Official opening for Schools of Law and Management
Posted on 29 June 2011
The formal opening of the £20.2 million building will be performed by Caroline Thomson, Chief Operating Officer of the BBC on Monday, 4 July. The York graduate will also deliver the inaugural Cantor Business Lecture. The annual lecture will support the Law and Management Schools in inviting distinguished speakers to the University.
The new building housing the York Law School and York Management School is a physical expression of our determination to foster the highest standards of academic excellence
Professor Brian Cantor, Vice-Chancellor
Caroline Thomson’s lecture, which is open to all, will look at “Accountability, Change and Creativity: Public Sector Management in Balance” and will explore how to deliver change and accountability in public organisations, with specific reference to balancing accountability with creativity at the BBC.
A member of the BBC's Executive Board, Caroline Thomson reports directly to the Director-General. Her responsibilities include the BBC's Policy, Legal, Strategy, Property and Distribution functions, and all of the organisation’s major infrastructure projects, including digital switchover, and the move to Salford.
The new Law and Management building is one of four major academic buildings in the first phase of the University’s £750 million campus extension at Heslington East, one of the biggest capital developments in UK higher education in recent years.
It was designed following extensive consultation with academics and students in both Schools and is purpose-built to support and foster interactions between the University, researchers and business.
As well as a variety of modern study areas, the building boasts a lecture theatre in the round, styled on the Harvard Business School teaching model, and a moot court.
University of York Vice-Chancellor Professor Brian Cantor said: “As a world-class university it is vital that our campus and supporting facilities are of the highest quality. The new building housing the York Law School and York Management School is a physical expression of our determination to foster the highest standards of academic excellence. It will provide an intellectually stimulating environment for interactions between the University, researchers, students and business, helping us deliver a world-class student experience.”
Development of the new building, which forms part of the completed £200m first phase of the University’s new Heslington East development, has been supported by investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) in Yorkshire and the Humber, part of a major infrastructure project led by Science City York to extend the assets and strategic potential of York as a leading centre for science and innovation.
Professor Stuart Bell, Head of the York Law School, said: “The York Law School delivers an innovative programme designed to provide students with the intellectual challenge of an academic discipline while simultaneously preparing them for practice. This new building provides a unique facility within which to develop the skills and techniques needed to work with the law in an applied context along with a depth of knowledge and understanding of legal principles.”
Professor Steven Toms, Head of the York Management School, said: “The York Management School offers research-led, quality teaching, based on influential scholarship, international profile and strong links with business in a world-class university environment to develop entrepreneurial and highly employable graduates. Our new building and the expansion of the campus provides us with an excellent environment in which to conduct these activities.”
The Cantor Business Lecture and official opening will take place on Monday, 4 July from 5.30pm to 7pm. The lecture will take place in Room LMB030-1 in the Law and Management Building, Heslington East and admission is by free ticket only, available from www.york.ac.uk/tickets. For further information contact publiclectures@york.ac.uk or 01904 322622.
Notes to editors:
- More on the York Law School at www.york.ac.uk/law
- More on the York Management School at www.york.ac.uk/management
- More on the University of York’s campus development at www.york.ac.uk/campus-development/
- Yorkshire and The Humber ERDF Programme 2007-2013
The regional ERDF Programme, approved in December 2007 was launched in February 2008. The programme is managed by Yorkshire Forward on behalf of a regional partnership including the National Government, European Commission and Regional bodies. The programme provides €583 million from the European Regional Development Fund to invest in the region’s economic development by 2013 with €271m for South Yorkshire and €312m for the rest of the region. South Yorkshire has extra resources to help with its transition from its earlier Objective 1 status. Further information about the ERDF Programme in Yorkshire and The Humber is available at www.yorkshire-forward.com/erdf -
European Regional Development Fund
The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was set up in 1975 to stimulate economic development in less prosperous regions of the European Union (EU) and to act as a significant instrument with which the EU can support its Cohesion Policy. As EU membership has grown, ERDF has developed into a major instrument for helping to redress regional imbalances. The Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) manages ERDF in England. Between 2007 and 2013, England benefits from an investment of €3.2 billion (approx £2.5 bn) of ERDF. It is delivered by regional programmes in each English region, managed by the Regional Development Agency. England also receives €177 million ERDF for two national cross-border co-operation programmes with France, Flanders and the Netherlands and another €193.8 million is available to the United Kingdom for participating in three trans-national co-operation programmes across the North West Europe, North Sea and Atlantic areas. ERDF is directed at projects offering substantial benefits which meet the needs of an area and would not take place without a grant. It is used to provide help towards the project costs with grants set at a minimum level required to allow the project to go ahead. As a general rule, however, the EU contributes no more than 50% of the eligible cost with the rest of the funding, known as ‘match funding’ coming from other public sources. Information about the European Union’s support for regional policy, including ERDF is available at www.ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm
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