History of the UPV

On 11 March 1971, according to Decree 495/1971, the Higher Polytechnic Institute is constituted as a Universitat Politècnica de València, this is more than a change of name, but rather a total integration into the university system, with effects on the organisation and regulation of teaching centres, qualifications, access for teaching staff, etc. In short, it entails the same legal treatment that the General Education Act establishes for universities in general. On the other hand, the former president of the IPS has become rector of the UPV.

This is the first time that polytechnic universities have been created in Spain. On the same date, the first three polytechnic universities were established in three successive decrees: Barcelona, Madrid and Valencia.

In October 1968, when the IPSV had just been created, it was decided that the four schools would teach in the same year. In those years, the ETS de Ingenieros Agrónomos and the ETS de Arquitectura already had adequate facilities - they had defined study plans, contracted teaching staff and some professors with tenure, and a student body. But this was not the case of the Schools of Civil Engineering and Industrial Engineering, which were helped by classrooms loaned by the School of Agricultural Engineering, adjusting and optimising the use of common spaces and resources. Provisional study plans for the new centres were drawn up in a very short space of time. The search for and recruitment of the necessary additional teaching staff increased. In short, the IPSV was able to start up all the degree programmes of the centres it was part of within only three months of its creation.

This situation lasted for two academic years, 1968-69 and 1969-70, as in 1970 the new facilities of the primera project phase of the Vera campus. For a time, the Civil Engineering and Industrial Technical Schools were located there. Shortly afterwards, the School of Architecture moved in. And at the beginning of the 1980s, once the second phase of the campus construction was completed, the School of Agricultural Engineering was moved and the other three schools were relocated.

The former intermediate technical schools that included in their name the term of expert in the various branches of engineering and quantity surveyors The two schools were renamed schools of technical engineering and schools of technical architecture, respectively, in 1964.

However, in May 1972, by the Decree 1377/1972 and with the new name which adds the term university, are now integrated into the different universities of the State. Thus, the School of Technical Architecture and the School of Technical Engineering were renamed the University School of Technical Architecture and the University School of Technical Engineering respectively.

The Universitat Politècnica de València was responsible for integrating the five university schools that existed at that time in the territory of the Comunitat, which were:

• València University School of Agricultural Engineering
• Alcoy University School of Industrial Engineering
• València University School of Technical Industrial Engineering
• València University School of Technical Architecture
• University School of Technical Engineering of Public Works of Alicante.

Therefore, in 1972, the Polytechnic University of Valencia was formed as followsby four technical colleges and five university colleges.

In contrast to most STSs, which have kept their names, the university colleges have changed substantially over the decades in terms of their activities and, as a consequence, their names:

The University School of Agricultural Engineering (EUITA) de València was created as the Escuela de Peritos Agrícolas de València in 1959, in the same year as the Decree 1283/1959, which created the ETSEA of Valencia. He also began his academic work in the academic year 1960-61, in the Valencian town of Burjassot, within the former "phytopathological station". At the same time, in the 1965-66 academic year, its facilities moved from Burjassot to the building in the old Paseo de Valencia al Mar, number 19 (today, Avenida de Blasco Ibáñez) in the city, where it remained until its merger with ETSEA.

In 2002, when the university schools became eligible to offer the second cycles of studies in the different degrees and the university departments assigned the necessary teaching staff, most of them opted to include in their teaching plans some second cycles and Master's courses, and even doctoral programmes. They thus become higher technical schools. In particular, the EUITA was renamed in 2002 as follows Higher Technical School of Rural Environment and Oenology maintaining its location on Avenida de Blasco Ibáñez.

In 2010, as already mentioned when describing the evolution of the ETSEA, the two schools merged and the new ETSEA was created. Higher Technical School of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering (ETSEAMN), which was located on the Vera campus. The result of the merger of the two schools is one of the leading centres for the study of agronomy and agriculture in Spain.

The University School of Technical Industrial Engineering of Alcoy was created as the Escuela Industrial Elemental in 1862. Due to its location, very distant from the UPV headquarters, this school is in itself a university campus, the Alcoy campus. In 1994, it significantly expanded its teaching offer, when it created the Escuela Politécnica Superior de Alcoy. Since then, it has been growing both in the number of degrees taught and in the number of students enrolled, and has become an important driving force for innovation in the industrial sector and a promoter of business entrepreneurship in Alcoy and its region.

The University School of Industrial Engineering (EUITI) of Valencia can be considered the oldest technical school in the Comunitat Valenciana, with an age that is well over a century old. It was specifically in the middle of the 19th century when - with the so-called Claudio Moyano law, which established the levels of education and the special schools of engineering appeared at the higher level, alongside the universities - seven cities, including Valencia, opted to set up special industrial schools grouped together in the Royal Industrial Institute of Spain.

València created its Special School of Industrial Engineering in 1850, with its higher level teaching as required by the Royal Industrial Institute of Spain. But the economic difficulties in sustaining these centres forced the closure of six of these schools in the 1860s, including the València school, which was closed in 1865. It was replaced by an industrial vocational school of intermediate level. After countless changes in structure, operation and name - School of Industrial Experts (EPI) since 1931; School of Technical Industrial Engineering (EITI) since 1964 and University School of Technical Industrial Engineering (EUITI) since 1972 - thousands of technical and university graduates have been trained there, who have contributed to consolidating the industrial fabric of the Valencian Community. Until its definitive transfer in the 90s to the Vera campus, its location was the old Avenida del Reino de Valencia, 46.

