In 1959 the Governing Body consisted of 12 members, five of whom were appointed by the London County Council, three represented departments of the Civil Service, two represented Local Government, one the County Councils' Association and one the University of London (CWC/4/1/1).
The College was a branch of South West London College.
Battersea College of Education began life in 1894 as the Battersea Training School of Domestic Economy which formed part of the Women's Studies' Department of Battersea Polytechnic Institute. Eleven full time students started their course in 1894 after a special grant had been given to Battersea Polytechnic by the London County Council to open a teacher training school in domestic economy and in 1895 Battersea was officially recognised as a teachers' training school by the Board of Education. New accommodation was opened in 1903 and in January 1911 the first hall of residence was opened, with further halls provided in 1914.
On 1st August 1948 the LCC took over management of the Department from Battersea Polytechnic and re-designated it Battersea College of Domestic Science. In 1949 the Department moved from the Polytechnic to the Manor House on Clapham Common Northside. A programme of building was undertaken, including a new science block which opened in 1954, and further buildings opening in 1960 and 1968. The College acquired a new site, Manresa House in Roehampton, in September 1962, which became the Battersea Training College for Primary Teachers, providing day courses for men and women, which first began on 30th April 1963.
On 1st April 1965 responsibility for the college was transferred from the LCC to the newly established Inner London Education Authority (ILEA) and became known as the Battersea College of Education. The College became a constituent college of the University of London Institute of Education, with courses leading to a Teachers' Certificate with special reference to domestic subjects and Department of Education and Science recognition of Qualified Teacher Status.
Following the Government's White Paper "A Framework for Expansion" in 1973, the College merged with the Polytechnic of the South Bank in 1976. Manresa House was closed in 1979, and primary education students were transferred to Rachel McMillan College, an annexe of which would also come to merge with the Polytechnic. Home Economics students remained at Manor House until the early 1980s when students were transferred to the Polytechnic's Southwark campus.
RAG Week is an annual fundraising event, raising money for different charities. In the late 1960s until 1970 the Borough Polytechnic contributed to a joint RAG Week organised by London colleges. After the creation of the Polytechnic of the South Bank it organised its own RAG Weeks.
H. R. F. Bulletin was produced by the National College and contained abstracts of articles concerning heating, refrigeration and fan engineering from trade journals.
Every department of the Polytechnic of the South Bank had its own student society. The Environmental Engineering department formed part of the Faculty of Environmental Science and Technology.
The award was first presented in 1978 at the instigation of the Caroline Hasslet Memorial Trust and Institution of Electronic and Electrical Technician Engineers (now the Institution of Engineering and Technology). It was initially called the Girl Technician of the Year award and was renamed the Young Woman Engineer of the Year in 1988.
The Academic Structure Committee was Chaired by the Polytechnic's Director and established in 1972. The Committee met 28 times, received and circulated a number of topic papers, considered 67 submissions by individuals or groups and met 25 members of staff. Its careful recommendations, set out in the reports, advocated a departmental structure as against the then fashionable course-school matrix, to consist of 19 departments, reasonably uniform in size, in six faculties. Major resource responsibilities were to be at faculty level with four 'development areas' identified in Law, Education and Psychology, Applied Social Science and Humanities.
Despite widespread consultation, the proposals in the first report were savaged. The Committee withdrew its proposals and its second report in November 1973, after 30 more meetings, met with indifference rather than hostility, and seemed likely to be adopted however administrative support could not be gained and the proposals misfired. Modest changes were later implemented with minimum change to the existing departments, with the establishment of four faculties in 1973-74, which were Administrative Studies, Built Environment, Human Studies & Education and Science & Engineering.
The Audit Committee oversees the University's audit activities including auditing the financial statements, appointing the internal and external auditors and advising the Board of Governors on the effectiveness of the internal control system. It 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 British Youth Opera (BYO) was established in 1987 by Denis Coe, to provide additional training and performance opportunities for outstanding young musicians and experience to young stage, design and costume staff. Company members aged 22-30 years are recruited nationally each year for a Summer Season which features two major operas performed at Sadler's Wells, London and in at least one other major city. The Company also appears in concerts, galas and other musical events throughout the year. Many former members of BYO are now principals with major opera companies in the UK and abroad. The BYO's rehearsal facilities are based at London South Bank University, formerly South Bank University.
The Property Committee was a committee of the Board of Governors which advised the Board on property and estates matters. For significant estates matters the committee liaised with the Policy and Resources Committee so that the financial impact may be assessed in the context of the University as a whole.
The Board closed the commitee on 14 May 2015 as part of the governance effectiveness review.
The Research Committee was established in 1994 as a sub-committee of the Academic Board. Its original terms of reference were to:
-Consider and advise the Academic Board on the promotion, conduct and development of research in the University;
-Review research activity and facilities with a view to identifying areas for development;
-Facilitate research initiatives in the University by preparing, in consultation with Faculties and Schools, a rolling strategic plan for research;
-Allocate University funded Research Scholarships to projects;
-Monitor and evaluate research achievements;
-Develop and keep under review the University's relations with external research funding bodies;
-Raise awareness of research activities and opportunities.
The Chair of the Committee has usually been the Vice-Chancellor.
The Quality and Standards Committee was set up to review and advise on the development of University strategies regarding the student experience, learning, teaching and assessment. It also monitors the quality of the students' learning experience through the annual student satisfaction survey and receives reports of quality assessment or review reports from external professional and statutory bodies. The chair of the committee is the Pro Vice Chancellor (Students and Quality).
The Council of the Polytechnic agreed to establish the awarding of Honorary Fellowships in 1976. The Polytechnic then began creating honorary graduates in 1989 and once it became a University in 1992 it started awarding honorary degrees. Candidates are required to demonstrate a notable contribution to either the University, education and academia in general or the local community.
The Joint Committee on Honorary Fellowships was established in 1980 comprising four members: two nominated from the Polytechnic of the South Bank Council and two from the Academic Board. The terms of reference were to consider nominations and submit names for the award of Honorary Fellow. Honorary Degrees were award after the Polytechnic was granted university status, but recipients were decided by a committee of the Academic Board.
In March 2002 the Joint Committee's terms of reference amended to create a single committee responsible for both the Honorary Fellowships and Degrees. This was named the Honorary Awards Joint Committee.
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 Advisory Committees consisted of practical tradesmen and women who provided practical and specialist knowledge to teachers and assisted in finding employment for students at the end of their courses.
The Borough Polytechnic Institute Day Trade School for Girls was established as the Waistcoat Making School - a trade school for girls - in October 1904 with 11 pupils. The trades taught soon expanded to include dressmaking and upholstery (in 1905) and ladies' tailoring and laundrywork (in 1908) and the School was renamed the Day Trade School for Girls. In 1947 the School was amalgamated with the Paragon Girls' Secondary Technical School, New Kent Road.