Academics forge ground-breaking research venture
Q & A with: Tim Andradi Chief Executive, London School of Commerce. Recent London School of Commerce graduates.
An innovative new partnership in academic research between UWIC and the London School of Commerce (LSC) is set to bring a further boost to the institute’s growing international profile. Under the agreement, which has been designed to attract high quality research students from around the globe, the LSC will now enrol and deliver research degrees for UWIC at its Business Research Institute on its London campus. The new Institute will be treated as a research institute of UWIC for the purposes of administration and quality assurance. UWIC will franchise LSC to offer University of Wales PhD, MPhil and also professional doctorate degrees in accordance with UWIC’s quality assurance relationship with the University of Wales. The Vice-chancellor of UWIC, Professor Antony Chapman, said: “This groundbreaking new partnership will add another
quality dimension to our relationship with LSC. It will grow UWIC’s research global outreach and will attract high calibre international students to research globally important topics. This will be highly beneficial to UWIC, to Wales and to the UK.” The CEO of LSC, Tim Andradi, said: “We are a strongly focused operation and specialise in business related disciplines. We have an excellent professional relationship with UWIC, based on mutual respect and underpinned by strict quality compliance. The establishment of the Business Research Institute provides all involved with new opportunities to compete successfully in what is an increasingly tough international operating environment.” UWIC’s relationship with the LSC, which is its only Associate College, dates back to 2004 and together they now collaborate on an extensive range of undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes. The success of the unique partnership continues to grow with double the number of students from around the world attending this year’s graduation ceremony in Cardiff than just a couple of years ago.
1. The LSC offers the opportunity to study British degrees in the UK, Dhaka and Kuala Lumpur, but what prompted you to start up the school? There has been a vacuum in the educational market to provide cost effective quality British Education. LSC fitted into a natural niche in fulfilling this objective. 2. The LSC joined forces with UWIC in 2004, how did this collaboration begin? LSC was looking for a University partner who shared the same vision as LSC, with a particular interest in students from developing and less developed countries. The fact that LSC also had colleagues who had close contacts at UWIC helped cement this relationship. 3. UWIC and the LSC enjoy a close relationship, what is the next development for the partnership? Collaborating and offering innovative programmes of study that are in demand by worldwide students has been one of the key areas in development of the partnership. But the main thrust will be to take British education to student overseas enabling them to study without having to leave their home countries. This would lead to the true globalisation of education.
focus | 15