WHEN it welcomes its first students this September, Paphos’ first university will be operating out of a converted hotel.
And for the university’s rector Professor Elias Dinenis the premises make an ideal launch pad for an institution that will eventually educate 3,000 students.
“We are building a university, but the planning process is long. Obviously we couldn’t wait so we decided to go ahead with a temporary site. The planning process took more than four years and building is underway.
“But this is a nice building and I wouldn’t mind staying here,” said the rector, referring to the revamped old Theophano Hotel in Paphos.
Neapolis University is a substantial investment for the Leptos group of companies and is part of a wider plan to create a large new project with residences, businesses, shops and a hospital.
Although the university started out as a private initiative by the company, the government – eager to support the building of a much-needed higher education institution in the town – made it a prerequisite for the project as a whole to go ahead.
“Establishing the university is a pre-condition of the larger project so that’s how we should look at it, as part of the infrastructure,” said Dinenis, adding that the purpose-built building will be ready in three years.
“We’re based here because hotels are great places to be converted into universities. They have open spaces, all the amenities to support the students in terms of restaurants, and large rooms. We have made some major alterations to create class rooms, an amphitheatre, an architecture studio and so on.”’
Half the building is being used as accommodation for about 150 students, mostly for those from overseas. There is also an indoor and outdoor swimming pool.
“We have also made arrangements with other resorts in the area, so that if we cannot cope with the demand here they will have somewhere to stay.”
The university is currently offering five undergraduate and five post-grad, masters programmes – in subjects such as business, health, architecture and environmental sciences – and expects to have around 400 students and 50 members of staff when it opens its door this September. Within five years staffing levels should reach 300. All courses will be taught in English, apart from one postgraduate course in educational psychology, which will be partly in Greek because the subject involves a substantial amount of experimental work with schools.
Fees are “more or less what the other private institutions charge”, around 9,000 euros a year for undergraduate degrees and 6,000 euros a year for post-grads.
The degrees, awarded by the university will be recognised by the government, and, according to Dinenis, “by all the countries in the European Union as there is a mutual agreement between countries”.
“As the level of education has to be the same as the state universities, Neapolis has gone through a very thorough and demanding accreditation process,” he said. “Last week the Council of Ministers approved the recommendation of the minister of education and we have been given permission to start operations,” he said.
The university also has had the presidential seal of approval with President Demetris Christofias mentioning the university in recent speeches.
Dinenis’ own academic background is extensive. He worked for 30 years as a professor at various universities in the UK and has spent most of his career in London.
“I came back for the challenge,” he said. “I have links with Paphos. I have a holiday house here and have been coming for 25 years, and my wife is Cypriot.”
He started working on the university project on a part time basis in 2000 and has been here full time for the past two years.
Dinenis believes the university will be of huge benefit to Paphos.
“It helps society have a better quality of life and solves the problem of people going abroad to study, so that parents can save money and don’t have to worry about their 18-year-old going away,” he said.
And then there are the economic benefits. “Paphos has an acute seasonal pattern of employment where the bulk of employment for most businesses comes in the summer,” he said. “As a result, many businesses don’t work during the winter. The area around the university is dead in winter.”’
But when Neapolis is fully up and running, there will be 3,000 students roaming about providing custom to local shops.
“Apart from the contribution of students going to bars and restaurants, we are also going to be a big and important employer of highly skilled professional staff,” he said.
Places are still available and further information can be found from: – Neapolis University, Paphos, 2 Danais Avenue, 8042 Paphos-Cyprus, Tel. +357 26843300, email: [email protected] website: www.nup.ac.cy
SIDEBAR
The University offers accredited undergraduate and Master’s programmes covering a wide range of disciplines. Undergraduate courses last four year, post-grad two years.
Courses offered: Business School BSc in Business Administration, BSc in Financial Studies with (i) Banking and Finance, (ii) Accounting and Finance, MSc in Banking, Investment and Finance MBA, School of Architecture, Land and Environmental Sciences Diploma and BSc in Architecture and Environmental Design, BSc in Real Estate Valuation and Development, MSc in Real Estate, MSc in Construction Management, School of Health Sciences, BSc in Psychology, MSc in Eduational Psychology (teaching language: Greek)
GENERAL ADMISSION CRITERIA
a) Official high school Leaving Certificate and transcript(s) from a 6-year Secondary School, which is recognized by the government of the Republic of Cyprus as being equivalent in terms of educational provision at secondary level.
b) Certified/attested copies of degrees, diplomas or other equivalent qualifications earned in the Republic of Cyprus or abroad.
c) Evidence of competence in English or Greek, according to the course requirements.
The English language requirements are:
* TOEFL – a minimum score of 550 (paper based) or 213 (computer-based) or 80 (internet based).
* IELTS – a composite score in the range of 6-6.5 but not less than 6 in any component
* GCE O Level English Language at Grade C or above.
* GCSE English language at Grade C or above.
There are also certain other admission criteria, for which the candidates should contact the Admissions Office at: +357-26843306.
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