The two public universities in the Region, Murcia (UMU) and the Cartagena Polytechnic (UPCT), are organizing for the first time this year their respective summer course offers, instead of coordinating a common offer under the Unimar brand, as was the case up to now. The two universities deny that the cause of the separation is the distance or lack of understanding between the two institutions, and from the UMU they assure that the only objective is the «strengthening of the brands. Unimar induced confusion, and we preferred to rearrange the offer,” says the rector of the UMU, José Luján, who affirms that the two universities will continue to work together in the organization of the Campus Mare Nostrum summer courses (the campus project of excellence of the two universities).
However, this joint program will not take place this summer, but will have to wait at least until the next. Thus, in the 2023 call there will be two calls for summer school, that of the UMU and that of the UPCT, and none joint.
From the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, the vice-rector for Students, Culture and Sport, Sergio Amat, also considers that the Unimar brand “left the brands of the two universities opaque”, and minimizes the decision. However, other UPCT sources admit that it has not been possible to reach an agreement on the planning and organization of the summer campus program, as was the case up to now, and they have opted for separation.
The summer courses at the Universidad del Mar were created by the University of Murcia four decades ago. After the split of the UPCT, the two universities have been presenting their joint summer offer under the Unimar brand, although the UMU insists that 80% of the programming corresponded to the University of Murcia. Starting this summer, the two institutions will walk separately in their summer programming. “We will continue working together with the Campus Mare Nostrum programming to promote the campus of excellence, which is where we must be united,” insists José Luján, who precisely at the opening ceremony of this course claimed the need to reactivate the program. Just a few weeks ago, the rector of the UMU sparked controversy by proposing to set up a UPCT headquarters in Murcia for first-year students, an initiative that was understood as interference by the rector of the UMU.
Meanwhile, the University of Murcia presents its summer offer this morning, already called Summer Courses at the University of Murcia. The program is made up of 42 courses that will be developed in venues of various municipalities in the Region. This year Calasparra and Ojós are joining, as detailed by the vice-rector for Continuing Education at the UMU, Ana Vanesa Valero, who also defends that “each university must have its brand and identity, which had been blurred.” In the presentation, in which the general director of Universities and Research, María Isabel Fortea Gorbe; and the territorial director of CaixaBank in Murcia, Olga García Saz, detailed the offer, which includes summer schools and courses on occupational therapy, gastronomy, preparation of teaching podcasts, skydiving, biomedicine, archaeology, psychiatry of daily life, sustainability and scientific diving, among others.
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