Finally, in 2002, by incorporating second cycles of university education, the EUITI was transformed into the current Higher Technical School of Design Engineering (ETSID)..

The University School of Technical Architecture (EUAT) of Valencia was established in April 1968, prior to the IPSV, as the School of Technical Architecture of Valencia, according to Decree 854/1968 of 4 April 1968, and has been located on the Vera campus since the mid 1970s. With the changes in the cyclical structure of teaching -graduate, master's and doctorate- and the increase in the number of qualifications, in 2002 it became the Higher Technical School of Building Management, and in 2010, the current School of Escuela Técnica Superior de Ingeniería de Edificación.

The Alicante University School of Technical Engineering of Public Works was created in April 1968 as the School of Technical Engineering of Public Works, according to the same decree that created the EUAT, Decree 854/1968 of 4 April 1968. Although it was integrated into the UPV in 1972, for reasons of strategic interest, in 1991 it became part of the University of Alicante, created in 1979.

In the period from 1975 to 2000, the Universitat Politècnica de València progressively increased the offer of new courses and degrees, while at the same time new teaching centres were created and incorporated.

The affiliation of the former School of Fine Arts of Valencia to the UPV was established by Decree 2503/1975 of 23 August 1975, and subsequently, in 1978, the school became a Faculty of Fine Arts (FBBAA). Artists, curators and art critics, professionals and entrepreneurs from different creative sectors have passed through its classrooms. Currently, the Faculty of Fine Arts at the Universitat Politècnica de València is considered the best in the Spanish university system and provides the UPV with an artistic component.

In 1978 is created the University School of Agricultural Engineering of Orihuela (Alicante) integrated in the UPV. In 1994 it was renamed Escuela Politécnica Superior and, when the Miguel Hernández University in Elche (Alicante) was created in 1996, this school was attached to that university.

Computer science studies began in 1982 at the then University School of Computer Science (Royal Decree 1620/1982 of 18 June 1982), created and integrated into the UPV. In 2002, it changed its name to Escuela Técnica Superior de Informática Aplicada. In 1985 -Royal Decree 1855/1985 of 9 October 1985-, the Faculty of Computer Science is established, where the degree in computer engineering is taught. Years later, in 2010, the two centres were merged, which gave rise to the current School of Computer Engineering (ETSINF).

The School of Telecommunications Engineering (ETSIT) was created in 1989 (Decree 117/1989 of 28 July 1989.). It is currently positioned as one of the schools of reference at national and international level and includes all disciplines and facets of telecommunications engineering.

In 1989, in the same Decree 117/1989, The University School of Technical Engineering in Topography and Public Works was founded at the UPV. In 1994, it was transformed into School of Topographical, Cartographic and Geodesic Engineering (ETSIGCT), whose studies have adapted to the changes brought about by the introduction of information and communication technologies in traditional methods and practices. On the other hand, the teaching of public works is transferred to the ETS de Ingeniería de Caminos, Canales y Puertos.

The University School of Gandia, created in 1993, is constituted as Higher Polytechnic School of Gandia (EPSG) during the 1999-2000 academic year. It offers courses in forestry, environment, tourism, audiovisual communication, telecommunication systems engineering, sound and image. The establishment of the Gandia campus allows, to a certain extent, that the Ducal City recover centuries of university tradition. In 1549, the ancient University of Gandía was founded, the first Jesuit university in the world under the patronage of the Duke San Francisco de Borja and under the direction of the Society of Jesus. For two centuries it was a university centre of reference. Classes were taught there until 1767, when the Jesuits were expelled from Spain and the university was closed. Today, the Gandia campus, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019, offers a wide range of courses and is characterised as a centre with a strong international and research dimension.

During the 1999-2000 academic year, the Faculty of Business Administration and Management (FADE), created by Decree 56/2000 of 25 April 2000 of the Valencian Government, thus completing the current map of schools and faculties of the UPV.

Campus de Vera

• School of Architecture
• School of Agricultural and Environmental Engineering
• School of Design Engineering
• School of Building Engineering
• School of Geodesy, Cartographic and Topographic Engineering
• School of Computer Engineering
• School of Civil Engineering
• School of Industrial Engineering
• School of Telecommunications Engineering
• Faculty of Business Administration and Management
• Faculty of Fine Arts
• Doctoral School

Alcoy Campus

• Higher Polytechnic School of Alcoy

Gandia Campus

• Higher Polytechnic School of Gandia

Annexes

List of rectors from 1971 to 2021

1. Rafael Couchoud Sebastiá
   From October 1968 to March 1971: President of the Higher Polytechnic Institute.
   From March 1971 to February 1972: Commissioner Rector
2. Marcos Rico Gutiérrez
   From February 1972 to February 1973: acting Rector
   February 1973 to December 1977: elected Rector
3. José Juárez Mateo
   From December 1977 to August 1978: acting Rector
4. Saturnino de la Plaza Pérez
   From August 1978 to December 1981: elected Rector
5. Vicente Carot Alonso
   From December 1981 to June 1982: acting Rector
   From June 1982 to September 1985: elected Rector
6. Francisco Cavallé Sesé
   From September 1985 to May 1986: acting Rector
7. Justo Nieto Nieto
   From May 1986 to August 2004: elected Rector
8. Francisco Javier Sanz Fernández
   From August 2004 to March 2005: acting Chancellor
9. Juan Juliá Igual
   From April 2005 to June 2013: elected Chancellor
10. Francisco J. Mora Mas
    From June 2013 to April 2021: elected Rector
11. José E. Capilla Romá
    From May 2021 to present: elected Rector