Solent University


Solent University is a public university based in Southampton, United Kingdom. It has approximately 11,000 students. Its main campus is located on East Park Terrace near the city centre and the maritime hub of Southampton.
Solent University students are represented by Solent Students' Union, which is based on the East Park Terrace campus.

History

The university's origins can be traced back to a private School of Art founded in 1856, which eventually became the Southampton College of Art. Mergers with the Southampton College of Technology, and later the College of Nautical Studies at Warsash, led to the establishment of the Southampton Institute of Higher Education in 1984.
Southampton Institute became a university on 12 July 2005, adopting the name Southampton Solent University on 15 August 2005. Prior to 2005, Southampton Institute provided assistance to Nottingham Trent University in its provision of business focused degrees, relating to accountancy, finance and professional ACCA qualifications. Some Nottingham Trent University certificates included Southampton Institute/Solent University stamps to indicate this agreement. In 2015 the University came to an agreement with New College of the Humanities, London whereby it will validate some of their degrees. In November 2017, the Privy Council approved the change of name of Southampton Solent University to Solent University, with effect from 2018.

Campus

Solent University has three primary locations: City, Warsash and Timsbury Lake. The City campus is in the centre of Southampton, on the east side of East Park. This campus broadly includes the Sir James Matthews building, which is situated on the far side of the park. Part of the Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering is on the eastern bank of the Hamble River overlooking Southampton Water, while Timsbury Lake is located in Timsbury.

Halls of residence

The University has five major student Halls complexes:
All the halls are located a short walk away from the main teaching buildings. They are all located south east of the city centre, between the St Mary's and Ocean Village areas of the Southampton.

Academic profile

Solent University is a comprehensive University offering programmes across five academic Schools, including the School of Art, Design and Fashion; Business, Law and Communications; Media Arts and Technology; Sport, Health and Social Sciences and through its Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering. Solent's maritime courses have been ranked among the best in the world. The University generally has a growing reputation, and have been climbing the major league tables year on year - most recently reaching 81st place in the Guardian League Table in 2019.
The University also has strong links with local and regional businesses, professional bodies and industry groups, all with a focus on providing the best routes into the workforce.
The student yachting team has often consisted of Olympians and are previous world champions.

Research

The University also has a dedicated Research, Innovation and Enterprise Office, providing cohesive support for research and innovation through a researcher development programme and the Research, Innovation and Knowledge Exchange Awards.

Creative and digital industries

Solent has a strong record of research and innovation in the creative industries, with a focus on the fields of visual art and culture, music industries, screen research, and communications and creative writing.
Rapidly developing research areas in creative and immersive technologies, such as virtual reality and augmented reality, are driving innovative research forward. We cover the range of the design process from inception through prototyping, to implementation and user experience and usability.

Business and society

Working with private, public and third sector industries, Solent focuses on research areas such as marketing, the ‘visitor economy’, SME partnerships, international economic development, entrepreneurship and innovation, and cyber-crime. A particular focus is social policy in relation to employment, gender, and diversity in areas ranging from maritime and seafarers, to music and culture.

Sport, health and wellbeing

Solent University has emerged as a leading provider of academic programmes relating to the study of sport, health and wellbeing. These programmes are informed by cutting-edge research in areas such as sports science, sports development, the sociology of sport, psychology, health and wellbeing, and social care.
A focus of current research is how sport can be used as a vehicle for social change. Research in sports science focuses on strength and conditioning, the physiological basis of human performance in a range of sub-elite and elite sporting environments, and the psychology of the coaching process. The University is also recognised as one of the leading centres for football-based research.

Maritime, technology and environment

Historically, one of the key research strengths of Solent has been in maritime, with its long history and association with shipping, ports and seafarer training through Warsash Maritime Academy, now the Warsash School of Maritime Science and Engineering. The focus is on applied research and innovation that makes a real impact on industry, including a specific focus on maritime education and training, employment, health and safety, gender, and welfare.
We also have a developing area of research relating to sustainability and resilience, including environmental accounting, life cycle assessment; environmental impacts, and modelling. Other areas of research include materials science and additive manufacturing; acoustics; computer networks, immersive technologies, multimedia communication, and software engineering; as well as sustainable design and the built environment. It also hosts the China Centre.

Student life

Student media

The student media outlets at Solent University are covered by the umbrella brand of 'Sonar Media'. These outlets are considered Special Status Societies within the Students' Union and are run entirely by students. The four societies under the brand include Radio Sonar, the student radio station; SonarTV, the student television station; Sonar Magazine, the student magazine; and Sonar Film, the student-run cinema. Solent's University Life has been featured in several The Daily Touch articles - courtesy of StudentCrowd.

TV station

The student-run Television Station operated under the name SonarTV. The station was founded in 2009 as part of the student media rebrand within the Students' Union. SonarTV are the only outlet within the university that can affiliate with NaSTA, and in 2012 was selected to be joint host for the first ever NaSTAvision broadcast with Staffs TV of Staffordshire University. At the 2013 NaSTA Awards, they placed 3rd for Best Broadcaster in the 40th annual edition of the NaSTA Awards, hosted by XTV of Exeter University.

Radio station

The student run Radio Station is called Radio Sonar. The University radio station was founded by Giacomo Shimmings in 1998 and was originally known as Sin FM. the name came from the first 28-day FM radio licence held by the station. After applying for a Low Powered AM licence, the station changed its name to Sin Radio and at the same time became an online radio station. The name of the station was changed in 2009 to Radio Sonar. The rename was in conjunction with all Student Union media, part of Sonar Media rebrand. Radio Sonar has won the prestigious "Outstanding Contribution to Student Radio" at the National Student Radio Conference in 2010 and again in 2011. in 2012 Mel Lewis won Best Female Presenter. The current station manager is Danny Humby. Radio Sonar was nominated in the 2014 SRA awards for 'Best Chart Show' and achieved 3rd place.

Sport

The university has a long tradition of achieving at sailing and has won the student national yachting championships on numerous occasions.

Criticism

The university has been the subject of media criticism in the past, being featured on BBC South's investigative programme Inside Out for rewarding students pass grades for poor standards of work. Independent experts questioned in the film asked whether some of those having work passed as satisfactory were ready to study at university at all and whether courses were 'remedial'.

Notable alumni