10th December 1998

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The University of Ulster has announced a major restructuring exercise, estimated to be worth £17 million, that will bring teaching and research together in a single faculty believed to be among the largest of its kind in Europe.

It is anticipated that the new structure will play a central role in regenerating the local economy and will include the establishment of a new Management Institute and a Graduate School of Business and Management.

Under the project, the University has totally restructured its research and teaching in the area of business and management.

According to Professor Richard Barnett, the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Management, the changes have been prompted by the new political and economic changes expected in Northern Ireland:

"If the peace process continues along its proposed route, we will have an Assembly with real power soon. All of us in the public sector will be answerable to local representatives for the first time and we will need to be up to that new level of scrutiny.

"In particular, Assembly members from across the province will be asking very detailed and localised questions about their areas. The University plays an important role throughout the province from Fermanagh to Coleraine, from Belfast to the north west. We want to restructure our business efforts in a way which allows us to enhance our localised services."

Professor Barnett has hinted that that University may be about to announce a major new project in the north west:

"It is early days yet, but we are very keen to streamline our work in the north west. At the moment we are considering a major new teaching and research initiative directed solely at that area's needs."

Professor Barnett said the restructuring will give the province the largest institution for business teaching and research in Ireland and one of the largest in Britain: it will have 200 academic staff, 30 of whom will be at the level of professor, and 6000 students and researchers.

"Like everyone involved in the business community, we are very aware of the challenges of the new Millennium and are preparing for it. Much of the re-organisation is about bringing all our services under the one control and taking advantage of economies of scale."

Under the new arrangements, the former Ulster Business School will be subsumed into the existing Faculty of Business and Management.

For further information, please contact:

Press Office Department of Communication and Development
Telephone: 028 9036 6178
Email: pressoffice@ulster.ac.uk