A new partnership agreement between the University of Kent and Santander Universities UK will support international scholarships and student mobility, as well as an employability programme designed to enhance student entrepreneurship.
The agreement, through which Santander will donate £40k for 2012/13, was signed on 18 September by the University’s Vice-Chancellor Professor Dame Julia M Goodfellow and Luis Juste, Director of Santander Universities UK.
Santander has collaborated with universities for more than 15 years. Through its Santander Universities Global Division, the bank supports the higher education sector in such areas as teaching and research, international cooperation, knowledge and technology transfer, entrepreneurial initiatives, student mobility and innovation. Santander Universities Global Division maintains a stable alliance with over 1,020 academic institutions from America, Asia and Europe. Santander Universities UK was established in 2007.
Dame Julia said: ‘We encourage all our students to participate in our extensive range of student mobility and entrepreneurship programmes. We also provide a broad range of scholarships. Santander’s support of our activities in these areas is important to the University and I look forward to our partnership.’
Luis Juste commented: ‘When it comes to internationalisation the University of Kent is an example to follow by many UK and European universities. This became obvious already in the first talks we had with this institution and, as a result, it took no time to decide we wanted Kent to be part of our network. Their expertise and enthusiasm in areas such as entrepreneurship and research makes this university tick all the boxes for Santander Universities.’
Santander Universities UK representatives attending the signing included John Hedges, Institutional Relationship Director, and Joe Walker, Divisional Managing Director.
University representatives included: Professor Keith Mander, Deputy Vice-Chancellor; Professor Alex Hughes, Pro-Vice-Chancellor External; Fiona Jones, Development & Alumni Relations Manager ; Stephen Wallis, Deputy Director of International Development; and Carole Barron, Director of Kent Innovation & Enterprise.