University Development in Belfast

warmhands.coldheart

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-25677657


I'm all for Development if done right and necessary, but am I the only one thinks,
a) this building/development looks absolutely Naff
b) Belfast already has adequate University Provision
c) Belfast has enough traffic issues without another couple of thousand people trying to make their way into the city each morning


Northern Ireland's uni's are there to provide education for Northern Ireland, not just Belfast!!
Why not develop out at Jordanstown or Coleraine? There's a lot more space at these sites for further development and parking provision!.


Just don't get it!!

in_need_of_direction

Just clicked the link - what a total eyesore. While inter point was ugly, at least it was confined. There appears to have been no thought to the older buildings in that area and how they will look alongside this.

thefreckle

The architects of the new Belfast campus would have you believe that the buildings have been designed to reflect their surroundings - I listened to them explaining how the tallest building was a reflection of Cavehill!! Load of nonsense in my humble opinion!

Does Belfast already have adequate university provision? Have you figures to back that up? Perhaps application numbers vs available places and compare that to the other campuses outside Belfast (I would include Jordanstown as being in Belfast so compare those to Coleraine and Magee perhaps)

saverbuyer

Silly move by the Poly.

£300 million to be paid by mortgaging the next generation.

UU and Queen's seem to share the mantra "If you build it, they will come".

saverbuyer

thefreckle wrote: »

The architects of the new Belfast campus would have you believe that the buildings have been designed to reflect their surroundings - I listened to them explaining how the tallest building was a reflection of Cavehill!! Load of nonsense in my humble opinion!

Does Belfast already have adequate university provision? Have you figures to back that up? Perhaps application numbers vs available places and compare that to the other campuses outside Belfast (I would include Jordanstown as being in Belfast so compare those to Coleraine and Magee perhaps)

A better question might be how many recent graduates have secured full time employment?

Application numbers don't paint the full picture. Should everyone be able to attend university? Government thinks so. I don't agree.

Universities are huge employers, a good vote spinner for the government.

thefreckle

saverbuyer wrote: »

A better question might be how many recent graduates have secured full time employment?

Application numbers don't paint the full picture. Should everyone be able to attend university? Government thinks so. I don't agree.

Universities are huge employers, a good vote spinner for the government.

Or an even better question might be how many recent graduates have secured full time graduate employment?

I agree application numbers don't paint the full picture, but when the government are willing to make the places available, should the universities refuse to place the students?

The Jordanstown campus requires major modernisation investment - any idea how much? What are the disposal plans for the Jordanstown campus?

saverbuyer

thefreckle wrote: »

Or an even better question might be how many recent graduates have secured full time graduate employment?

I agree application numbers don't paint the full picture, but when the government are willing to make the places available, should the universities refuse to place the students?

The Jordanstown campus requires major modernisation investment - any idea how much? What are the disposal plans for the Jordanstown campus?

You're right about graduate employment.

It depends; I actually feel University education should be free. The last generation had access to free education paid for by the current generation. Not very equitable. However I don't think it would work with historically high entrance numbers.

I'm not sure what the Universities should do, as I said, they are really just big businesses. I remember reading Queens employ 100+ on salaries greater than £100k. They'll need ever increasing numbers to feather their nests.

I was under the impression Jordanstown would eventually close?

thefreckle

I don't think it's closing immediately - sports and some engineering (FireCert maybe) provision will remain where they are - I'm open to correction on that though. The remainder is being lined up for a new village or something similar I believe. When you take the cost it would have taken to modernise the Jordanstown campus (a huge sum over £100m was rumoured) and the revenue they hope to gain from the disposal of land (some of which they intend to develop before selling) the move to Belfast starts to make more sense.

In addition, the Jordanstown campus is by far the campus with highest numbers and highest demand - I suspect it is currently well over-subscribed. Having said that, Magee in particular is a target growth area for the university - more places are being made available there every year.

I'm with you on free education but I don't think it's realistic. However considering students in England are paying up to £9000 I think the £3500 (approx) isn't a bad deal for NI students. I'd say the original £1000 was probably fair enough too though.

If I had the chance to do it all again I'd be on the first flight to Holland! Their fees are still at £1k (or maybe less) and all education is in English.

warmhands.coldheart

thefreckle wrote: »

Does Belfast already have adequate university provision? Have you figures to back that up? Perhaps application numbers vs available places and compare that to the other campuses outside Belfast (I would include Jordanstown as being in Belfast so compare those to Coleraine and Magee perhaps)

Take a walk around the Uni Area's. Half the population of Tyrone & Derry are wandering around the area....(you know by the culchie accents) They have to travel to and stay in Belfast, may as well have them travel to and stay in Coleraine or stay in Derry by providing more and better facilities/courses there...
As SaverBuyer says. Build It and They Will Come..... so build it out of Belfast and let the students study closer to home or in an area where they won't get the a$$ ripped out of them by extortionate accommodation prices!!

thefreckle

warmhands.coldheart wrote: »

Take a walk around the Uni Area's. Half the population of Tyrone & Derry are wandering around the area....(you know by the culchie accents) They have to travel to and stay in Belfast, may as well have them travel to and stay in Coleraine or stay in Derry by providing more and better facilities/courses there...
As SaverBuyer says. Build It and They Will Come..... so build it out of Belfast and let the students study closer to home or in an area where they won't get the a$$ ripped out of them by extortionate accommodation prices!!

There's already the facilities and courses in Coleraine and Magee, yet the demand is still for Belfast (Jordanstown). Demand for Belfast is far higher than the others - have a look at the entrance requirements for the various UU campuses for the same courses - it's much harder to get into Jordanstown than the others - often 40 to 60 UCAS tariff points higher. That's due to the demand for those courses.

thefreckle

See below for plans for the Jordanstown campus after the move - Firesert and sports remaining along with the Halls of Residence:

http://www.ulster.ac.uk/greaterbelfastdevelopment/docs/UlsterUpdateIssue2Nov12web.pdf