Newsletter Issue 3 - October 2000
We have a "home" and
we are now "Open for Business"!!
Right on time the contractors finished the refurbishment
contract on The Nunnery. Twenty four hours later we began to move
from our temporary home at the Department of Education. A week
later the first students crossed the threshold. Four weeks later
we are now beginning to find our way around this splendid building
that has been so carefully refurbished.
There are still odd jobs that need to be done
- the resurfacing of the drive for example and the one major task
to be completed is the kitchen and dining area where the contract
is now being processed.
Since moving we have spent a good deal of time
"showing off' our new premises to our friends and supporters
- the Members of Tynwald, the Boards of Governors and Directors
and many others - and also conducting potential users and sponsors
around this fine building with its excellent facilities. All who
come are delighted to see this historic building brought back
to life and made fit for a new purpose. They are also very keen
to make bookings to use our facilities for meetings, presentations
and training.
The lBS was the venue for the meetings of the
Isle of Man Government Joint Marketing and PR Liaison Committee
and the Health Education Forum. We are looking forward to hosting
meetings of the Council of Ministers, Chief Officers, E-Business
etc.
The Business School has also been used as a venue
for CAD training by the Dept of Transport and for training and
presentations held by the government departments and companies
from the wider business community.
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Thanks
We have to thank many, many people for the help
and assistance that we have received so far in moving this exciting
project forward. We would especially wish to thank all the people
involved in the contract to refurbish The Nunnery. We have enjoyed
the services of a first class team and our contractors - Jarvis
(Auldyn) - have done a splendid job in keeping to schedule and
to budget. We also owe Steve Morley from Dalrymple Associates
a very large "Thank You" Steve has been the interface
between ourselves and the project and life is now not quite the
same without the daily deluge of faxes. John Boyd from Boyd &
Gardner has had a lower profile but has made a very important
contribution in ensuring that all of the electrical systems and
lighting meet our present and future needs. To all of you, very
many thanks for a job well done.
We also want to say a huge "Thank You"
to the Department of Education. They took us into the Department
at Murray House and found us space, desks and computers, and made
us very welcome. They also shared a great deal of accumulated
knowledge and wisdom with us about how "the system"
works. To Ralph Cowin and all his team, very many thanks for all
your friendship and help. Long may it continue.
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Receptionist
We are very pleased to welcome Gill Maddox to
our team. Gill comes to us from Heron & Brearley but has had
a wide range of experience elsewhere, including the Isle of Man
College. As Gill spent some of her childhood living in The Nunnery
this is very much a homecoming for her. Already Gill is making
all of our visitors and students welcome and is making her mark
on the lBS.
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Sponsorship
We are very pleased to be able to announce two
major sponsorships for the International Business School. Manx
Telecom have sponsored our Learning Resource Centre. This has
given us a 'state-of-the-art' facility equipped with 26 flat screen
PCs and all the associated colour printers, scanners etc. This
will be at the heart of the learning process in the lBS and having
such high quality equipment and furnishings accords well with
our aspirations to be world class in everything that we do. Manx
Telecom has also ensured that our cable links to the outside world
are 'future proofed' - for the technically minded we have 2 x
24 fibre cables and I x 100 pair copper cable connection.
The Isle of Man Post Office has sponsored a Research
Fellow for one year. This is splendid news as it means that our
first full time academic staff appointment will be a researcher.
This again fits very well with our aspirations. We are now moving
to make an appointment to this post.
We are also now receiving other offers of sponsorship
- for example studentships from Global Sources and from the Diocese,
computing software from DPN Software - and discussions are moving
ahead with other potential benefactors.
To receive a copy of the brochure outlining the
many opportunities to support the International Business School
and the benefits of sponsorship to the sponsor.
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Students
Within a week of the contractors departing we
had students at the lBS. We have been very pleased to see the
MAGIC students here for internet training and we hope we shall
see a number of them again on other courses. In September we shall
also be pleased to welcome students to the professional courses
being hosted by the lBS and taught by the lOM College. We expect
to gain accreditation from the professional bodies in the course
of the year and then to assume responsibility ourselves for these
degree level programmes. By September over 400 students a week
will be using the lBS both during the day and in the evening.
We are also on target to have undergraduate and postgraduate courses
for 2001 entry ready for advertising and marketing in the Autumn.
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Academic Partners
Our relationship with the University of Liverpool
continues to be a good one. We have also broadened the base of
our discussions to include Universities with developed Business
Schools. We are in discussion with Manchester Business School,
with Nottingham Business School and with Liverpool Business School
in the UK and with Wharton Business School and University of Michigan
in the States - the latter two through the good offices of FT
Knowledge. We also have a potential link to Thunderbird Business
School in the USA that we shall be exploring shortly.
In our pursuit of suitable E-Business programmes
we are talking with the University of Surrey and are also at an
early stage of discussion to offer the Chartered Institute of
Bankers/University of Kent Masters programme in E-Business.
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Academic Staff
We are actively engaged in the appointment of
the Isle of Man Post Office Research Fellow and this will be followed
by two full time staff in the Banking/Financial Management area
to be in post by the end of the year. Two further full time staff
will follow for the Summer of 2001.
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Board of Directors
In Newsletter No.2 we promised to tell you about
our Directors. The Directors are responsible for the long term
well being of the lBS as well as fulfilling their statutory obligations.
The Chairman of the Board is Dr. Edgar Mann MLC who has held many
political positions including those of Treasury Minister and Minister
for Education, and who has long advocated the establishment of
a Business School on the Island. He is supported by a very powerful
team. From the Island business community Robin Bigland is the
Executive Director of Isle of Man Assurance Group, Bob Riding
is the Chair of Conister Trust PLC, Peter Vanderpump is a partner
in Deloitte and Touche, David Doyle is a partner in Dickinson,
Cruickshank & Co. From off island we are pleased to have John
Billington who heads up a large and successful family firm with
international interests. The Minister for Education, Steve Rodan,
and the lBS Director, Roger Carey, sit on the Board ex-officio.
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Did you see:
- A feature on the lBS in the Autumn edition of Focus Magazine.
- The Business School featured recently on Border Television
News. Filmed by Manx TV and featuring interviews with Steve
Rodan MHK, Professor Carey and Magic training participants.
- An "Advertorial" in the Manx Newspapers detailing
the refurbishment of the Business School.
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