Len Schlesinger, president of Babson College, one of the foremost institutions in the world for the teaching of business and entrepreneurial culture, held a meeting with a delegation from Banco Santander headed by Emilio Botín, the bank’s chairman, to evaluate the collaborative relationship that the two institutions have enjoyed since November 2007.
The meeting was attended by, amongst other significant figures in the bank, Gabriel Jaramillo, President and Chief Executive of Sovereign Bank; a financial institution recently acquired by Banco Santander.
Banco Santander, through its Santander Universities Global Division, collaborates with Babson College on numerous academic activities aimed essentially at fostering entrepreneurial spirit amongst universities. The stand-out example is the annual student training programme which, in its first year, has given courses to students at 29 universities in ten different countries.
Also noteworthy is the training initiative undertaken in Russia as part of the relationship between Babson College and Banco Santander, which aims to specialise teaching staff at Russian universities in teaching about the various aspects of the entrepreneurial culture. When it was run for the first time in November 2008 at the University of Saint Petersburg, this programme was attended by lecturers from many other Russian universities. Another similar training programme was organised for the first time as part of the collaborative relationship, this time for the teaching staff of Latin American institutions; 35 lecturers from twenty universities received training.
Banco Santander’s contribution is also used to fund some or Babson College’s research. In particular, the GEM report on entrepreneurial culture and attitudes in Latin America, the most recent issue of which was published in Chile.
The collaboration between the two institutions has also given rise to the creation of a centre for analysis of the University Smartcard that Banco Santander issues at more than two hundred universities in Spain, Portugal and Latin America. This centre carries out pilot schemes with members of Babson College, with the aim of discovering potential new functionalities for this card which, by incorporating new chip technology, can fit its services to the specific needs of students.
During the meeting it was decided to continue with the programmes already being undertaken, and launch new projects in 2009; in particular in collaboration with universities based in Spain and China.
Banco Santander is collaborating in these initiatives through its Santander Universities Global Division, whose activities form the backbone of the bank’s social programme. They allow it to maintain a stable alliance with more than 700 academic institutions based in the Americas, China, Spain, Portugal, the United Kingdom and Russia.
Santander Universities Communication: comunicadgsu@gruposantander.com
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