People's Academy of Elwynn
| Motto |
Obey, Study, and Work |
|---|---|
| Type | Collegiate university |
| Established | 1551 (abolished 1699 AN) |
Religious affiliation |
Church of Elwynn |
| President | Kamilla Winther |
Academic staff |
34,989 academicians |
| Students | 665,680 |
| Undergraduates | 446,450 |
| Postgraduates | 219,230 |
| Location | , , |
The People's Academy of Elwynn, also known as the People's Academy or simply as the Academy, was a public collegiate research university and the national institute of higher education in Elwynn. The Academy was, however, not the only university in Elwynn during the period of its existence. It had branches across all of Elwynn.
The People's Academy was a corporation that promulgated its own charter. From its earliest days the Academy was wholly exempt from all kinds of taxation, whether nominal or actual, with regard to any monies or assets, whether nominal or actual, that it accrued.
The Academy played a major role in the intellectual life of the country since its early days. From its foundation in 1551 AN it had been a centre for debate and controversy in science, religion and the arts. This legacy, even as it calcified into an Ayreonist rejection of hierarchy and traditional morality, persisted until the destruction of the major campus sites in the years after 1692 AN during the Second Elwynnese Civil War, a process that culminated with the formal abolition of its last vestiges under the 1699 Edict of Dissolution.
The Academy claimed to operate the world's oldest university museum, as well as the largest university press in the world and the largest academic library system in Benacia. Of this once immense legacy only the merest scraps have been recovered from the ruins of Eliria by the survey teams of the Honourable Company's Industrial Archaeology Programme.
Its student union was well-known for its radical tendencies and student politics until its suppression in 1686 AN.
History
The Academy was founded in 1551 through a monetary donation by Rai Avon-El as "a place for all Elwynnese to come together, study, teach, be taught and learn about our diverse cultures, our common culture and traditions". Later in the same year it received a charter from Duke Jacobus Loki.
There are, however, various individual colleges of the People's Academy of Elwynn, like Michaelion People's College, which predate the Academy.
During the late 16th and early 17th centuries, the Academy added to its humanistic core a major new research capacity in the natural and applied sciences, including medicine.
During the first era of Elwynnese independence, in the year 1589, the People's Academy of Elwynn was restarted by order of the Regent of Elwynn, Senator Aurangzeb Osmani.
During the period of the Vanic State (1623–1651), the People's Academy, though receiving royal patronage from King Noah (including a coat of arms and massive monetary donations), remained a holdfast for academic debate. As such, it was one of the few public institutions in Elwynn where free debate was not only tolerated by encouraged. Consequently, the Academy has been credited with holding Elwynnese patriotism alive during that period of Elwynnese history.
Reforms introduced by the Patroness & Magistra of the Academy, Kamilla Winther, in 1686 AN saw the People's Academy suppress its once turbulent Student Union, enter into a relationship defined as spiritual communion with the Church of Elwynn, mandate the enrolment of all academic staff and students as members and apprentices of the Guild of Academicians respectively, and introduce "days of obligation" where apprentices would undertake fifteen days of labour on designated public projects in their locality.
The period between the 1691 Elluenuueq princely elections, which resulted in the narrow re-election of N&H candidate Kamilla Winther, and the onset of the Second Elwynnese Civil War in the following year was typified by an almost continuous series of campus revolts, suppressed with escalating severity by the authorities, particularly in the autonomous republics of Alalehzamin, Mishalacia, and Normark. The declaration of secession on the part of Amokolia and Upper Elwynn, together forming the Republic of Elwynn and Amokolia on 12.II.1692 AN was greeted on the Eliria campus sites with demonstrations of support on behalf of both the student body and the faculty. As the cudgellers, demoralised and overstretched in the face of an entire metropolis in uproar, were nowhere to be seen, protestors were emboldened to seize control of the faculty buildings and halls of residence with all of their usual theatrics but without the threat of the decorum restoring downward swing of a lead-tipped cudgel to hold their wilder instincts in check. With the writing now clearly on the wall, figuratively as well as literally, the Board of Governance - less its N&H appointed representatives - declared for the Republic on 19.II.1692 AN. The consequence of this rebellion was the destruction of the majority of colleges affiliated with the academy, and its formal abolition in 1699 AN by the vengeful victors assembled at the Congress of Chryse.
Organisation
As a collegiate university, the Academy's structure could be confusing to those unfamiliar with it. The People's Academy was a federation, consisting of a plethora of highly autonomous self-governing colleges - each with its own property and income - and various faculties, schools and departments, under the supremacy of the Board of Governance.
The Board of Governance of the People's Academy of Elwynn was traditionally a self-appointing and self-regulating body which operated in accordance with its own customs, procedure and charter. Following the Auspicious Occasion and the Elwynnese Civil War, and upon the happy occasion of recovering independence in the aftermath of the Kalirion Fracture, the Board of Governance had been discovered to have been exterminated in its entirety twice over and left without an adequate institutional basis from which to reconstitute itself. Whilst the colleges had, by virtue of their longstanding autonomy, been able to continue in operation without the Board of Governance this sat ill with the Court of the Prince and, in 1682 AN, as part of the celebrations attending to his second inauguration, Frederick Truls promulgated a new charter for the Academy and reconstituted the Board:
| Office | Office Holder |
|---|---|
| Patroness & Magistra of the Academy | Vacant as of 1692 AN De Jure: Kamilla Winther |
| Corrector of Discipline & Morals | Vacant as of 1692 AN De Jure: Nizam al-Mulk |
| Dean of Languages | Aoosmund Fenririon |
| Dean of the Library | Elias Arker |
| Dean of Rhetoric | Pedyr Mekaarveq |
The faculties, schools and departments are located centrally within the structure of the federation; they are not affiliated with any particular college. They provide facilities for teaching and research, determine the syllabi and guidelines for the teaching of students, perform research, and deliver lectures and seminars.
