In December 1945 the Education Board for the Heating and Ventilating Industry set up a committee to look into the possibility of establishing a National School for the Heating and Ventilating Industries. This was in response to the Percy Report which recommended that National Schools associated with certain industries should be established. In 1946, with the agreement of the National Association of Heating, Ventilating and Domestic Engineering Employers, discussions were opened with the Ministry of Education on the establishment of a National School. These proposals were well received and in January 1947 a memorandum, drawn up by the Ministry on National Colleges, and financial arrangements were discussed by the Ministry and the Board. It was agreed that Industry should pay £50 per student per session with a guaranteed minimum of £1000 per year. The National Association also agreed to this and in April 1947 it was decided that a National College for Heating and Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering be formed within the Borough Polytechnic. The agreement of the London County Council was secured in November 1947 and the first meeting of the Board of Governors of the newly established National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering was held on 20 January 1948 at the Borough Polytechnic.The first Chair of Governors was Hubert Secretan and there were representatives from the three industries on the Board of Governors. There were high hopes for the new College and the third annual report of the Education Board for the Heating and Ventilating Industry hoped 'it will be the centre for the highest grade of technological training for the industry and will be in close contact with the most up-to-date development and research' (NC/7/2/3). The College existed to meet the needs of the industries and had two principal aims: to provide a high standard of technological training and to undertake research.In its first session, commencing in September 1948, the College offered full-time Diploma courses in the three industries: Heating and Ventilating Engineering, Refrigeration Engineering and Fan Engineering. The College also offered part-time day or evening refresher courses for those employed in industry. Courses led to diplomas after full-time study for two terms, and later one year, or an Associateship of the National College with post graduate or post HND entry.The College was, from its inception, closely linked with the Borough Polytechnic. Its premises were located within the grounds of the Borough Polytechnic Annexe and the College used the facilities of the Polytechnic for teaching ancillary subjects. Before the National College was established the Polytechnic had become the principal college in heating and ventilating engineering in London. A lecturer in heating and ventilating engineering had been appointed in 1917 for evening courses and after World War 1 part-time day classes were introduced. At first, the college was heavily dependent on service teaching from other departments of Borough Polytechnic, especially mechanical engineering, mathematics and humanities, but began to widen its work by undertaking research.The College was given a logo of a shield divided into four, representing the three industries and the Borough Polytechnic. It also had a motto, 'e tribus unum', meaning 'one from three'.In the 1950s the accommodation within the Borough Polytechnic was too small to allow the continued expansion of student numbers and to undertake research. The Ministry of Education agreed to cover the costs of the building and industry donated money to purchase new equipment. The new building on Southwark Bridge Road (now the Faraday Wing) was opened to students in September 1960.By the 1960s government policy had moved away from National Colleges which taught a limited syllabus. The Ministry of Education preferred Technical Education Institutions to provide a broader education than covered by the National Colleges and in 1964 it began discussions with the National College on its future. Due to a Government White Paper of 1966 entitled 'A Plan for Polytechnics' it was proposed that a new Polytechnic should be established by merging the Borough Polytechnic with the National College, Brixton School of Building and City of Westminster College.In September 1970 these four colleges merged to become the Polytechnic of the South Bank. In effect, the National College became the Polytechnic's Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology.
In 1970 the Borough Polytechnic Institute merged with the Brixton School of Building, City of Westminster College and National College for Heating, Ventilating, Refrigeration and Fan Engineering to form the Polytechnic of the South Bank. The Designation Ceremony took place at the Royal Festival Hall on the South Bank on 22nd November 1971. Margaret Thatcher, the Education Secretary at the time was the special guest.
The Policy Committee was established in 1981 as a sub-committee of the Council with the following terms of reference:
-To review the Polytechnic's activities;
-To determine strategic policy for the development of the Polytechnic;
-To work in co-operation with the Strategic Planning Committee of the Academic Board;
-To review general provision for student support services.
