The University of Bolton opened new buildings in the United Kingdom and United Arab Emirates yesterday, Tuesday 30 September 2008.
HRH, The Earl of Wessex officially opened the new £2.5 million student development at the Deane Campus and watched the simultaneous official opening, via satellite link, of the University's new £1 million campus in Ras al Khaimah, UAE.
A welcome film, featuring Sheikh Faisal bin Saqr al Qasimi, of the ruling family in Ras Al Khaimah, was seen by The Earl of Wessex and 200 guests who attended the opening event.
The new Social Learning Zone gives students space to study in a relaxed atmosphere with access to the latest wireless technology, enabling students to work in groups online as well as in networks. It offers seating for 200 students. There is alsoa traditional library. Adjacent are:
The development also includes a new library entrance, leading into the Social Learning Zone.
Now completed, this combined student services area will cover floor space equivalent to the size of a football pitch (approx 2,000 sq m) which also includes a student union shop and café facilities.
Said Vice-Chancellor, Dr George Holmes:
'Students at Bolton are the very heart of the university. They create the pulse beat of campus life.
'Academic staff develop their understanding and critical thinking that expands the minds of students to create new knowledge. But without the facilities and infrastructure the pulse is less quickened. The Social Learning Zone that we are in today provides that environment.'
The £1 million university campus in UAE, initially set to accommodate around 150 students, is just 45 minutes from Dubai.
It offers undergraduate and post-graduate courses in the built environment, engineering, business, IT and art and design. The programmes will be directly equivalent to those provided for students at Bolton and will share the same exam boards, quality monitoring process and external verification as at the University of Bolton.
Development plans include an extension of courses and student numbers to increase to around 700 within five years.
Students from Bolton will have the opportunity to study at the new UAE campus for part of their degree course.
Dr Holmes added:
'The opening of a branch campus in Ras al Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates and our expansion overseas is significant and essential for today's students and those that will follow them.
'I believe that giving students the opportunity to study their course in different parts of the world is essential for their future. It enriches their contribution to a multicultural society here and beyond our own borders and prepares them for an increasingly interdependent world.'