Colleges arrange the tutorial teaching for their students, and the members of a faculty, school or department are spread around many colleges. Most colleges have a broad mix of academics and students from a diverse range of subjects. Facilities such as libraries are provided on all these levels: by the central administration, by the faculties, schools and departments, and by colleges (each of which maintains a multi-discipline library for the use of its members).
Colleges
The colleges are self-governing institutions with their own endowments and property, founded or taken in as integral parts of the Academy. All students and most academics are attached to a college. Their importance lies in the housing, welfare, social functions, and teaching they provide. All faculties, departments, research centres, and laboratories belong to the Academy, which arranges lectures and awards degrees, but the Academy's students receive their tutorials - small-group teaching sessions and one-to-ones - within the colleges. Each college appoints its own teaching staff and fellows, who are also members of a department or faculty. The colleges also decide which students to admit to the Academy, in accordance with regulations issued by the Board of Governance. There is also a large open university system for the People's Academy, where distance courses, both full time and part time, are offered over the Elwnet and the Benacian Data Network.
| Name | Bailiwick | County | Autonomous Region | Academics | Undergraduates | Postgraduates |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adabistaan | Ardashirshahr | Alalehzamin | AAR | |||
| Athenaeum College | Civitas Nova | Íseirdia-la-Vraulalennir | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Athiël College | Port Illumination | Illumination | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Bailicour College | La Terre | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| Björkaborg College | Anun | Automatica | Amokolia | |||
| Caligae People's College | Caligae | Cape Farewell | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Conservatoire Amokolinoise des Arts et Métiers | La Terre | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| Dârulfunûn-e Tanshûyuyyal | Tanshûyuyyal | Alalehzamin | AAR | |||
| Dewalque College | La Terre | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| Dragon College | Luther'enville | Automatica | Amokolia | |||
| Dragonsfold College | Dragonskeep | Agnesia | Upper Elwynn | |||
| École des Mines | La Terre | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| École Polytechnique | La Terre | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| École Supérieure de Techniques Avancées | La Terre | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| Eliria University College | Eliria | Eliria | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Elk Creek College | Elesmari | Íseirdia-la-Vraulalennir | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Hartlepool College | Echo | Eliria | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Highland College | Peterburg | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| Keyrrey College | Fenririe | Eliria | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Lewis College | Minas Valhalla | Cimmeria | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Madarasa | Allswell | Alalehzamin | AAR | |||
| Michaelion People's College | Michaelion | Cape Farewell | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Monto College | Azshara | Illumination | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Opplysta Smørvirket College | Smjörkýr | Íseirdia-la-Vraulalennir | Upper Elwynn | |||
| People's Institute | Kilkadesh | Alalehzamin | AAR | |||
| Quatrain College | Malexander | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| Queen Lane College | Frieden | Íseirdia-la-Vraulalennir | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Riverside College | Islus | Alalehzamin | AAR | |||
| Snealandyx College | Minas Aullarion | Cimmeria | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Stronghold College | Fort Fardë | Automatica | Amokolia | |||
| Tower College | Araxion Tower | Araxion | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Tundra College | Glenfiddich. | Íseirdia-la-Vraulalennir | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Unicorn College | Visqeoor | Araxion | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Vatnaminne People's College | Vatnaminne. | Cape Farewell | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Verion College | Port Illumination. | Illumination | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Victory College | Vijayanagara | Agnesia | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Vineyard College | Niü London. | Automatica | Amokolia | |||
| Vinterhed College | Moss | Agnesia | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Vrouwe Anika College | Alderbaai | Vattnaland | Amokolia | |||
| White Orchid College | Araxion Tower. | Araxion | Upper Elwynn | |||
| Wolfraven College | Wolfraven. | Cimmeria | Upper Elwynn |
Schools, Faculties, and Departments
In addition to the colleges, the People's Academy of Elwynn is made up of numerous departments, faculties, schools, syndicates and other institutions. Members of these are usually also members of one of the colleges and responsibility for running the entire academic programme of the university is divided amongst them. The Academy also includes the National Institute of Continuing Education, a center for part-time study.
Within the People's Academy of Elwynn "Schools" are broad administrative groupings of related faculties and other units. Each has an elected supervisory body - the "Council" of the school - composed of representatives of the constituent bodies. Presently there are six schools:
- Arts and Humanities;
- Biological Sciences;
- Medical and Behavioural Sciences;
- Humanities and Social Sciences;
- Physical Sciences;
- Technology.
Teaching and research in the Academy is organised by faculties. The faculties have different organisational sub-structures which partly reflect their history and partly their operational needs, which may include a number of departments and other institutions. In addition, a small number of bodies entitled "Syndicates" have responsibilities for teaching and research, such as People's Academy Assessment, the People's Academy Press, and the People's Academy Library.
Status of the student body
With the suppression of the Student Union in 1686 the traditional status of the scholar as an apprentice of the Guild of Academicians, subjected thereby to the discipline and learning regime set by the master to whom they are assigned. From the fateful year of the reformation, the halls of learning were barred to all professors and doctorate holders who did not elect to enrol and register with the Guild. Similarly the residencies and student halls were closed to all those who refused to accept the necessity of an apprenticeship.
