The People's University
In
1962 the college was renamed
Enfield College of
Technology by
the Ministry of Education. In the autumn of 1962, George Stephen Brosan
became the Principal. Between 1962 and 1970, he and Eric Robinson (1927-)
set about turning Enfield into part of a "New Polytechnic" that would unite
the material technologies that created the electric light with the new
technologies of the social sciences. In
1968 a Penguin paperback,
The New Polytechnics. The Peoples Universities by Eric
Robinson, drew national attention to what was happening here. By the time
that he and George Brosan left, the college that began with an electric
light bulb, had an international reputation in the Social Sciences.
Middlesex Polytechnic, established in January
1973, combined
Enfield and Hendon Colleges of Technology and the Hornsey College of Art.
In
1992 the Polytechnic became Middlesex University and by February
1993
every Polytechnic in England had become a University and the vision of
universities for the people, that started at Enfield, had become a national
reality.
The campus buildings are named after people who helped to create it.
When you come up the main drive, the building you are approaching is the
Broadbent Building. The
Pascal Building is behind this, and
cannot be seen from the front. To your left, you can see the
Tower Block (called the Roberts Building). If you
walk round, past the
Roberts Building, you come first to the
McCrae Building and then to
Pascal.
BROADBENT: The main building of Enfield Campus is named after
Henry Winterbottom Broadbent, a Mechanical Engineer who was appointed first
Principal of Enfield Technical College in January 1941. He died suddenly in
1955. Work started on this building in 1938, but it was not completed until
1953 - and there have been a lot of alterations since then. The front of
the building is probably the most pleasing view of the campus. In spring
its tall glass front is framed by lombardy poplars and flowering cherries.
The middle floor, seen from the front, is the main book collection of
Enfield's integrated Learning Resource Centre. The Resource Centre takes up
most of Broadbent, It is the heart of Enfield Campus, and is dealt with in
detail later. The top floor of Broadbent is occupied by Psychology and the
Psychology Laboratories. In the
late 1970s and early 1980s Enfield pioneered computerised
psychology laboratories, one of which is named after John Ives (1940-1994),
one of the pioneers.
The main plan of the Broadbent is a square around a courtyard. But, at
the back of the building, there is a warren of corridors and rooms in which
it is easy to get lost. Students and staff find their way around Broadbent
by learning where some of the important landmarks are:
Reception Desk
Enfield Student Office
Enfield Learning Resource
Centre
All Saints Bookshop
The Forum
Enfield Student Advice Centre
Careers and Educational
Guidance
Counsellors
Chaplain
Health Centre
Students Union
Rights and Advice Service
At the main entrance to Brodbent is the Enfield Campus Reception
Desk:
If you want to find a room or a person, ask at the reception desk. If
you are lost, find your way back to the reception desk and ask advice.
If you turn right from the main Enfield entrance and then left you
will come
to the student trays, notice boards and Student Office
Student trays: Along the wall are lines of tin drawers. Soon
after you start, one of these will have your name on. Every enrolled
student has one of these trays for letters and other papers. Notices to you
on paper will be put in this tray. Electronic notices will be sent to your
email address.