Harper Adams University


Harper Adams University is a public university located close to the village of Edgmond, near Newport, in Shropshire, England. Established in 1901, the university is a specialist provider of higher education for the agricultural and rural sector.
The university provides more than 50 foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes to students from over 30 countries. The university is set within a 550 hectare working farm.

History

"Harper Adams College", which would become the University, was founded in 1901. Its first Principal was Headworth Foulkes. Thomas Harper Adams, a wealthy Shropshire gentleman farmer, died in 1892, bequeathing the estate with was the original foundation. The College had just six students to begin with.
In 1909 a specialist poultry husbandry was created.
During the First World War, Harper Adams remained open, and in 1915 the first women were admitted into the College on wartime farm courses. Harper Adams was the first institute to do so, and in 1916 women were admitted as full-time students onto a wide variety of courses. Approximately, 200 staff and former students served during the war and 40 are known to have died as a result. In 2015, 10 additional names were added to the university's memorial board, after previously unrecorded alumni were also discovered to been killed in action. A board in the Old Library listing the names of those killed was dedicated in March 2015, crafted by Peter Nunn of the university's estate department, whilst a new memorial garden was also created outside the library.
The agricultural depression of the 1920s onward led to a drop in student numbers. In 1922, Charles Crowther became Principal and efforts were taken to ensure the College stayed open. The National Institute of Poultry Husbandry opened in 1926, bringing with it to Harper a high profile in areas of teaching and research. The College managed to stay open during the Second World War, and in 1939 the first girls arrived at the College. Bill Price become Principal in 1946 and student numbers steadily rose to 222. The Jubilee Hostel was opened in 1951.
Reginald Kenny became Principal in 1962 until 1977. In 1964, the funding of the College was passed from the Ministry of Agriculture to the Department of Education and Science. The first Higher National Diploma students were enrolled in 1969. Tony Harris was later appointed Principal in 1977 until 1994. Degree courses were first introduced at Harper Adams in 1981. The university was one of the first institutions to introduce a BSc. sandwich course. The CNAA granted Harper Adams the authority to validate its own courses. In 1985, the science building was opened by The Princess Margaret.
Student numbers passed 1000 for the first time in 1991. In 1994, three new student residences were opened. Professor Wynn Jones became Principal in 1996, and later that year the Privy Council granted the university degree awarding powers. In 1998, Harper Adams gained the title of University College. In 2004, Harper Adams was awarded £2.1 million in funding to develop its work with rural businesses. Harper Adams gained the power to award research degrees in 2006 and shortly after, a new Biomass Hall was opened. Dr David Llewellyn was appointed Principal in 2009. In the September, a new £2.3 million dairy unit was opened and in December, a £3million award-winning Regional Food Academy was officially opened by The Princess Royal. In 2010, Nick Herbert opened a Postgraduate and Professional Development Centre, and in the same year the Faccenda student centre and a new student hall of residence were opened. An anaerobic digester opened in 2011, expects to offset the carbon emissions of the university three times over annually. It won a Renewable Energy Infrastructure Award and hosts an award-winning anaerobic digestion facility.
Harper Adams is a lead academic sponsor of the JCB Academy which opened in 2010. JCB Academy was the first university technical college to be established in England.
In 2012, Harper Adams had the title 'university' conferred upon it. This ended the institution's long history of being a college and consequently, Harper Adams became Shropshire's first university.
The university runs a joint veterinary school with Keele University. The development comprises a veterinary hospital, a clinical skills centre, and the Keele campus-based Veterinary School hub facilities. Developed by CVS on the Keele University Science and Innovation Park, the facilities will be ready for the first student intake in autumn 2020.

Campus

Facilities

The campus is on farm land on the outskirts of Edgmond near Newport, Shropshire. Over the last decade more than £45 million has been invested in the campus.
Undergraduate students reside on campus in one of 15 halls.

Organisation

Academic departments

Undergraduate courses are offered via 11 academic departments:

Research

In 2014 Harper Adams University has been recognised for the quality of its research by the Research Excellence Framework.
Areas of research include; management of soil and water, crop disease resistance, agricultural technology, livestock carbon footprint reduction, genetic approaches to improving food quality, bioenergy and renewable sources, agricultural landscape biodiversity, pedagogy and animal welfare.
Research facilities
Facilities for the university's research work include:
for some years the "Hands Free Hectare" project has been working towards robotic farming operations.

Ranking & Awards

Notable awards:

Sunday Times

The 2020 Graduate Outcomes survey showed 98.8% were in work or further study 15 months after completing their studies.

Student life

Students' Union

The Students' Union " provides entertainment in the student bar including comedy nights and live music.
The university has a number of student social facilities including;
Harper Adams has a variety of sports clubs, including rugby, shooting, football, hockey, fencing, netball, polo, basketball, motorsport, off-roading, rowing, running, field sports, equestrian and mountain biking. The university competes in the British Universities and Colleges Sport leagues and championships.
Rowing
Harper Adams University Boat Club is located at Pengwern Boat Club on the River Severn in Shrewsbury. Members compete in the BUCS Rowing League, local regattas. The club's registered blades are dark blue, cyan and gold.
Shooting
Harper Adams University Clay Shooting Club is the largest club in the university with over 100 members. The club competes in local competitions, BUCS League, the Countryside Alliance Cirencester Cup Competition and also holds private matches against the Royal Agricultural University and St Andrews University. The HAUSC is consistently placed amongst the most successful shooting clubs in the UK. In 2011 and 2012, the HAUSC won the national title at the BUCS Clay Pigeon Shooting Championships.
Motorsport
The Motorsport Team has its own VW Golf GTi rally car and Ford Fiesta R2 National. In January 2017, the team announced a partnership with the M-Sport World Rally Team. The team regularly competes in BRC events.

Balls

The university holds four themed balls throughout the year; Fresher's Ball, Christmas Ball, St Patrick's Ball and the Summer Ball.

Coat of Arms and flag

The arms of the university are those of the Harper Adams family, which were formally transferred to the university by letters patent presented in May 2018 Rouge Croix Pursuivant, of the College of Arms in May 2018. As a banner of arms these are in use as the university flag.
The arms appear in stained glass in the main building.

Royal Visits

The following Royal visits have been made to Harper Adams University;
There have also been visits from HM The Queen, HM The Queen Mother and HRH Princess Margaret.

Chancellors

The ceremonial head of the university is the Chancellor:
On becoming a university the academic and administrative head of the institution has been known as the Vice-Chancellor, and the following people have held that role
As a college and then a university college the academic and administrative head of Harper Adams was known as the principal, and that role was held as follows:

Notable alumni