwifery from the University of Sheffield. These activities are now based at the Collegiate Crescent Campus. The following year the Psalter Lane campus was closed, and the activities transferred to the City Campus. The £26 million energy-efficient Furnival Building opened in September. The building, which includes teaching spaces and an art gallery has been described as "the impressive new entry point to the campus".

Organisation and governance

Colleges

In 2020, the University relaunched its structure moving away from four faculties and re-organising academic departments into colleges.
College of Business, Technology and Engineering

Formerly known as the Sheffield Business School and prior to that the Faculty of Organisation and Management
College of Social Sciences and Arts

Formerly known as the Faculty of Science, Technology and incorporating parts of the old Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities and prior to this as the Faculty of Arts, Computing, Engineering and Sciences
College of Health, Wellbeing and Life Sciences

Formerly the Faculty of Health and Wellbeing

Research centres

Through the research centres a number of spin-off companies have been formed, including:
British barrister, broadcaster, and life peer of the House of Lords Helena Kennedy was installed as Chancellor in a ceremony at Cutlers' Hall on Thursday 26 July 2018.

Lifelong Learning Network

SHU is the lead partner for Higher Futures, the Lifelong Learning Network for South Yorkshire, North Derbyshire and North Nottinghamshire.

Rankings and reputation

In the National Student Survey, several subject areas at SHU have performed very well in terms of overall student satisfaction with their courses: for example, architecture and geography have both been placed first, and planning has been placed second.
In the 2013/14 university league tables, Sheffield Hallam University was placed 73rd out of 116 UK universities by The Guardian University Guide; 62nd out of 123 by The Times & Sunday Times Good University Guide; and 66th out of 124 by the Complete University Guide. In 2019, it ranked 485th among the universities around the world by SCImago Institutions Rankings.
Hallam received a First Class award and was ranked 15th out of 151 universities in the People & Planet University League 2015 which assesses universities on their environmental credentials. In 2020, the University was awarded The Times and Sunday Times University of the Year award for teaching quality.

Notable alumni

Jones, materials scientist and inventor in advanced ceramics and metals, Principal Research Fellow