The Committee for Student Affairs acted as an advisory forum at which representatives of the Student Union could raise matters of concern to senior management. It had the right to make recommendations to the Executive Board, Board of Governors and the Academic Board. The Committee was originally called the Joint Committee for Student Affairs, but was renamed the Committee for Student Affairs in September 1992 after revising its membership and terms of reference. The Committee was disbanded and the final meeting held in June 2011.
The Appointments Committee was established in December 1990 and exists to consider and ratify recommendations from the Nominations Committee to appoint people to sit on the Board of Governors. It is a committee of the Board of Governors.
The Nominations Committee was established in July 1995 to consider nominations for positions on the Board of Governors and to make recommendations to the Appointments Committee. The Nominations Committee is a committee of the Board of Governors.
The Research Degrees Committee is a sub-committee of the Academic Board (LSBU/3/1). Its main responsibilities are to approve programmes of work proposed in applications for degrees of MPhil or PhD and to complete the examination process by advising the Academic Board of degrees to be conferred. The Committee ceased in August 2015 and the University Research Board of Study was set up instead (see LSBU/3/23)
Members of the Committee were appointed by nomination from the Executive Dean of the relevant Faculty.
The Technical Day School for Boys opened in September 1897 to give boys, aged 12 and above, scientific and technical training with a view to them becoming skilled workmen and artificiers. It was evacuated to Exeter during the Second World War. In 1946 it amalgamated with the Beaufoy Junior Technical School to form the Borough-Beaufoy Secondary Technical School at the Beaufoy Institute.
The Student Union moved to a building in Rotary Street during the 1970s and remained there until 1990 when it moved to the George Overend Building on Keyworth Street.
The Council of Students and Members represented the social and sporting clubs of the Borough Polytechnic.
Whipps Cross campus was established in 2001, along with Havering Campus, after South Bank University merged with the Redwood College of Health Studies. The campus closed in 2011.
The memorial commemorates the 127 men from the Borough Polytechnic Institute who lost their lives during the First World War. Staff, students and relatives paid for the memorial, which was dedicated in 1921 by the Bishop of Southwark, who hoped it would, 'help to weave into the lives of others who study here and who come within this hall the memory and the example of those who died... [and make] successive generations feel that they are becoming members of a corporate society, of real fellowship.'
The Polytechnic's student common room (today's digital gallery) was the memorials first home, but when the room was converted into a telephone exchange in the 1960s, the memorial was placed into storage. Rediscovered in 1996, the University restored and re-erected the memorial in the Edric Hall. The hall's refurbishment in 2004 meant the memorial was once again put into storage.
Over the Easter holiday of 2010, the Estates & Facilities Department, in consultation with the Chaplain and University Archivist, arranged for the memorial to be assembled in its current location which provides the memorial with a permanent home as close as possible to its original location and allows room for public commemoration.
The Nathu Puri Institute, based in the university's Faculty of Engineering, Science and The Built Environment was established in order to foster enterprise amongst engineers and support the UK engineering industry.
The Borough Gallery was established with funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund to exhibit A David Bomberg Legacy - The Sarah Rose Collection, a collection of paintings and drawings by the artist David Bomberg and members of the Borough Group. The collection was built up over thirty years by Sarah Rose and includes over 150 works spanning a period of nearly 100 years. The Gallery is dedicated to exhibiting work from the collection and to carrying out a related programme of exhibitions, events and education activities.
The official opening event included speeches by the guest of honour Alan Yentob, Creative Director at the BBC as well as Wesley Kerr, Chair of the London Committee, Heritage Lottery Fund and Sarah Rose. Special guests included Cliff Holden and Dennis Creffield who were members of the Borough Group.
'Bomberg and his Students' was an exhibition of paintings and drawings by members of the Borough Group and by some associated artists who attended Bomberg's classes at the Borough Polytechnic between 1945-1953. The exhibition was held as part of the University's centenary celebrations.