University of Sunderland

Founded in 1992, the University of Sunderland is an institution for higher education and research in North East England. Formerly established as Sunderland Technical College in the year 1901, it offered courses in naval engineering and pharmacy. In 1969, the college merged with an art school, a teacher training college and a technical college, to become Sunderland Polytechnic. The institution was granted university status under the Further and Higher Education Act. The university has affiliations with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), Coalition of Modern Universities (CMU), EFMD Quality Improvement System (EQUIS) and Universities UK.

The university conducts educational programmes at four campuses; two in Sunderland and one each in Hong Kong and London. The two campuses situated in Sunderland are called Sir Tom Cowie Campus and City Campus. The Sir Tom Cowie Campus is home to the faculties of law and tourism, business, technology, arts and creative industries. It also has a library and lecture theatre. The City Campus features a library, administrative centre, design centre, gym, leisure spaces, a student centre, academic buildings of health sciences and education departments. The university opened the London Campus in 2012. It offers numerous courses in business, financial management, accounting, nursing, tourism and hospitality.

The Hong Kong campus was unveiled in 2017. The university library possesses a vast collection of manuscripts, books, journals, maps, e-books, photographs, e-journals and other resources related to various subjects of study. The Studio is the major eating point on City Campus. The Sir Tom Cowie Campus possesses an eatery named The Riverside, which features a huge seating area with riverside scenes and a small terrace cafeteria. The university also features several other small cafes and food joints across the campuses that offer a range of healthy, hygienic and delicious food and beverages. The university offers accommodation to students in its five residence halls that are close to many shopping complexes and recreational centres. Free transport service is provided to students by the university.

The university has five academic departments. They offer programmes in distinct disciplines of arts, education, languages, business, media studies, journalism, tourism, hospitality, natural sciences, health, pharmacy, psychology, performing arts, sports and social sciences. The university also renders various distance and short courses for working professionals. It has partnerships with universities in 15 countries, which facilitate student and faculty exchange programmes to proffer a global learning experience. Leading organizations such as Microsoft, Network+, Citrix, VMware, Linux, A+, Cisco and EC-Council provide professional IT training to students. The university has about 20,000 students across all the campuses from more than 100 countries. International students constitute 36% of the student population.

The University of Sunderland possesses a comprehensive list of alumni that includes successful leaders, actors, health specialists, media persons, diplomats, artists and writers. Distinguished names in the alumni list are Griselda Allan (Artist), Richard Billingham (Photographer, Artist and Filmmaker), Stephen Cram (Retired Field Athlete), Carl Ivar Hagen (Politician), Goldie Harvey (Singer), Andy Ogle (Mixed Martial Artist), Mike Rumbles (Scottish Politician), Anthony Scott (Screenwriter, Producer and Director), Andrew Singleton (Neurogeneticist), Adam Walker (British Politician), Charlie Spedding (Athlete), Chris Stevenson (Author and Professor), Katy McLean (Rugby Player), Ortis Deley (TV Presenter and Actor), Terry Deary (Author) and Kerry Ann Christiansen (Actress).