Welsh universities set for large funding increase

According to funding allocations for institutions released by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales today, the biggest winner will be Swansea University, which will see its funding increase by almost a quarter in 2013-14.

There should also be substantial increases at Glyndwr University (20.3 per cent); the newly merged institution, Swansea Metropolitan University of Wales Trinity Saint David (19.5 per cent); and Wales’ most research-intensive institution, Cardiff University (14.9 per cent).

Wales is introducing a similar undergraduate funding system to England: the government is phasing out central teaching grant and replacing it with student tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year.

Read more at: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/news/welsh-universities-set-for-large-funding-increase/2003144.article

HEFCW Annual Report 2010-2011

Every year HEFCWpublishes a report of their activities to show how successfully they have met their targets and how they have used public funding.

The Annual Report also includes information about HEFCW’s accounts, and a summary of developments in areas which have been given priority over the previous year.

http://www.hefcw.ac.uk/publications/corporate_documents/annual_report.aspx

2012-13 CyMAL grant schemes open

The CyMAL grant paperwork is now available and the schemes are open for applications from libraries (and museums and archives) in Wales for 2012-13 projects.

Libraries in Wales can apply for grants in a range of priority areas within the Innovation and Development scheme. The closing date for applications is 23rd January 2012.

More information from: http://libalyson.wordpress.com/2011/11/25/2012-13-cymal-grant-schemes-open/

HEFCW announces settlement for individual HEIs

The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales has announced how £377.1 million of funding for higher education in Wales will be allocated in the academic year (AY) 2011/12.

All its funding will be committed according to priorities in For our Future, the Welsh Assembly Government’s strategy for higher education, which includes:

•Widening access to higher education

•Supporting part-time students

•Supporting a buoyant economy through innovation and engagement activities

•Strengthening research performance

•Developing Welsh medium provision in universities

•Encouraging the development of collaboration in regions in order to strengthen support for local learners and employers.

Reflecting the priorities above, HEFCW will distribute £336.7 million teaching and research funding to universities and colleges in Wales, compared to £361.3 million from the previous academic year.

Overall, there will be 4.6% cut in funding with funding for teaching falling by 8.4%. For individual HEIs, the overall impact of the funding changes ranges from a cut of 8.9% to an increase of 16.7%.

There is a good summary in the press release.

Full details of the announcement can be found here:
W11/12HE: Strategic Implementation Allocations 2011/12
This circular sets out HEFCW’s overall budget distribution for the academic year 2011/12, including individual institutional allocations for teaching and research.

HEFCW annual remit letter from the Welsh Assembly Government

HEFCW is an Assembly Government Sponsored Body. They receive an annual remit letter from the Welsh Assembly Government showing work areas for the following year to be delivered through the funding they are allocated.

The 2011-12 Remit Letter from the Welsh Assembly Government is now available on the HEFCW website:
http://www.hefcw.ac.uk/about_he_in_wales/wag_priorities_and_policies/annual_remit_letter_hefcw.aspx

Universities in Wales told to ‘adapt or die’

Education Minister Leighton Andrews has told universities in Wales that there will be fewer of them by 2013.

Mr Andrews told the Institute of Welsh Affairs’ conference higher education institutions must “adapt or die”.

He warned their future funding, including being allowed to charge higher tuition fees, would depend on a willingness to “progress swiftly to merger and reconfiguration”.

He said: “There will be fewer higher education institutions in Wales by 2013 and fewer vice-chancellors. That does not mean fewer students or fewer campuses.”

A spokesperson for Higher Education Wales said the government’s policy on reconfiguration and collaboration is “well understood”.

She said: “A number of institutions have implemented, or are discussing, structural change.

“Higher Education institutions are committed to delivering public benefit for Wales – indeed that is at the core of their existence and is the basis of their charitable status.”

Read the news report at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-11911375

Wales unveils future of fees

Education Minister Leighton Andrews has this week outlined Wales’ response to the decision by the UK Government to increase tuition fees in higher education institutions in England.

In Wales basic tuition fees will rise to £6000 per annum. HE institutions will be able to charge fees up to £9000, providing they can demonstrate a commitment to widening access and other strategic objectives.

To support Welsh students the Welsh Assembly Government is announcing that Welsh domiciled students will not have to find either £6000 or £9000 to study. The increase in fees for Welsh domiciled students, whether they study in England or Wales or Scotland or Northern Ireland, will be paid by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Leighton Andrews said: “We have a responsibility to Welsh-domiciled students, wherever they choose to study. We also have a responsibility to ensure that Wales benefits, economically, socially and culturally, from the investment that the Assembly Government makes in higher education in Wales. Higher education should be on the basis of the individual’s potential to benefit, and not on the basis of what they can afford to pay.”  

