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INTO University Partnerships

Type	Private
Founded	2005
Founder(s)	Andrew Colin
Headquarters	London
Industry	Education
Website	INTO University Partnerships

INTO University Partnerships is a British limited company that specialises in setting up joint ventures with universities. It focuses on the provision of foundation courses for international students, including English language, especially English for Academic Purposes.

Contents 1 History 2 Future plans 3 Opposition from lecturers and conflict with UCU 4 Accounts question 5 Aircraft 6 See also 7 Notes 8 External links

[edit] History

INTO University Partnerships was founded in 2005 and is chaired by Andrew Colin, who had previously set up Study Group International, an education business he sold to the Daily Mail Group (which subsequently sold it on to Champ Private Equity^[1]), and Embassy CES, a chain of language schools. He is an entrepreneur who enjoys excitement and adrenaline, including heli-skiing^[2]. Since the sale of Study Group, Colin has broadened his interests to include property development^[3]. In 2007, well before the British property bubble burst, he stated that INTO is "not trying to make money out of the tuition fees. That's the problem with both language schools and international education. If you only have tuition fees to make money from then the easiest way to increase your profits is to cut your teachers' wages. INTO is going to make money out of the buildings."^[4].

Under the joint venture model, the university remains responsible for educational quality^[5], while INTO provides the marketing infrastructure, finance and specialist management experience. This business model was developed in a political climate that favours public-private partnerships. Bill Rammell, Minister of State in the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, in response to a question from Colchester MP Bob Russell, welcomed such innovation in higher education^[6].

INTO has so far set up joint ventures with five British universities: Newcastle, Exeter, East Anglia, Glasgow Caledonian, and Manchester^[7]. INTO's latest opening, in October 2008, was the £35 million six-storey centre at UEA, with 415 en-suite study-bedrooms and classroom space for 600 students^[8].

[edit] Future plans

By April 2009 INTO joint ventures employed nearly 500 staff preparing 2,850 international students for UK university education.^{[citation needed]}

INTO has been in preliminary discussion with several other British universities, the majority of which have decided not to form a partnership, including Essex, Goldsmiths and Westminster. Essex elected to restructure its own international operations, and Goldsmiths to suspend its internationalisation plans^[7]. In contrast, the Senate of Queen's University in Belfast, Northern Ireland, voted in favour of an INTO partnership in April 2009, which led to the setting up of INTO Queen's University of Belfast.

In July 2008, INTO announced that it had signed its first agreement in the United States, to operate a foundation year programme for Oregon State University. OSU said that it had long wanted to expand the number of international students, and turned to INTO for its worldwide infrastructure and expertise in recruitment; some staff, on the other hand, expressed concerns over working conditions. The programme is due to start in autumn 2009.^[9] It intends to begin with 150-200 students. A local news source, OregonLive, states that the new venture will "replace the English Language Institute, a self-sustaining program that has helped international students learn English for 43 years", a move that fills its former director with concern.^[10]. The Provost of OSU, Sabah Randhawa, who has led the university's transformational development, expressed satisfaction with the partnership^[11].

[edit] Opposition from lecturers and conflict with UCU

Several British universities have been approached by INTO and the majority have decided not to proceed. The University and College Union (UCU) claims credit in cases where initial discussions have not progressed, whereas the institutions have not publicly cited staff opposition.^{[citation needed]} UCU has consistently opposed INTO's expansion into higher education, claiming that in every case where staff were consulted, they rejected INTO.^{[citation needed]} For example, in a survey of staff at Essex, 90% rejected the proposed partnership.^[12] This objection is compounded by two things: that INTO does not recognise unions, and that Andrew Colin acknowledges that the rates offered are likely to be worse.^[13]

The International Centre for English Language Studies (ICELS) at Oxford Brookes University strongly opposed INTO's approach,^[14] and the UCU claimed credit for this opposition influencing the university's decision. The university stated that it would not go ahead with the project because it required such a large real estate commitment.^[15] The University of Essex, following questions from UCU,^[16] explained the benefits of working with INTO,^[17] but in October 2008 decided not to enter a partnership.^[18]

In February 2007, the Times Higher Education published an article featuring the UCU's dispute of guarantees that INTO offered to existing Newcastle staff.^[19] Andrew Colin rejected the UCU criticism, saying in 2007 "Give me three years and I will show you it is possible to create secure, well-paid jobs in EAP, and more of them," and rejected the similarity of his business model to private finance initiatives (PFI).^[20]

In July 2008, INTO threatened UCU with a legal suit for defamation, in response to a union briefing entitled "Into the unknown". The union removed the document from their website.^[21]

[edit] Accounts question

INTO reached the parliamentary record when MP Austin Mitchell asked why it had not filed financial records with Companies House^[22], as it is legally obliged to do. Andrew Colin said in the Times Higher Education that the delay in submitting accounts was a "simple mistake"^[23]. He also revealed that the first set of submitted accounts showed a loss of £1.7m, but stated that the company would be beyond the break-even point by the third year.

INTO University Partnerships is a separate company from each of the joint ventures, which are owned by INTO and the institutional partner. INTO has funded the start-up and growth of the partnership network, with a private investment of £8.4 million committed to date. The business is meeting or exceeding all financial targets.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Aircraft

According to the Civil Aviation Authority's database on registered civil aircraft, a subsidiary, INTO Air, has registered a Swiss-built Pilatus PC-12 turbo-prop aircraft, with registration G-INTO ^[24]. An article in General Aviation magazine quotes the cost of these aircraft as starting at $4m and states that Andrew Colin has ordered a second aircraft for delivery in 2010 ^[25]. Colin credits the first corporate plane, which he had had for only a few months at the time of the interview, with transforming the way he and his UK team did business, removing much of the strain of travel. “In one week we attended meetings in Glasgow and Newcastle on the Monday, Oxford and London on the Tuesday, Exeter and Birmingham on the Wednesday, Glasgow again on the Thursday and Norwich on the Friday."^[25].

The aeroplane is leased under a long-term rental agreement.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] See also

• Business-education partnerships
• University Foundation Programme, a competitor system
• Foundation degree, a year-long programme to prepare British students for undergraduate study
• Kaplan, Inc., a competitor company
• English Language Institute, a common name for a university-based service that teaches English

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• INTO UK
• INTO University Partnerships