The FINANCIAL — Caucasus University (CU) has signed a contract with Chester University, which is one of the oldest providers of higher education in the UK. The contract provides the opportunity to students of Caucasus School of Business (CSB) and Caucasus School of Law (CSL) to study Dual BBA and LL. B Programmes at Chester University, taking advantage of the discounts that the contract entails.
“What we can say from Chester’s point of view is that we offer CU students substantial discounts on the average student fee that we charge to independent students. These discounts will vary according to how popular the programme shows to be. As I remember the discounts vary from 10% to 35%. Obviously if we get some larger groups of students, then the fee will be lower,” Chris Pyke states.
“This project gives great prospects to students as they will be able to expand their studying bases. Business faculty students of CU will spend three years studying in Georgia and one year in Chester. As for Law Faculty students, out of a four year studying period they will spend two years in CU and the rest of it in Chester. This difference between Business and Law Faculties is down to a mismatch in the subjects,” Colin Taylerson, Principal Assistant Registrar, Academic Development, Academic Quality Support Services of the University of Chester, states.
“The University of Chester is one of the oldest providers of higher education in the UK. We have welcomed international students to Chester for many years and we will do our very best to make students’ stays with us as enjoyable and successful as possible,” Professor Timoty Wheeler, Vice-Chancellor and Principal of Chester University, says.
With its academic roots stretching back to the early 19th century, University of Chester was founded in 1939 by a small group of prominent local figures. Among them was Britain’s greatest nineteenth-century Prime Minister, William Gladstone. The University draws strength from a history longer than that of most other British universities.
The University is situated in the North West of England, not far from the large cities of Manchester and Liverpool, and offers undergraduate and postgraduate programmes on both its Chester and Warrington campuses.
It was the first institution in England set up to train teachers and is one of the oldest higher education institutions in the UK, pre-dating all universities; except Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and London. The University of Chester currently has around 10,000 students enrolled on full-time and part-time degree courses across both campuses in Chester and Warrington.
The representatives of the University of Chester say that to be involved in this programme will make students expand their studying bases.
“I think that it’s the right moment for students to have the right to expand their studying bases for short periods of time. After taking part in this programme, students will have an international education; they will be very competent in the English language and as well in all of the subjects that they will study. And the fact that they are getting a degree from Caucasus University and as well from Chester, will just demonstrate its international aspect and hopefully will make students’ facilities more marketable in terms of getting jobs,” Colin Taylerson told The FINANCIAL exclusively.
“Chester University just like CU is developing an international strategy and there are many similarities between the set up in Chester and the set up of Caucasus University, for example the age of the faculty of business and the type of the programmes. Also there is a service similarity between the two law schools as well. Both schools began to develop about the same time and in the same directions. So I think both organizations because of similarly deep priorities came together and found this the right time to start collaborations,” Colin Taylerson, says.
Representatives of the University of Chester declare that these two universities have already had student exchange programmes in the past and have now signed a more formal agreement.
“We have now signed a more formal agreement regarding programmes in business studies and programmes in law. Students will do part of their studies here and part of their studies in England and will get a degree from both of the universities. If this programme becomes popular, we will expand the agreement and add some other faculties, for example the Faculty of Journalism,” Colin Taylerson told The FINANCIAL.
According to Chester officials, the level of tuition fees charged to a student is governed by UK legislation, which states that certain students may be charged a higher level of fees than those who are classified as UK or European Union (EU) students.
“I can’t provide any details right now because we have only just signed official agreements between the two universities about the responsibilities taken by both sides. We have determined that the fees will be transferred from each of the students to the University of Chester. The actual decision on the pricing will be that of Caucasus University, now the agreement covers the amount of money that Caucasus will then pass on to Chester,” Chris Pyke, Head of Chester Business School, says.
Caucasus University was established in 2004. CU is a new institution founded on the base of Caucasus School of Business which was established during the transitional period of the country in 1998 when Georgia was making the first attempts to move from planned to free market economy. Now Caucasus University has got five schools: Caucasus School of Business, Caucasus School of Law, Caucasus School of Media, Caucasus School of Technology, Caucasus School of Governance and Caucasus School of Humanities, a relatively new school.
“The role of Caucasus University is to support the fast development of the business sector in Georgia and it is well known what a pivotal role the business sector has in the country’s development overall,” CU officials report.
Written By Tako Khelaia
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