The Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) was the national degree-awarding authority in the United Kingdom from 1965 until its dissolution on 20 April 1993. [1]
The Council for National Academic Awards (CNAA) was the national degree-awarding authority in the United Kingdom from 1965 until its dissolution on 20 April 1993. [1]
The establishment followed the recommendation of the UK government Committee on Higher Education (Robbins Committee), one of whose recommendations being the replacement of the diploma-awarding National Council for Technological Awards with a degree-awarding council. That gave colleges more flexibility, as they could devise their own courses with the oversight of the council, rather than depend on existing universities to accredit courses. In 1974, the National Council for Diplomas in Art and Design was merged into the CNAA. [2]
The CNAA's Latin motto, as it appears on its coat of arms, is: Lauream qui Meruit Ferat: this can be translated as 'let whoever earns the laurel bear it'. [3]
Qualifications included diplomas, bachelor's, master's and doctorate research degrees; by the time of dissolution, it had awarded over 1.3 million degrees and other academic awards. [4] The CNAA awarded academic degrees at polytechnics, central institutions and other non-university institutions such as colleges of higher education until they were awarded university status. When the CNAA was wound up, the British government asked the Open University to continue the work of awarding degrees in the remaining non-university institutions. Additionally, the OU has responsibility for CNAA records.
The CNAA, through its many subject panels, oversaw the degree-awarding powers of polytechnics. Above all, the CNAA saw itself as preserving a comparability at the national level with degree level awards in universities, a feature which can be seen as having both positive and negative aspects: positive in that it preserved a formal "parity of esteem" between the awards of the two parts of the binary system (such as retaining the common currency of the undergraduate degree for entry to postgraduate study), but other scholars [5] [ incomplete short citation ] viewed it as negative because it encouraged an "academicism" in the new sector and slowed an acceptance of the transformations required finally to break the boundaries of the old, "elite" system. In the event, the polytechnics were associated with many innovations, including women's studies, the academic study of communications and media, sandwich degrees, advanced engineering degrees in all functional specialities, and the rise of management and business studies; not least, they were much more responsive than older institutions in providing for the admission of non-standard students from technical colleges, advanced apprenticeships and other sources.
The presidents of the Council for National Academic Awards were:
The Council comprised a chairman and 21 to 25 members all appointed by the secretary of state for education. The CNAA's seven chairmen were: [6] [7]
For graduation ceremonies the CNAA had its own academic dress comprising gown, hood and headwear. [8] The bachelors’ gown was a black Cambridge pattern [9] worn twelve inches off the ground with sleeves reaching the elbow; the doctors’ and masters’ gowns were a standard black Oxbridge pattern [9] worn eight inches off the ground; PhD gowns had a maroon silk yoke and facings; higher doctorates had a gold-yellow gown with cream brocade facings. Hoods were a gold-yellow panama, with a silk lining: turquoise for bachelors’; white for masters’; turquoise with a white facing for a MEng; maroon for a PhD; cream damask for higher doctors. Bachelors’ and masters’ wore a black mortar board; PhDs a cloth bonnet with a maroon cord; higher Doctors had a velvet Tudor bonnet with a gold cord. [8]
Academic dress is a traditional form of clothing for academic settings, mainly tertiary education, worn mainly by those who have obtained a university degree, or hold a status that entitles them to assume them. It is also known as academical dress, academicals, and, in the United States, as academic regalia.
The University of Oxford has a long tradition of academic dress, which continues to the present day.
The academic dress of Durham University has many similarities with that of other older British universities such as Oxford and Cambridge. Most colleges of Durham University insist on gowns being worn on formal occasions, including matriculation and formal halls (dinners); exceptions are Van Mildert, St Cuthbert's Society, Collingwood, Stephenson, St Aidans, and The College of St Hild and St Bede. Some colleges also insist on their being worn to Junior Common Room meetings, and they are often seen in college chapels. At formal halls, only gowns are worn and doctors normally wear their undress gowns; for more ceremonial occasions full-dress gowns and hoods are worn by graduates. Until 1990, the General Regulations of university 'recommended' the wearing of gowns by members of the university when attending divine service at the Cathedral – but this is now left to individual choice apart from at certain services. Gowns are also customarily worn to meetings of the university Senate by members of that body.
The academic dress of the former University of Wales was designed for the first graduations in 1893, and has as its main identifying feature a faculty colour scheme involving 'shot silks'.
