Coventry University appoints founding Provost to lead its Scarborough Campus

Coventry University has appointed a founding Provost for its new university campus in North Yorkshire, which it is developing in partnership with Scarborough Borough Council and a wide range of business and commercial partners.
 
Professor Craig Gaskell, well known as a strong advocate for high quality university education in the region, will become the founding Provost for the Coventry University Scarborough Campus, which is being built on land next to the town’s old Weaponness Park and Ride site.
 
Coventry University’s expansion into North Yorkshire forms part of a planned £45m education and sports facility, also incorporating the newly launched University Technical College (UTC) Scarborough, which is looking to develop its operations at the site in the south west of the town centre.
 
Coventry University Scarborough Campus will create around 100 jobs over the next three years and its parent university is investing in excess of £12m for buildings and facilities on the site, which will be open from September 2016.
 
Named 'University of the Year for Student Experience' in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2015, and retaining its title of 'Modern University of the Year' for the second consecutive year in the same publication, Coventry University’s innovative approach to higher education has seen it rise steadily in league tables over the last few years.
 
The University is acclaimed for its industry-leading initiatives and its new campus in Scarborough will be based on its widely commended model of delivering high quality university education at very affordable prices.
 
Enrolment to some courses will begin in September 2015, with the full range of programmes designed to help develop modern skills and knowledge available when the campus opens in September 2016. Coventry University Scarborough Campus will be taking applications, both directly and through UCAS, for the first intakes within the next few days.
 
The courses to be delivered, including law and policing; business; management and leadership; accounting and finance; science and engineering; and health and social care are all very flexible, offering chances to study at a range of levels and designed in ways to suit learners’ lifestyles.
 
Ian Dunn, Deputy Vice-Chancellor at Coventry University said:

We have been working for some time with Scarborough Borough Council and local and regional businesses to develop what will be the most exciting educational development of this type in the country. Bringing high quality higher education to Scarborough is the start of a journey towards a full university in the town and means continuity of HE provision and then significant growth for learners and skilled local people to fill the surge in new jobs planned in the borough.

Councillor Tom Fox, Leader of Scarborough Borough Council said:
 

We’re extremely pleased that the new campus will welcome its very first students from this September. It signals the start of a new standard of excellence in higher education for the borough. Backed by local businesses that are committed to raising the skills levels of the employees of the future, the campus will be a fundamental part of the growth of the area’s economy from now on.
 
Professor Gaskell’s appointment is fantastic news. He shares the vision of all the partners involved, who look forward to working with him to deliver Coventry University Scarborough Campus.