North Staffordshire Polytechnic

Staffordshire University

Former names	North Staffordshire Polytechnic
Type	Public
Established	1992 - gained university status 1971 - North Staffordshire Polytechnic
Endowment	£26,000
Chancellor	Francis Fitzherbert, 15th Baron Stafford
Vice-Chancellor	Professor Liz Barnes
Administrative staff	1,375
Students	15,860 (2015/16)
Undergraduates	13,600 (2015/16)
Postgraduates	2,260 (2015/16)
Location	Staffordshire (Stafford; Stoke-on-Trent; Lichfield), Shropshire (Shrewsbury), United Kingdom
Campus	Urban and Rural
Colours	Red and Black
Affiliations	million+, Association of Commonwealth Universities
Website	www.staffs.ac.uk

Red and Black

Staffordshire University is a university in Staffordshire, England. It has one main campus based in the city of Stoke-on-Trent and three other campuses; in Stafford, Lichfield and Shrewsbury.

In 1901, industrialist Alfred Bolton acquired a 2-acre (8,100 m²) site on what is now College Road and in 1906 mining classes began there. In 1907, pottery classes followed, being transferred from Tunstall into temporary buildings, and in 1914 the building now known as the Cadman Building was officially opened as the Central School of Science and Technology by J. A. Pease, President of the Board of Education. A frieze over the entrance depicts potters and miners. In 2013, the Library Conference room in the Cadman building was renamed the Alfred Bolton room.

In 1915, a department was established for the commercial production of Seger cones used to measure and control the temperatures of ceramic furnaces, based upon research completed by the principal, Joseph Mellor. Grants from the Carnegie United Kingdom Trust in 1924 were used to develop the ceramics library and in 1926 the name of the institution was changed to North Staffordshire Technical College. By 1931 extensions to the Cadman Building ran along Station Road and housed the Mining Department. A grant was awarded from the Miners’ Welfare Fund to fund the building work. The new extension also housed the library, which by now had 35,000 volumes. By 1934 the college consisted of four departments: Engineering (nearly 800 students), Pottery (just over 600 students), Mining (just under 500 students), and Chemistry (under 300 students).

In 1939, new engineering workshops were occupied for the first time and the land opposite the Cadman Building was purchased. By 1950 Victoria Road changed its name to College Road and the site now extended over 12 acres (49,000 m²). The Mellor Building and Experimental Production Block (now Dwight Building) were constructed for the North Staffordshire College of Technology by 1960.