BOLTON Institute celebrated being awarded university status following years of rigorous campaigning in June, 2004

Principal Mollie Temple explains what university status means to her . . .

THE Privy Council s decision in April to award Bolton Institute the title of university is the culmination of a long campaign to gain the recognition we deserve.

I am delighted that the achievements of our staff and students have been acknowledged in this way and look forward to becoming the newest university in the North-west.

Thanks must go to our staff for their hard work in the campaign and also to the local authority, business community, NHS and others who supported us relentlessly in our bid.

We are confident that becoming a university will benefit not only Bolton Institute but the wider community as well.

In many ways Bolton Institute has been functioning as a university for some time, awarding its own degrees and meeting Government thresholds on the number of students, breadth of courses and teaching quality required for the title of university.

According to the Quality Assurance Agency, we are among the top 25 per cent of higher education institutes in the country, and 30 of our programmes are professionally accredited.

We will continue to focus on vocational degrees and research that benefits industry and promotes social growth. We expect our student numbers to rise gradually from the current figure of 8,000 What will be new, however, is the boost to our international reputation and a greater ability to attract funding for research and our work in promoting enterprise.

We also hope that the title of university will strengthen Bolton s appeal to inward investors. I would say that, wouldn t I?

But the potential of being a university has been recognised across the borough and from many different sectors of society.

Anthony Goldstone, regional chair of the Learning and Skills Council, said that university status for Bolton Institute was recognition of its role in providing higher education opportunities, "which will mean more people will want to visit, live and stay in the region, and more opportunities for wealth creation, making Bolton and the North-west the place to be".

Bernard Knight, chief executive of Bolton Metropolitan Borough Council, called the announcement "tremendously exciting news that has important implications for the educational profile of the town".

He added: "University status will greatly enhance the educational opportunities available to people in the borough and make a significant contribution to increasing skills and attracting hi-tech firms."

There was also praise from Bolton Strategic Economic Partnership, whose chairman, Raj Ruia, of textile company Ruia Group, said: "The institute plays a pivotal role in Bolton's move to improve both the knowledge base and innovation in the local economy.

"University status provides recognition of the world-class educational resource that is here and we should be justifiably proud of this achievement."

Although Bolton Institute s educational record is widely appreciated, perhaps less is known about its role as a significant business in its own right.

With two campuses in Bolton and 750 employees, it is one of the town's biggest employers. Some 400 of those employees are Bolton residents. Another measure of Bolton Institute s size is its turnover of 33 million, but, equally significantly, its contribution to the borough s economy is estimated to be 21 million, with a knock-on impact for other businesses in Bolton of 51 million.

And with a large number of overseas students, Bolton Institute effectively acts as an exporter. We have 450 overseas students who are based in the UK for their studies and a further 950 based overseas, bringing in a significant amount of overseas income.

Bolton Institute is also responding with a will to the Government s call for higher education institutions to play a greater role in assisting businesses to become more competitive. That role has long been part of our ethos.

A high percentage of students are already working: 45 per cent of students are part-time and 20 per cent of full-time students are learning through a work placement; teaching and learning strategies are based on real-world case studies from industry; and Bolton Institute is in the top 25 per cent of UK universities whose academic staff also have professional qualifications.

University status will help us to boost income from enterprise activity such as applied research and joint ventures from 4 million a year to an expected 10 million a year by 2009.

This will be achieved through what we call knowledge exchange zones, such as the Centre for Materials Research and Innovation, which, combined with the i-zone incubator unit for new businesses, harnesses our expertise in advanced textiles and materials for the good of local - and not so local - companies.

The next knowledge zone will be the Design Studio. Opening in September (2004), this £6 million building will bring together teaching, knowledge transfer and research for companies seeking design solutions to business problems.