Leeds Met Uni - City Campus - redevelopment

[Gherkin]

I saw the "Look North" TV crew + reporter filming outside the entrance to the University yesterday. Did anyone see the report on television? I presume it was to do with the news above...

[Bradley Hardacre]

Leeds Met have taken the decision to raise their tuition fees to the maximum allowable like virtually every other uni. This emergence out of financial la-la land should repair the hole in their cash flow and increase the likelihood of contunuing their ambitious further plans for the campus.

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.u...ees.5443342.jp

Leeds Met raises tuition fees to the highest allowed

Published Date: 09 July 2009
By Ian Rosser

TUITION fees at Leeds Metropolitan University are to rise to the maximum allowed.

The university, which promoted its low fees in recent years, is to increase the annual course fee from £2,000 to £3,312.

The plan, revealed in the YEP in April, has been officially backed by the board of governors, who supported a call by chief executive Geoff Hitchins to increase income to employ more staff. They plan to offer bursaries to students from poor backgrounds.

The move, Dr Hitchins told the YEP, would generate an extra £10m a year from September 2010, when the fees come into force. Existing students will still pay £2,000 a year.

Bursaries will be on offer of £500 in their first year, £800 in their second and £1,000 in their third year of studies.

"Even after the bursaries have been taken into account, we will still have in excess of £10m a year to invest in the university," said Dr Hitchins. "We are looking at areas such as the student-to-tutor ratio, facilities and the overall quality of student experience."

The £2,000 tuition fees were introduced by out-going vice-chancellor Simon Lee and were the lowest of the country's 104 universities.

Prof Lee claimed his departure, announced at the turn of the year, was connected with plans to raise the fees.

A spokeswoman for the university said: "The increase enables us to introduce a generous and innovative bursary scheme which offers support to students who traditionally don't enter higher education, and also increases each year to encourage achievement and progression."

[wade]

Existing students will still pay £2,000 a year.

NOOOO!! I'm confused, I'll be starting in Sept '09 so I'll pay £2,000 but does that mean in my 2nd year I'll pay £3,312 or does this only apply to new students starting in September '10? Someone please help me :S

[oyster]

Originally Posted by wade

NOOOO!! I'm confused, I'll be starting in Sept '09 so I'll pay £2,000 but does that mean in my 2nd year I'll pay £3,312 or does this only apply to new students starting in September '10? Someone please help me :S

I'm pretty sure you'll pay the original £2000 for the duration of your course, as was that case for those that went to university the year before they introduced the top up fees.

[Gherkin]

Existing students will still pay £2,000 a year

We were told this would be the case so it's nice to see it in writing. I did however sign the "NO TO TUITION FEES RISING" petition but 20,000 signatures apparently count for nothing.

wade you'll be paying £2000 for your 3 years at Leeds Met. If you defered entry I'm not sure what would happen though.

[wade]

Thanks for clearing that up for me.

[Suburban Knight]

Makes uni degrees seem good value by comparison! :-p

[di Livio]

Why can't Leeds Met be as architecturally exciting as it's cousin? An actual pyramid in the centre of campus!

http://www.duniyalive.com/?p=64327

[SirCWilson]

Originally Posted by di Livio

Why can't Leeds Met be as architecturally exciting as it's cousin? An actual pyramid in the centre of campus!

http://www.duniyalive.com/?p=64327

The Rose Bowl? Broadcasting Place?

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by SirCWilson

The Rose Bowl? Broadcasting Place?

...versus a pyramid? Come on.

[SirCWilson]

Originally Posted by di Livio

...versus a pyramid? Come on.

Meh - pyramids are so last epoch.

My point really was that it's a bit mean to be criticising Leeds Met for being architecturally unadventurous, when they have just built two of the most distinctive and high-quality developments the city has seen for years.

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by SirCWilson

Meh - pyramids are so last epoch.

My point really was that it's a bit mean to be criticising Leeds Met for being architecturally unadventurous, when they have just built two of the most distinctive and high-quality developments the city has seen for years.

I was being a bit tongue in cheek, which doesn't always come across on the boards (and gets me into trouble with Rob). I actually think Broadcasting Place is superb, and the Rosebowl has really helped to humanise the route from town towards the uni.

Last summer, I was told by someone who teaches at the Met that the modernist concrete blocks were due to come down in the next few years. If the money's still there, the site has a lot of potential.

[Rob]

Originally Posted by di Livio

I was being a bit tongue in cheek, which doesn't always come across on the boards (and gets me into trouble with Rob).

I'm trying to chill out, honest.

[Urban Wurzel]

Any news on development at all ?...

[di Livio]

Originally Posted by Urban Wurzel

Any news on development at all ?...

Funny you mention it, because i noticed yesterday that hoardings have gone up around the corner of Calverley Street and Portland Way. The hoardings reveal that the site is up for sale 'on the instructions of KPMG' and is seen as a potential site for a private office development rather than a Leeds Met University building. I wonder what the backstory is because Leeds Met Central campus desperately needs a complete makeover but as we know they have had serious financial problems at a time of cutbacks in the HE sector.

[FreddyFresher]

I think the plan is to sell of most of the land on the campus for private development; two of the towers are now unoccupied and will be demolished once the land is sold.

There was a previous agreement in place for the sale but the developer involved went bust so negotiations are ongoing. I think the council would like to see some sort of science park on the site to reflect the innovation hub that the university of leeds plan to build on the opposite side of the ring road. This though, has been put on hold due to cuts in the sector.

[Leeds No.1]

I think Leeds Met are planning to eventually move primarily to the Headingley Campus, so this is probably one of the initial stages of that process.

[Val Verde]

Originally Posted by di Livio

Funny you mention it, because i noticed yesterday that hoardings have gone up around the corner of Calverley Street and Portland Way. The hoardings reveal that the site is up for sale 'on the instructions of KPMG' and is seen as a potential site for a private office development rather than a Leeds Met University building. I wonder what the backstory is because Leeds Met Central campus desperately needs a complete makeover but as we know they have had serious financial problems at a time of cutbacks in the HE sector.

image hosted on flickr




Certainly bad news and proof that the planned George Mitchell Centre for Conflict Resolution is dead. Certainly I can see university related developments ground to a halt thanks to Gideon Osborne and could the site become a "temporary" surface level car park for the next 20 years or more.

Wonder why Leeds Metropolitan University couldn't have just retained the previous buildings on that site as opposed to leaving an empty void in the ground?

Originally Posted by Leeds No1

I think Leeds Met are planning to eventually move primarily to the Headingley Campus, so this is probably one of the initial stages of that process.

As for Leeds Met planning to move most operations to Becketts Park Campus surely all of the developments which were proposed for their city centre site and which in the case of the Rose Bowl and Broadcasting Place developments which had already taken place surely counter that argument i'd have thought?

[Leeds No.1]

Originally Posted by Val Verde

As for Leeds Met planning to move most operations to Becketts Park Campus surely all of the developments which were proposed for their city centre site and which in the case of the Rose Bowl and Broadcasting Place developments which had already taken place surely counter that argument i'd have thought?

Well you'd think that but I don't know. I'm sure I read that somewhere, but it would make sense in a way because land is surely much cheaper out in Headingley than it is in the City- they could sell it and make a good profit.

I suppose they'll put courses where it's most relevant- business/law etc obviously good to be in the City...

[Immunda Leodis]

I might be wrong on this but I think that those buildings have concrete cancer as they were built cheaply and with a short life span...