Read more at: http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/educationandskills/2010/101130fees/?lang=en

Listen to the statement in full at: http://www.leightonandrews.com/

SCONUL response to the Browne Review of Higher Education funding

Ann Rossiter, Executive Director of SCONUL said today in response to the Browne Review:

“Libraries play a vital role in teaching and supporting students. Research by HEFCE has shown that the quality of library facilities is a key factor for students when choosing which university to attend. And as Browne recognises, student satisfaction is higher where universities fund and value their library services.

“The importance of libraries must be reflected in the new funding system for HE. Similarly, given the likely higher education funding cuts in next week’s Comprehensive Spending Review, Vice Chancellors must carefully consider where they wield the axe, ensuring they keep the services that students value most highly.”

Lord Browne’s review identifies library facilities as one of the key determinants of student satisfaction.

http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/corporate/docs/s/10-1208-securing-sustainable-higher-education-browne-report.pdf

Chair in Digital Collections

Lorna Hughes, currently Deputy Director of the Centre for e-Research at King’s College London, has been appointed to a pioneering new post at the National Library of Wales. She will become the world’s first ever Chair in Digital Collections. The post, funded for five years by the University of Wales, is the first academic Chair to be established in any national library in the world.

Lorna has twenty years experience in researching and organising digital information and has worked in universities in Glasgow, Oxford, Arizona, New York and London.

Lorna will undertake and lead academic research on the latest developments in digital resources, while applying their findings to the large digital collections housed at the National Library of Wales. This work spans the creation, provision, investigation, interpretation and conservation of digital collections, including legal issues, the management of data, innovative research methods, and technological developments in access, search and exploitation.

Lorna says, ‘I am delighted to be joining the National Library of Wales, which has a world-class reputation and some very important collections. The NLW has incredible digital collections, and has taken a very strategic approach to digitisation in recent years. I hope to develop a number of new research projects related to the creation, management and use of digital collections. I am also very committed to developing collaborations and partnerships, both nationally and internationally.’

In many respects Lorna will be going back to her roots as she takes up the job of Chair in Digital Collections.

‘I had a Welsh grandfather, who practiced as a dentist in Glasgow in the 1930s! Sadly, he died many years before I was born, but I am now inspired to track down some of my Welsh connections. I am also really looking forward to re-locate in West Wales,’ she added.

Andrew Green, Librarian of The National Library of Wales, is looking forward to Lorna beginning in her new post in Aberystwyth.

‘The National Library of Wales is very glad to appoint a person of Lorna’s calibre and expertise. We hope she will be inspired by the collections within the National Library and beyond. We’re sure she will be able to bring her enthusiasm and experience together for the benefit of extending our understanding and appreciation of digitised and as yet undigitised collections to the world’s attention and benefit,’ said Andrew Green.

Professor Marc Clement, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Wales, also expressed his pleasure at the appointment:

‘The University of Wales is delighted to be instrumental in establishing this unique professorial post.  I feel certain that Professor Hughes brings exactly the right mix of experience and enthusiasm required to lead the innovative work of pioneering the Library’s new technological developments.’

Trends in the finances of UK higher education libraries: 1999-2009

The last decade has been a period of unprecedented change for university libraries. The rapid growth in numbers of students and staff across the higher education sector has been accompanied by the move to a substantially-digital environment, with some fundamental changes in how libraries and their users operate.

As they have responded to new developments over the past decade, and changed their operations, most university libraries have seen continued growth in their budgets in real terms.  The next few years are going to be much more difficult in financial terms. Libraries therefore face a period in which they will have to cope with continued rapid, perhaps transformational, change, accompanied by reductions in their budgets.

In that context, this briefing paper from RIN looks at how the financial position of libraries in the higher education sector has changed over the period between 1999 and 2009 (the latest year for which statistics are available).

Overall, this briefing presents a picture in which library expenditure has been rising in real terms, but not as fast as expenditure – and activity – in the HE sector as a whole. So libraries face some real challenges as they prepare for a more difficult financial climate, with real and substantial cuts in expenditure.

The report and briefing sheet are available to download at: http://www.rin.ac.uk/our-work/communicating-and-disseminating-research/trends-finances-uk-higher-education-libraries-1999