The academic dress prescribed by the University of Bristol is a mixture of that prescribed by Cambridge and Oxford. Bristol has chosen, for graduates, to mainly specify Oxford-style gowns and Cambridge-style hoods. Unlike many British universities, the hood itself is to be "University red", lined with a specified colour. University red is defined to be Pantone 187. Bristol also specifies that undergraduates are to wear gowns "of the approved pattern" in certain circumstances, although the pattern itself is not specified. This is not too important since, in practice, undergraduates are only required to be gowned when graduating or at dinner as a member of Wills Hall.
The academic and official dress of the University of Warwick dates originally from the mid-1960s, shortly after the university's foundation. Despite persistent offers from Charles Franklyn the theatrical costume designer Anthony Powell was commissioned to design robes for officials and graduates of the university. Due to pressure of other work, and some apparent differences of opinion, Powell withdrew from the project, and the robes for graduates subsequently designed in consultation with J. Wippell and Company of Exeter, with Ede and Ravenscroft designing and making the robes for officials.
Academic dress of the University of London describes the robes, gowns and hoods which are prescribed by the university for its graduates and undergraduates.
There are a number of universities in Queensland, Australia, all with distinct academic dress.
The academic dress of the University of Kent is normally only worn at graduation ceremonies. In common with most British universities a graduand begins the ceremony wearing the dress of the degree to which they are being admitted. This is in contrast to the practice at some universities such as Oxford where a graduand only dons the dress of a degree after it has been conferred.
This page describes the different types of academic dress allowed at the University of Exeter. Definitions of the academic dress for the award holders and officials of the university are set out in the university's regulations.
The University of Leeds, like other universities in the United Kingdom and many other countries throughout the world, has its own unique system of academic and ceremonial dress for undergraduates, graduates and senior officials. As at most other universities, graduands will wear the gown, hood and hat appropriate to the degree they are about to receive. All of the graduates' hoods incorporate one or more shades of green, and the Doctors of Philosophy, Education and Clinical Psychology are unique in the UK in having a green full-dress gown.
Academic dress at the University of Edinburgh is compulsory at official ceremonial occasions, such as graduation and the installations of Rector and Chancellor, and otherwise optional, usually only worn for events.
A polytechnic was a tertiary education teaching institution in England, Wales and Northern Ireland offering higher diplomas, undergraduate degree and post graduate education that was governed and administered at the national level by the Council for National Academic Awards. At the outset, the focus of polytechnics was on STEM subjects with a special emphasis on engineering. After the passage of the Further and Higher Education Act 1992 they became independent universities which meant they could award their own degrees. The comparable institutions in Scotland were collectively referred to as Central Institutions.
Academic dress prescribed at the Trinity College Dublin follows a relatively complex protocol which, nonetheless, shares some particular characteristics with other universities in Ireland and with the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.
Academic dress of the University of Manchester describes the gowns, hoods and headwear which are prescribed by the university for its graduates and officers.
Academic dress has a history in the United States going back to the colonial colleges era. It has been most influenced by the academic dress traditions of Europe. There is an Inter-Collegiate Code that sets out a detailed uniform scheme of academic regalia that is voluntarily followed by many, though not all institutions entirely adhere to it.
The academic regalia of Stanford University describes the robes, gowns, and hoods which are prescribed by the university for its graduates. Stanford University was founded in 1891 and academic dress has been a part of academic life at the school since at least 1899. As in most American universities, the academic dress found at Stanford is derived from that of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which was a development of academic and clerical dress common throughout the medieval universities of Europe. Today, also in common with most American universities, academic regalia is commonly seen only at graduation ceremonies. For most of its academic dress, Stanford follows the Intercollegiate Code of Academic Costume which was devised in 1895 and sets out a detailed uniform scheme of academic regalia. Stanford does make use of a distinct robe for its PhD graduates which is unique among American institutions of higher education in being based specifically on the doctoral robes of the University of Cambridge.
The academic dress of McGill University describes the caps, gowns and hoods which are prescribed by the university for its degree candidates/holders. Until the mid-20th century, McGill also prescribed academic dress for its matriculating or enrolled students as well as its faculty. Founded in 1821, McGill University is consistently ranked as one of Canada's preeminent universities, and among the top 20 universities in the world.
The academic dress of the Robert Gordon University is normally only worn at graduation ceremonies and occasionally at other very formal events. In common with most British universities, a graduand of the Robert Gordon University begins the ceremony wearing the dress of the degree to which they are being admitted except for the hood. This is in contrast to the practice at some universities such as Oxford where a graduand only dons the dress of a degree after it has been conferred. The current pattern of academic dress dates from 1992 when the institution became a university.
The current academic dress of the National University of Ireland was simplified following a review in 1999. The design of the gowns generally follows that of Oxford. The hoods are primarily green, representing Ireland, and generally follow the design of Dublin or Belfast.
