Growing a University: A Personal History of the University of Glasgow's Crichton Campus in Dumfries

Abstract

This personal account of the University of Glasgow's Crichton Campus in Dumfries is offered as a case study to understand the recent trends towards satellite and branch campuses which form the latest phase of UK university expansion. It testifies to the enduring allure of the utopian vision and follows the struggle to survive in circumstances similar to those faced by the new campuses of the 1960s. While the details may be unique, a number of features and processes are described which may be endemic to those satellite and multi-institutional campuses which are changing the shape of higher education in the UK.