►Roehampton Partnership

Roehampton University has entered into a new partnership with the Society of the Sacred Heart and has consequently signed a 125-year lease for control of the Digby Stuart College estate. The new partnership will see the University take responsibility for all aspects of managing the College, with immediate effect. The University will make sure that the traditions and ethos of the College are maintained.

This new partnership follows a similar arrangement with Incorporated Froebel Educational Institute (IFEI), the Providing Body for Froebel College, which granted the University control of the Grove House estate in 2006.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Paul O'Prey, said he was delighted by the opportunities the new arrangement would provide and that he was committed to making sure that the Colleges flourished: "The Colleges add a level of richness to the University experience, and students in particular enjoy the sense of community that being part of a College can provide. The Colleges are a key part of our distinctiveness and identity as a University.

"This new arrangement enables the University to invest in developing the Digby Stuart campus, and to plan the future of both Froebel and Digby Stuart campuses together, rather than as separate entities."

He also said that he was delighted to be celebrating a closer link with the Society of the Sacred Heart, which has an outstanding reputation for developing educational opportunities in many countries around the world.

The agreement will enable the University to focus further its efforts in developing the student experience, through improved services as a collegiate university, while maintaining the name, ethos and traditions of Digby Stuart College and its 134-year history.

The new lease arrangements will also enable the development of key aspects of the campus strategy including a new library.