Pitt-Rivers College

Named after one of the founders of modern archaeology, Lieutenant-General Augustus Henry Lane Fox Pitt Rivers, Pitt-Rivers College is the youngest of all of Teliávus University's constituent colleges, having been formed as recently as 1912, following a large endowment that was donated to the university on behalf of Pitt River's friends and acquaintances to establish a hub of archaeological research in his memory.    
Pitt-Rivers College has one of the largest concentrations of archaeological academics within its walls and out of all of Teliávus University's colleges, it admits the largest cohort of students to study archaeology each year. It is not just the foundational aims and ambitions of the college that make it such a hub for archaeological study, fortuitously the site on which the college was constructed stands directly opposite the Faculty of Archaeology  and the Buchanan Museum, making it perfectly placed for both students and academics to access the teaching spaces, collections and the other resources within.   
As it is the youngest college in the university, many of the other colleges have attempted to slur Pitt-Rivers, with the aim of putting off potential students from applying to study there, the argument being that it has not existed for nearly long enough to have proved itself as a robust, highly academic institution. However, Pitt-Riverians always respond forcefully to such accusations, with the now classic rebuttal that not only is Pitt-Rivers College a centre of academic excellence, but it is also the only college where the internal plumbing can be consistently relied upon.

Structure

Pitt-Rivers College is headed by a Rector, who is the head of the college and who answers within the hierarchy of Teliávus University only to the Chancellor.
The Rector heads up a council of all of the college's academics, known collectively as the Senior Common Room, who discuss college business and act as the overall decision making body.
In addition the Rector has a non-academic body of staff who look after the financial and administrative life of the college, ensuring that everything is in good working order, so that the academics and students can focus on their studies.

Academic Focus

As its name suggests, given that it is named after a pioneering figure in the archaeological field, Pitt-Rivers College has a heavy focus towards the study of archaeology within both its student and academic population. Despite its youth, the college is deeply entrenched within the academic life of Teliávus University, with just over fifty percent of the academics within the Faculty of Archaeology , being members, known as fellows, of Pitt-Rivers College.
On the whole, the college has four specific archaeological specialisms, focused around Romano-British and Iron Age Britain; the archaeology of Dark Age and Medieval Europe; Minoan Archaeology and; the archaeology of Africa and the Middle-East. Of course, there are academics within the field of archaeology that are fellows at Pitt-Rivers College whose areas of research lie outside these four areas, but the research clusters are the predominant focus of archaeological research activity centred on the college.
Of course, like the vast majority of other colleges within Teliávus University, Pitt-Rivers College has other students studying other subjects and other academics working in different fields, but just over fifty percent of the college's student body are undertaking their studies within the field of archaeology, with each of the other subjects offered individually representing only a small percentage of the total (see side bar).

Assets

Because of its academic specialism, Pitt-Rivers College has, over its short history, been the recipient of many donations of archaeological material, from scholars and alumni, so many that part of the college has been turned into a museum to house the artefacts. Unlike the Buchanan Museum, the collections of Pitt-Rivers College are not normally accessible to those outside the college, with only one day every month of open access being provided to members of the public.
In addition, the college has, since its foundation, undertaken the practice of buying up pieces of land across the area of south Wales, and occasionally beyond, that are thought to have archaeological and historical interest and value. As well as being saved from immediate development, these pieces of land are also used by the college as field training schools during the University's vacations, providing the archaeology students with experience undertaking and organising excavations, under the supervision of college academics.
Like all of the other colleges, Pitt-Rivers College also maintains its own library, for the private use of its students and academics, though this library is stocked with standard texts rather than being a repository of rare and exotic books.
As well as its main site on Alexandra Road, the college also owns an assortment of buildings throughout Harthill which are predominantly used as student accommodation, with the aim being to provide enough rooms on and off the central site for all students of Pitt-Rivers College, should they wish to take one.

Pitt-Rivers College's Crest

Founding Date

1912

Type

Educational, University

Demonym

Pitt-Riverians / Foxes / Soldiers

Parent Organization

Teliávus University

Location

Evansfarm

Head of College Title: Rector

Academic Breakdown by Subject Area [%]

• Archaeology - 53%
• English Literature - 7%
• Geology & Palaeontology - 15%
• Mathematics - 5%
• Medicine - 5%
• Other - 15%

Student Breakdown by Subject Area [%]

• Archaeology - 55%
• English Literature - 5%
• Geology & Palaeontology - 20%
• Mathematics - 5%
• Medicine - 5%
• Other - 10%

Pitt-Rivers College is a co-educational college that accepts both male and female students, though their accommodation is segregated into male and female staircases, where it is forbidden for members of the opposite sex to enter without good reason.