Talk:De Montfort University/Archive 1

University ratings
(I'm posting this to all articles on UK universities as so far discussion hasn't really taken off on WikiProject Universities.)

There needs to be a broader convention about which university rankings to include in articles. Currently it seems most pages are listing primarily those that show the institution at its best (or worst in a few cases). See Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Universities. Timrollpickering 22:38, 21 December 2006 (UTC)

Another DMU
I was wondering whether I should add something about a fictional university that has the same name by coincidence. This one is in the United States, and it is the setting of Vince Suzukawa's The Class Menagerie. All SMiles 13:44, 21 May 2007 (UTC)

Fletcher Building Paternoster
A little off-topic, but I wondered if anyone here can confirm whether or not there is still a paternoster in the Fletcher Building? Please see Talk:Paternoster. Thanks,  J Rawle  (Talk) 22:45, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

The paternoster indeed may have been removed, or certainly closed off. Its uniqueness and value would not be lost on the art/design+architecture students and efforts should be made to ensure its preservation. Silas10961 (talk) 19:19, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

Gateway College photo
The defunct Gateway College building is something of a visual atrocity and is not of any particular relevance to the university's history. The inclusion of a photo does little service to De Montfort. Suggest removal. If upon demolition, by all means. Silas10961 (talk) 19:33, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

The photo is still here, while the non-historical building is now slated for demo. Please remove. Silas10961 (talk) 04:22, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

Have now removed the photo. The building's relevance to the article and De Montfort as an institution seems too fleeting to merit inclusion. Jack.OSull (talk) 14:03, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

University Image
I feel I should point out that the current image of the university's logo appears to be slightly outdated. Here's direct links to the current one in use, and the logo presently on their site.

There's a pretty distinct difference in hue, if you flick between the two for comparison. Should we update to the newer image? It seems fairly important given that other university pages cite the exact colours used in their logos. Jack.OSull (talk) 14:03, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

Have now replaced the image with the updated one. Jack.OSull (talk) 23:31, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

Origins Revamp
I've overhauled the Origins subsection in accordance with the extended history available on De Montfort's website. Am keen to see if anyone else has any information that could be incorporated into this. Have also placed a thumbnail of Simon De Montfort adjacent to it; it seems fitting to me given that the university is named after him. Jack.OSull (talk) 23:31, 29 October 2010 (UTC)

University Motto
What is it? Should be added to the info box in upper right corner, as is the normal convention. Silas10961 (talk) 23:10, 13 January 2010 (UTC)

On the 2010 graduation booklet, it appears as "Excellentia et studium". Cannot ascertain a clear translation though, so have left it at that. Possibly meant to be "Excellence and/through study"? Jack.OSull (talk) 14:05, 29 October 2010 (UTC) ...The translation into English of DMU's motto is... 'Excellence and zeal'. (This can also be found on the Wikipedia page regarding University mottos). Cheers! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.216.175.36 (talk) 21:23, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

Many thanks for providing a translation, I've tweaked the info-box to accommodate it more readily. Just out of curiosity, do you know if there is an image of De Montfort's crest anywhere? The article could use this! Jack.OSull (talk) 17:56, 27 April 2011 (UTC)

2011 DMU revamp
I've changed what I can in the article to reflect the changes this year. I've got as far as the ones on the buildings (except such as may be contained in the section on the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences about the former Charles Frears campus) and integrating the former Faculty of Art and Design (AAD) with that of Humanities (HSS) - I've simply shifted the Humanities section to underneath the Art and Design one, removed the title and changed that of AAD to Art, Design and Humanities (ADH). I haven't changed any of the content of these sections. Several changes are necessary; these involve the subjects of education and politics, among others. I'll do more when I can, but I probably don't have the time to do them justice. Any others willing to have a go?

Anselm (talk) 11:50, 3 October 2011 (UTC)Anselm, 3.10.11

Although I did a fair bit towards the page whilst I was a student there, I'm afraid I'm not quite as in the loop as to what changes have been made at the university since.

Here is a rough list of things that need work from a quick skim:

Jack.OSull (talk) 10:45, 10 August 2012 (UTC)
 * The logo needs updating - the current one no longer has the 'dmu.ac.uk' address
 * The new ADH faculty description needs trimming back to its key points
 * The faculty sections need to follow a coherent layout - f.ex. the Health & Life Sciences section is structured very differently to the other sections
 * The league table under 'Reputation' needs updating to include the results of 2011 and 2012
 * The student facilities section needs to include the new QEII leisure centre as opposed to the Sandford sports centre
 * The 'future plans' section is outdated - the health centre it details has now been built. There is also no mention of the pedestrianisation that is scheduled to occur
 * The alumni section has a bit of a markety feel to it: 'the wide range of careers pursued by De Montfort graduates reflects their abilities to succeed and prosper in many areas from business to architecture'. It had also been divided into categories, some of which could use condensing or reconsidering, e.g. maybe remove 'modelling'.

Branch Campuses
So far as I can remember, DMU never had an operation in Luton. Anyone want to disagree before I remove the claim that there was?

I'm very sceptical that the university got any significant amount of money from unloading the branch campuses. Does anyone in the know want to tell us there was before I remove the claim that proceeds were ploughed into the Leicester Campus. Betacolonist (talk) 19:00, 20 November 2012 (UTC)


 * I am sure you are right about the lack of a Luton presence. DMU certainly did receive money for the sale of the Bedford campus, but it was a complex deal and a reliable source may be hard to find. I am not sure that any of these deals was ever in the public domain, but I will see what I can do.--  SabreBD  (talk) 21:09, 20 November 2012 (UTC)

Thanks for this Sabrebd. I've now had a go at rewriting the history section to do a bit more justice to the branch campuses - at least to say what they were; one could certainly say more about Bedford College. The Luton campus is now erased from history. Betacolonist (talk) 23:05, 20 November 2012 (UTC)