Santander Universidades Academy – another edition of the educational program for students and graduates from all over Poland has started

Santander Bank Polska and the Cracow University of Economics invite students and graduates for a series of online lectures that will allow participants to gain knowledge about career building and the specifics of working in a financial institution. The lectures will be delivered exclusively by practitioners – heads of departments at Santander Bank Polska and members of the Management Board, including the CEO, Michał Gajewski. The academy will run from November 4 to December 1 of this year.

The situation on the labor market related to Covid-19 shows that a „quarantine generation” may emerge, because the pandemic has a negative impact on the career prospects of young people. According to the International Labor Organization (ILO), the pandemic has a „destructive and disproportionate” impact on the employment of young people. According to the latest data, young people face serious obstacles in continuing their personal development and education, changing jobs and entering the labor market.*

In response to these challenges, the Santander Universidades program launches the next edition of the Academy, which is part of the #EnterpriseWebcampaign and aims to improve the competitiveness of students and young people starting their careers in the labor market. The initiative is held under the Honorary Patronage of the Rector of the Cracow University of Economics, Professor Stanislaw Mazur, Ph.D.

The mission of Santander Universidades is to support higher education, research and entrepreneurship. The data are worrying – unemployment among 15-24 year olds in the EU was 14.9% even before the pandemic. In July, the rate rose to 17% [2]. We want young people to gain valuable knowledge that will allow them to develop professionally and to have attractive employment in the future. We want to help students regain a stable position on the labor market and inspire them to act, giving them access to unique lectures delivered by employees of our bank

Wojciech Leśniewski

Director of Santander Universidades in Poland

During nine online meetings, students and graduates will be able to listen to lectures by Michał Gajewski, CEO of Santander Bank Polska, Members of the Management Board, Chief Economist of the Bank and President of the Santander Bank Polska Foundation, Marzena Atkielska.

We greatly appreciate the cooperation between the Cracow University of Economics and Santander Bank Polska within the Santander Universidades Academy. We have been participating in this program since 2013. An extremely important element of this cooperation are numerous scholarships for students and employees of our University and Business Academies. It is worth mentioning that over 200 students of our University took part in the Academy in previous years. This year’s edition, although conducted online, promises to be exceptional, because it will be addressed not only to our students, but also to all economic universities in Poland. As Rector, I am proud of our students, who so eagerly participated in earlier editions of the Academy. I hope that the difficult epidemic situation in which we found ourselves will encourage them to participate even more in workshops and meetings, which, I strongly believe, will improve their competitiveness on the labor market and help them to improve their competences

Professor Stanisław Mazur

Rector of the Cracow University of Economics

The initiative aims to show young people possible paths of development, and to deepen their knowledge of financial management and financial instruments. Each of the lectures is also supposed to show students how work in different areas and teams of the bank looks like in practice. The participants will also learn about the competences expected from the future employees of the banking sector, which are not as obvious as it might seem, and will listen to a lecture about using innovations in creating the bank of the future. Recruitment is conducted on the website.

Each edition of the Santander Universidades Academy enjoys great interest from students. This year, due to the exceptional teaching situation, together with Santander Bank Polska we decided to organize an open online event for students from all over Poland. The meeting with the top management of Santander Bank Polska will be an inspiring experience for students

Professor Ewa Miklaszewska

Head of the Department of Banking and Global Financial System at Cracow University of Economics

All lectures will be held from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. The agenda of the Academy will include the following topics:

  • November 2020:Business and social activities on the example of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Santander Bank Polska S.A. Foundation and Santander Universidades
    • Marzena Atkielska, President of the Ignacy Jan Paderewski Santander Bank Polska Foundation,
    • Wojciech Leśniewski, Director of Santander Universidades in Poland.
  • November 2020: Leadership and well-being in the midst of a pandemic.
    • Marta Pszczoła – Director of Development Department, Santander Bank Polska.
  • November 2020: New technologies in the bank on the example of Salesforce – implementation of CRM based on cloud computing in Santander Bank Polska.
    • Michael McCarthy, Vice President of the Management Board of Santander Bank Polska, Head of the Business and Corporate Banking Division,
    • Artur Chodacki, Chief Corporate Clients Officer Santander Bank Polska.
  • November 2020: Opportunities and risks for the Polish economy and banking sector in the coming years.
    • Maciej Reluga, Member of the Management Board of Santander Bank Polska in charge of the Financial Management Division, Chief Economist of the Bank.
  • November 2020: Capital market as a chance to protect savings in the era of high inflation and low interest rates?
    • Juan de Porras Aguirre, Vice President of the Management Board of Santander Bank Polska, Head of Corporate and Investment Banking Division.
  • November 2020: Rebranding – an opportunity to strengthen market position on the example of Santander Bank Polska.
    • Artur Sikora, Director of Corporate Communication and Marketing Area Santander Bank Polska.
  • November 2020: Changing the structure of the bank’s financial statements in the context of the post-pandemic challenges ahead:
      • Wojciech Skalski – Director of the Financial Accounting Area of Santander Bank Polska,
      • Krzysztof Rewers, Director of the Reporting Department,
      • Bogusław Dziewięcki – Director of the Capital Requirements Department.
  • November 2020: Changes in financial risk and capital management in the face of credit vacations, high public charges and low interest rates and the use of Data Science in banking:
      • Andrzej Burliga – Vice-President of the Management Board of Santander Bank Polska, Head of the Risk Management Division,
      • Piotr Radzewicz – Director of the Financial Risk Department,
      • Artur Glembocki – Managing Director of Risk,
      • Adam Ocharski – Tribe Leader Business Intelligence.
  • December 2020: Banking is necessary, banks are not. Is Bill Gates wrong?
    • Michał Gajewski, CEO of Santander Bank Polska.