Sovereign Bank through Santander Universities Provides Funding Boost to UCosmic®

Boston – Sovereign Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander S.A., through its Santander Universities Global Division, today announced that it has awarded a U.S. $290,000 grant to accelerate the development of the UCosmic^® Consortium.  The UCosmic® Consortium is an international open-source software initiative managed by the State University of New York’s Office of Global Affairs, in partnership with the University of Cincinnati (UC), that provides members with a collaborative platform to establish data and process standards needed for strategic planning, and a network for IT groups to share resources and facilitate development of compliant software.

In announcing the award, Eduardo Garrido, head of Santander Universities in the United States said, “UCosmic is a very promising innovation for global universities and the full implementation of the UCosmic vision will transform how universities identify opportunities and engage with the world.  We expect that UCosmic will become a significant tool in the acceleration of university development.”  Santander Universities Global Division now has more than 1,000 universities in its global network, and is funding thousands of individual projects.

SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher said, “We see UCosmic^® as an essential tool for the successful implementation of our system-wide strategic plan, The Power of SUNY. UCosmic^® provides SUNY with a window into our global activities, and allowing us to be strategic in our efforts to generate additional opportunities for our students, our faculty, and our state. We are grateful for Sovereign Bank’s generous support and continued partnership.”

Originally developed at UC between 2006 and 2009, the original UCosmic^® system has served as the prototype for Version II, which will be cloud-based, modular, and open-source. The UCosmic^® Consortium, now based at the SUNY Global Center in New York City, invites institutions from around the world to participate. 

Consortium members specify feature requirements, prioritize development, and test deployable services. They also participate in the only community of practice connecting international education administrators and information technology specialists. UCosmic^® will be a highly flexible solution that can be adopted incrementally, and maintained in a distributed manner by institutions for a low and controlled cost.

During its first two years, the UCosmic^® Consortium has grown to 12 universities in 11 countries.  As a consequence of the grant, an additional 20 universities in the Grupo Santander network from around the world will join the consortium. In addition, Santander Universities’ support will allow the UCosmic^® Consortium to substantially reduce its participation fee for existing and new member institutions.  The UCosmic^® Consortium can be found at www.ucosmic.org.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating more than 467,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs on 64 campuses with more than 3 million alumni around the globe. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu. 

About Santander Universities

Banco Santander’s commitment to progress finds its expression in the Santander Universities Global Division, whose activities through local affiliates, such as Sovereign Bank, form the backbone of the bank’s social action and enable it to maintain a stable alliance with the academic world. Santander has forged long-term partnerships with more than 1,000 universities in the Americas, Asia and Europe.

Santander Universities USA was introduced in the United States in 2009 through Sovereign Bank and has now resulted in agreements with 23 universities and colleges. The program supported 775 scholarships in 2011.

Santander Universities Global Division is the channel through which Banco Santander supports the higher education sector in these countries in such areas as teaching and research, international cooperation, knowledge and technology transfer, entrepreneurial initiatives, student mobility and innovation.

About Santander Holdings USA, Sovereign Bank and Banco Santander

Santander Holdings USA, Inc. is a wholly owned subsidiary of Banco Santander, S.A., and parent company of Sovereign Bank, N.A. and Santander Consumer USA.  Banco Santander is a retail and commercial bank, headquartered in Spain, with a presence in 10 main markets: Spain, Portugal, Germany, the UK, Poland, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Argentina and the U.S.  Founded in 1857, Santander has 102 million customers, approximately 14,700 branches – more than any other international bank – and more than 189,000 employees.  For more information on Santander, visit http://www.santander.com.

Sovereign Bank, N.A. is a financial institution with principal markets in the northeastern United States. Sovereign has more than 700 branches, nearly 2,300 ATMs, and approximately 8,600 team members.  For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com or call 877-SOV-BANK.