The team appointed to lead a new “super” university involving two institutions in south-east Wales has been announced.
Professor Julie Lydon, currently vice-chancellor of the University of Glamorgan, will take charge of the new institution once the merger process is complete.
Andrew Wilkinson, chairman of governors at the University of Wales, Newport, will also retain his position.
Education Minister Leighton Andrews has cancelled with “immediate effect” a consultation on the planned dissolution of Cardiff Metropolitan University.
Despite reiterating his desire to see a single post-1992 university in South-East Wales, Mr Andrews said he did not want to hamper the “excellent progress” being made by Glamorgan and Newport.
Posted in Welsh universities
We said farewell to Jeremy Atkinson at our recent WHELF meeting.
Jeremy is retiring from his post as Director of Learning & Corporate Support Services at the University of Glamorgan.
Jeremy has been one of the chief pillars of WHELF for many years and was hugely influential in setting the direction of WHELF, working on the Higher Education Libraries in Partnership Project (HELP) in 2004. He chaired the new WHELF Development Group from its inception and was responsible for the action plan which saw WHELF making progress on a number of fronts. He was the driving force behind WHELF’s collaborative work on electronic books and electronic journals, culminating in the setting up of WHEEL – the Wales Higher Education Electronic Library. He also helped WHELF to build strong links with both SCONUL and JISC.
He will be very much missed by us all but we wish him well in his retirement.
The Education Wales supplement continues its Researching Wales series, with a feature from Julie Lydon, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Glamorgan, http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education-news/2012/10/18/universities-like-ours-specialise-in-making-discoveries-relevant-to-the-wider-world-91466-32053749/
Previous articles in the series:
Cardiff University
Bangor University
Aberystwyth University
Wales
Posted in research
Tagged Aberystwyth, Bangor, Cardiff University, Glamorgan, research
As two Welsh universities join under a scheme to promote closer working relationships another fights plans for it to merge with two others.
Swansea Metropolitan University and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David have agreed to unite.
But Cardiff Metropolitan University claims it is being asked to merge with Newport and Glamorgan without a proper business case.
More on these two stories: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-19914094 and http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/education-news/2012/10/11/cardiff-metropolitan-university-could-report-welsh-government-over-merger-91466-32016073/
Posted in Welsh universities
Tagged Cardiff Metropolitan University, Glamorgan, merger, Newport, Trinity Saint David
On 17 July Education and Skills Minister Leighton Andrews made a statement on Higher Education reconfiguration in South East Wales.
The discussions between Glamorgan and Newport focus on a merger that is likely to utilise the existing vehicle of the University of Glamorgan structure. There would therefore be a need to dissolve the existing University of Wales, Newport HE Corporation. I have, therefore, decided to commence, as soon as possible, a statutory consultation on the dissolution of the University of Wales, Newport HE Corporation.
Subject to the outcome of this statutory consultation, I would anticipate seeing real progress on the merger of Newport and Glamorgan by 2013.
Since I am minded to accept HEFCW’s proposal, I would also expect to proceed to a similar and concurrent consultation on the dissolution of the Cardiff Metropolitan University HE Corporation. I would hope to see progress in terms of Cardiff Metropolitan’s involvement in the new merged institution in 2014.
If the outcome of the statutory consultations resulted in a decision to proceed with merger, there would be a need to plan the development of the new institution. In that eventuality, I would therefore propose to establish a new strategic board, chaired by Geraint Talfan Davies. The board, if constituted, would include representation from all three institutions, including the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama, and would work for a period of some two years on a ‘blueprint’ for the merged institution.
Clearly the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales will need some certainty in planning future arrangements. If the outcome of the statutory consultations resulted in the dissolution of the institutions affected, I would expect that HEFCW’s public funding of provision in South East Wales from 2015-16 onwards would support two higher education institutions, Cardiff University and the new merged metropolitan University.
I believe at this point that HEFCW’s recommendations for South East Wales, leading to a more focused research-intensive institution alongside a strong metropolitan university, are the way forward.
Read the full statement at: http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/educationandskills/2012/120717statement/?lang=en
Professor Sir Steve Smith’s evaluation of the options, and related evidence, for creating a single post-92 Higher Education (HE) institution in South East Wales was published by the Welsh Government on 16 July. Professor Smith’s conclusions are “entirely in line with this Government’s long-standing view about the need for radical change within the Welsh higher education sector.”
http://wales.gov.uk/newsroom/educationandskills/2012/120716heevaluation/?
Posted in policy, Welsh universities
Tagged Cardiff Metropolitan University, Glamorgan, Newport, policy, reconfiguration, RWCMD
Two south Wales universities are to merge in a move they claim will allow them to compete on the world stage.
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-18696345
University of Glamorgan are hosting the 2nd Annual ESCalate Student Conference on Friday 16 April 2010, and the theme this year is Students as Stakeholders: take an active part in your own learning. Several things about this event look very interesting: firstly it’s excellent value at £30! Secondly it is a student conference with a keynote from Aaron Porter, Vice-President of the NUS (Higher Education) on The Importance of the Learner Voice in 21st Century Higher Education.
The deadline for bookings is 19 March.
From Lis Parcell:
http://blogs.rsc-wales.ac.uk/he/2010/02/17/students-as-stakeholders/
THE have an article on Glamorgan’s incoming vice-chancellor Julie Lydon.
In 2010, she will replace David Halton as vice-chancellor of the University of Glamorgan, becoming the first female vice-chancellor in Wales in the process.
In the new year she is due to complete her PhD in mergers and collaboration in higher education. Issuing a rallying cry for greater unity across the Welsh higher education sector, she said: “For competitive reasons, within Wales we need to find ways of bringing together institutions. We’ve got too many small institutions to remain competitive.”
An interesting blog post from Lis Parcell, who attended the event to launch the new free online toolkit from JISC InfoNet – Embedding Business and Community Engagement
It’s designed to help Higher and Further Education institutions work more effectively on all aspects of partnership management. It aims to do this by enabling staff to focus on the internal communications needed to embed ‘BCE’, in order that such activity is supported by core institutional systems rather than being a peripheral activity. The University of Glamorgan ran one of the pilot projects.
http://blogs.rsc-wales.ac.uk/he/2009/12/14/engaging-business-and-the-community-new-resource/
