The Trent University visiting delegation with Swansea University representatives and Trent students currently studying in Swansea
Leaders from one of Canada’s top universities, which has been exchanging students with Swansea in a thriving partnership for over 30 years, have visited campus to discuss how best to develop further ties.
Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario. It was founded in 1964 and has around 15,000 students. It offers around a hundred degree programmes across two campuses – the Symons campus in Peterborough and the smaller Durham campus in Oshawa.
It is ranked as 4th in the league table for Canadian undergraduate universities and boasts a 95% graduate employment rate.
The President of Trent and other senior colleagues recently visited Swansea, meeting the Vice-Chancellor, Pro Vice-Chancellors and representatives from faculties and professional services.
The Canadian delegation also met up with Trent students currently studying in Swansea and with Swansea students who are due to go out to Trent on exchange next academic year.
Swansea’s partnership with Trent goes back over thirty years, with many students from both universities benefiting from exchange visits.
Find out more about the Swansea-Trent Partnership
In the past few years, Swansea and Trent have developed dual degree programmes in law and chemical engineering, with a new one in medical sciences also now getting under way.
These programmes see students spend their first two years at Trent University before transferring to Swansea for either two or three years. All students graduate with a degree from each institution.
In total 127 Trent dual degree students have studied in Swansea, and there are 67 Trent dual degree students studying in Swansea this academic year.
The Trent delegation was led by Dr Cathy Bruce, President of Trent University. She was accompanied by: Dr Mark Skinner, Dean of Arts and Humanities; Dr Devin Penner, Assistant Professor, Political Studies and Swansea Law programme co-ordinator; Dr Beth Torrens, Assistant Professor in Sociology and Trent Criminology programme co-ordinator.
During the visit, they discussed with their Swansea counterparts possible future collaborations that can lead to new opportunities for students at both Trent and Swansea. This includes a new Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) programme - also known as virtual exchange - in Criminology which is due to start next academic year.
Dr Cathy Bruce attended a special meeting of the University’s North America Geographical Regional Engagement Group where she gave her perspective on Canadian higher education in conversation with Prof Lisa Wallace, Associate Dean International in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Science to an audience of academic and professional services staff from across the University
The group also toured the Children’s Law Centre Wales and the Awen Institute, which focuses on older people and ageing.
Professor Paul Boyle, Vice Chancellor of Swansea University, said:
"Trent University is one of our key international partners and we are proud to have developed a number of innovative degree programmes that afford students a unique opportunity to study in both Canada and Wales.
Our international strategic partnerships are critical to Swansea University’s vision for the future, and it was a great pleasure to host the Trent delegation during their visit to Swansea. While we are happy to reflect on the success of our partnership to date, we are also excited to explore new opportunities which will further enrich our academic community and foster new opportunities for both our staff and students."