The signing of the legal agreement follows the Higher Education Funding Council for England's (HEFCE) decision to support the merger through a financial contribution of £2.3 million. Both decisions endorse the creation of a new university college for the arts, which is the result of 16 months of collaboration, and further strengthen its ambition to acquire specialist arts university status.
The new university college will combine the institutions' existing strengths in the areas of art, design, architecture, media and communication, and build on similarities in size, focus and reputation. The new institution will aim to proactively shape and influence specialist art and design education, both nationally and internationally.
Professor Elaine Thomas, Director of The Surrey Institute of Art & Design University College, and Professor Vaughan Grylls, Director of the Kent Institute of Art & Design, comment on the significance of the agreement:
"The legal agreement represents months of shared planning and commitment and provides a strong platform on which to build a specialist arts university for the South East.
We are greatly encouraged by the support provided, which further enhances our belief that the goal of achieving university status by 2007 is possible through this new institution.
We will now champion our specialist subjects, build on our fast developing research culture, and further the aspirations and achievements of our students and staff. We remain realistic as to the challenges ahead, but look forward to realising a successful future."
With campuses in Canterbury, Epsom, Farnham, Maidstone and Rochester, the new university college will span the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) region, serving students and the creative industries - locally, nationally and internationally.
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