The University of Gloucestershire is a university primarily based in Gloucestershire, England, spread over four campuses, three in Cheltenham and one in Gloucester. A campus in London has been sold. The current Vice-Chancellor and Chief Executive Officer (until July 2011) is Dr. Paul Hartley. In 2009/2010 several formerly senior figures in the university resigned. The University Council has appointed Mr. Stephen Marston as Vice-Chancellor. The university is the recent successor of a large number of merged and name-changed institutions of further and higher education. Its history began with the Mechanics' Institute founded in 1834. From 1992, Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education (CGCHE) was permitted to award first and postgraduate degrees and 1998 it achieved Research degree awarding powers. However, it was only in 2001 that the University of Gloucestershire was awarded university status. Its history spans nearly two centuries. Dame Janet Trotter was the founding Vice-chancellor and Principal, retiring in 2006.