The university has its roots in the traditions of its four constituent colleges, all of which were founded in the 19th century as women's teacher training colleges:
Whitelands College – Founded in 1841, the college is one of the five oldest institutions for training educators in England. A flagship women's college of the Church of England, it was the first college of higher education in the UK to admit women. It occupies a 14-acre site overlooking Richmond Park.
Southlands College – Founded in 1872, the college derives its ethos from its Methodist foundation. It offers an open and valuable community for all of its members, and regularly organises a range of events and activities to help build and support the community.
Froebel College – Founded in 1892, the college was established to further the values of Friedrich Fröbel, the German educationalist who pioneered a holistic view of child development. It is one of the UK's major centres for initial teacher training.
All four colleges were founded to address the need to educate poor and disadvantaged children. In 1976, the four colleges joined to form the Roehampton Institute of Higher Education. Its first Rector was Kevin Keohane, the former Professor of Science Education at Chelsea College of Science and Technology.[3][4]
Since 2011, the university has been branded University of Roehampton. However, its legal name remains Roehampton University.[5] In 2012 the last college, Whitelands, was legally merged with the university, bringing all the colleges into a common management structure.[6]
The university opened a new library in 2017, designed by Feilden Clegg Bradley Studios.[8] The library houses the Jewish Resource Centre Collection,[9] the Centre for Marian Studies,[10] a collection of resources covering all matters regarding the Virgin Mary, the Queen's Archive, featuring material on authority and governance within the Roman Catholic Church in the UK and the Richmal Crompton Collection of books and archive material accumulated during the lifetime of the author Richmal Crompton (1890–1969).[11]
E-sports
The university has an e-sports arena, with 20 PCs as well as facilities for live streaming and video editing. The University of Roehampton was the first university in the UK to offer e-sports scholarships.[12]
In the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), Roehampton University was ranked first in the country for Dance and Biological Anthropology. Ten out of the fifteen subjects that submitted work included at least some proportion of research judged to be world-leading in terms of its originality and significance. 78% of all research undertaken at the university was of an international standard.[17]
According to Higher Education Funding Council for England's 2014 Research Excellence Framework (REF), the university is the most research-intensive post-1992 university in the UK. Roehampton submitted work by more than two-thirds of its academic staff, in 13 subject areas. This is the highest proportion of any post-1992 university. Dance was the top performing subject, with 94% of research rated 4* and 3* – making it the highest rated department in its subject area in the UK. Roehampton was also ranked 3rd in London for research quality in Education, and the 4th for English. In both Roehampton was the strongest performing university in London in these subject areas. Overall, 66 per cent Roehampton's research was judged either world leading or internationally excellent.[18][19]
In the REF 2021, 218 staff were submitted in 12 areas and were graded 3*-4* overall.[20]
In May 2022, 226 academics (almost half the academic staff at the University of Roehampton) received an email from Vice Chancellor, Professor Jean-Noël Ezingeard, informing them that their jobs were at risk. The email proposed wide-ranging restructuring and redundancies across the university. The proposed job losses target the arts and humanities and would devastate longstanding and acclaimed teaching and research in subject areas such as creative writing, drama, and classics. The Member of Parliament for Putney, Roehampton and Southfields, Fleur Anderson, wrote to Professor Ezingeard on 6 June 2022 expressing her concern over the proposed restructuring and redundancies. Amongst the concerns laid out by Anderson in her letter were that the university's proposals amount to the practice of 'fire and rehire'; that the proposals would have a negative impact on current and prospective students; and that the proposed restructuring of the university would limit working class education and opportunities, particularly in the creative fields.[21][22]
Roehampton Students' Union (RSU)
The RSU is the main organisation of student representation at the university. It is led by student officers elected by the student body, and aims to promote the interests and welfare of all those studying at Roehampton. It is also a focal point for social activities, and is responsible for organising events like the Summer Ball, Summer Ball being the biggest event of the academic year. Attracting over 2000 students and held on campus, the event attracts a variety of musical and entertainment acts.[23] The RSU also organises nights out in London, some of these consist of the Clapham grand once a month, fez club Putney on Wednesday nights and the unions special event the Bop hosted at the union bar. The Union itself has 12 different bars, cafes and restaurants spread around the campus.[24]
In September 2013 Roehampton Students' Union was awarded £226,900 from NUS Students' Green Fund for a sustainability initiative with a focus on urban food growing. The project is called Growhampton.[25] Growhampton runs a cafe, the Hive, alongside a regular market day,[26] where food produced by students and small local organisations is sold. In June 2015, Wandsworth Council awarded Growhampton funds[27] to launch a food education outreach programme, which now operates in Wandsworth schools, youth groups and community groups, with a focus on food growing. Growhampton also works directly with a local charities, including Regenerate and Paradise Co-op.[28]
The Union runs Fresh Network for student media.[29]
Dame Jacqueline Wilson was appointed Chancellor of the university in August 2014, succeeding the first Chancellor John Simpson (2004–2014). Jacqueline Wilson retired from the role in 2020.[33] She is also a Teaching Fellow, who teaches modules.[34]
The Vice-Chancellor of the university is Professor Jean-Noël Ezingeard, who succeeded Professor Paul O'Prey in May 2019. Former Vice-Chancellor O'Prey was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the Queen's 90th Birthday Honours list for his services to higher education and the literary history of the First World War.[35]
