Μetropolitan College announced its cooperation with Oxford Brookes, a distinguished British University with over 150 years of history in the UK, located in Oxford. The official launch was celebrated at a special event at the British Ambassador’s residence in Athens in the presence of Professor Alistair Fitt, Vice-Chancellor for Oxford Brookes University, as well as senior members of Metropolitan College’s Administration: the President of Metropolitan College, Mr Konstantinos Rodopoulos, the Managing Director of Metropolitan College, Mrs Kalliopi Rodopoulou, Member of Metropolitan College’s Board, Mr Romanos Rodopoulos and Professor Dinos Arcoumanis, Chairman of the Academic Board, Metropolitan College.
In addition, the event was attended by Oxford Brookes’ executives, academics and alumni, executives and academic staff of Metropolitan College, as well as senior representatives of the British Council in Greece. Having over than 18,000 students and 130,000 graduates in over 189 countries, Oxford Brookes University has grown into one of the UK’s top modern and vibrant universities with a local, national and international reputation for teaching, research excellence and student support services. Additionally, Oxford Brookes’ students and graduates are known for its high employability rates. It is worth mentioning that 95% of Brookes’ students are in employment and/ or further study within six months of graduating. Furthermore, Oxford Brookes University is ranked amongst the world’s top universities, holding the 2nd position in the UK and 9th worldwide (QS Ranking 2019) in Tourism Studies.
Metropolitan College offers for the first time in Greece programmes of study that have been specifically chosen to meet the needs of the Greek government’s workforce targets and includes graduate and postgraduate courses in areas spanning Accounting, Health, Hospitality and Technology. More specifically the six new programmes offered by Metropolitan College in collaboration with Oxford Brookes University are the following:
BSc (Hons) Accounting & Finance
BSc (Hons) Information Technology for Business
MSc Accounting and Finance
MSc International Hospitality, Events and Tourism Management
MSc Rehabilitation
MSc Applied Sport and Exercise Nutrition
The British Ambassador for the Hellenic Republic in Greece, Kate Smith who hosted the event, opened the celebration with her welcome speech, mentioning its contribution at the growth rate of Greek economy:“I am delighted to welcome you to the British residence at the launch of the new partnership between Oxford Brookes University and Metropolitan College. This form of collaborative relationship between Greek private sector colleges and British Universities is something we are hugely proud of and delighted to support. Quality education is the key word here and that goes for both institutions who are joining forces this year.
From this semester Metropolitan College will deliver Oxford Brookes University programmes at undergraduate level (BSc’s) and postgradutes (MSc’s) which have been selected to meet the needs of the Greek work force and prepare the graduates with skills in key areas that are crucial for the continuous successful growth of the Greek economy. And I must say it a perfect time for this to be happen. This is growing confidence, both here in Greece and abroad, in the Greek economy and ambitious plans on the part of the Greek government to attract foreign investments and create thousands of new high quality jobs for the youth of the country. So the young people who will be qualified from these programmes, they will be right at the heart of that effort”.
Professor Alistair Fitt, Vice-Chancellor for Oxford Brookes University, deeply excited, commented during his speech: “Our new partnership with Metropolitan College in the delivery of some of our best programmes both in Athens and Thessaloniki is the start of an important and exciting journey for Oxford Brookes. We are proud as University to partner with institutions of excellence around the world. The decision to partner with Metropolitan College in delivering these programmes is based upon the College’s reputation in Greece as an experienced quality provider of education. Universities UK International organization has recognized Metropolitan College as the largest provider of Transnational Education in Europe. As I actually chair the UUKi TNE Steering Group I am well aware of all the achievements in Greece with transnational education. I hope this is the beginning of a long and fruitful relationship with future developments in both teaching and research, which will be of benefit to both institutions and to Greece”.
Professor Dinos Arcoumanis, Chairman of the Academic Board, Metropolitan College, applauded both educational institutions for this promising new partnership: “A year and a half has passed from when we started the first exploratory discussions until today, which is a record for establishing a partnership within such a short time. I am delighted because it is the aftermath of great team effort. This collaboration starts with 6 programmes this year, 8 next year and much more This is only the beginning. Our ancestors said the beginning is half of everything. Metropolitan College’s vision and strategic plan is to expand in other disciplines and I think that the commitment, the enthusiasm and the quality of Metropolitan College’s staff guarantee the continuing success of the College”.
Amongst Oxford Brookes’ alumni who attended the event was Emma Parker, Co-founder και Vice President hyphen SA and International Development Director – CEO Hyphen Publishing Services. Mrs Parker gave a speech during which she mentioned the values she gained as a student of Oxford Brookes: “When thinking about the message i wanted to give today about Oxford Brookes and its graduates, it occurs to me the way i fought for and gained my place on the course. It actually epitomizes the ethos of the University and the tenacity of its students. When i was given that chance, when i strived and eventually thrived during my 4 years of study it was an affirmation that i was who i thought i was. Brookes believed in me so i believed in me. Now, when i am interviewing job applicants for my company, i find myself looking for that inimitable Brookes’ elements: the spark, the tenacity and the resilience and –suddenly- I remember my very first day there, when everything fell into place”.
You can see launch event’s photo album here:
