BBC Wales: After scandal, what happens now to University of Wales?
27 October 2011 – Follow related stories links.
Wales Online: Hefcw are pushing an open door in asking Swansea University to work more with Cardiff
27 October 2011 – Follow related stories links.
Times Higher Education Supplement: We’re not dead, just ‘evolving’
27 October 2011 – University of Wales declares that reports of its demise are premature.
The need for universities with the capacity and critical mass to operate dynamically, effectively and efficiently is a long-established part of the Welsh Government’s policy for higher education. For Our Future, our higher education strategy for Wales, identified the need for radical change in the shape, structure and provision of higher education.
HEFCW’s sets out very clear recommendations for the reconfiguration of the higher education sector in Wales. Representations from stakeholders and the public on these recommendations will be sought over the course of the summer. These will inform any decisions on the most appropriate structure for the sector in the future.
We would like to invite you to send us your views on HEFCW’s proposals. In particular, we would like you to consider the following questions:
Question 1: What are your views on the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales’ (HEFCW’s) report, Future Structure of Universities in Wales?
Question 2: Do you have any comments on the report’s proposals relating to specific higher education institutions?
Question 3: We have asked two specific questions. If you have any related issues which we have not specifically addressed, please use the space below to report these.
Please submit your comments by 05 October 2011, in any of the following ways:
HE Policy Team
Welsh Government
Ffynon Las
Tŷ Glas Avenue
Llanishen, Cardiff
CF83 8WT
See the Welsh Government website for related documents.
13 July 2011
http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=416836&c=1
Plans to merge Welsh universities to cut the total number of institutions from 10 to six have been backed by the education minister Leighton Andrews.
Mr Andrews said today that a detailed report published by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales outlining a shakeup of the sector made a “persuasive case for change” and he accepted the “the broad thrust” of the recommendations.
The report recommends that the University of Glamorgan, University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, and University of Wales, Newport, should merge.
University of Wales Trinity Saint David and Swansea Metropolitan University will also come together, possibly also merging into the federal University of Wales.
Aberystwyth and Bangor universities have also been told to “develop a longer-term plan for merger”.
The Hefcw report accuses Welsh universities of being too numerous and too small.
Last December, Mr Andrews told Welsh universities to “adapt or die” and Hefcw has already said that the number of institutions should shrink from 10 to six, with no more than two in each region of the country.
Trinity Saint David and Swansea Metropolitan have been in talks since the beginning of the year, although the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff, pulled out of talks to join them earlier this month.
Since February, Bangor and Aberystwyth have been talking about a closer partnership, although John Hughes, Bangor’s vice-chancellor, said that they were too far apart to merge.
Glyndŵr University has been asked to develop “strong structural relationships with a range of further education colleges within a group structure led by Aberystwyth and Bangor.”
The report also suggests that Glyndŵr could share services with nearby University of Chester.
The Hefcw report also acknowledges that arguments over Welsh universities are far from new. “Debate on the structure of the higher education sector in Wales dates back to 1406, when Owain Glyndŵr sought support from the King of France for the rebellion against the English and for a plan to create two universities in Wales,” it says.
Plans to form a new “super university” in Wales appear to be dead in the water.
The University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) said it was “no longer a participant” in merger discussions to establish a new University of Wales.
Last Saturday, the body representing universities, Higher Education Wales, recommended a reduction in the number of Welsh universities.
The body said Wales would benefit from fewer but stronger universities and the new approach would mean “further reconfiguration of the university sector”.
This may mean the number of universities falls from 10 to six and signalled there would be no super-university of Wales.
Swansea Metropolitan and Trinity Saint David in Carmarthen and Lampeter are already looking towards a merger.
UWIC is expected to look towards a parnership with another institution in south east Wales.
Wales’ university leaders have agreed to a new “strategic approach” that they believe will bring about fewer, but stronger higher education institutions.
A firm commitment by vice-chancellors to work collaboratively marks a watershed in the sector’s long history, with university mergers now inevitable.
In a statement released today by representative body Higher Education Wales, university leaders confirm a new approach is “essential” and they will drive forward plans to halve the number of Welsh universities.
From BBC News Wales:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12433322
“An agreement to form a new “super university” in Wales has been described as a “radical” move which “bridges educational boundaries”.
University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC), Swansea Metropolitan University and Trinity Saint David in Carmarthen will merge as The University of Wales.
The University of Wales’ history is as a federal body with colleges in Bangor, Aberystwyth, Swansea and Cardiff.
But they have largely separated from the University of Wales recently.
BBC Wales education correspondent Ciaran Jenkins said that for the institution to become a working institution incorporating at least two post-1992 universities is an extremely significant development.
The three institutions in the new merged body may be joined at a later date by University of Wales Newport and Glyndwr University, Wrexham. That would make the new university the biggest in Wales.
In December Education Minister Leighton Andrews challenged universities to “adapt or die”.
The university said its leadership would be “fundamentally different from traditional structures”.
It will be led jointly by Prof Marc Clement, currently vice chancellor of the University of Wales, as president / pro chancellor, and Prof Medwin Hughes – current vice chancellor of Trinity Saint David – will be rector / pro chancellor.
It said each man would have “clearly defined and separate roles”.
“This is a radical step change which bridges educational boundaries and delivers the minister’s vision of providing a joined up approach to the planning of further and higher education across Wales,” said Dr Hughes.”
Posted in news, Welsh universities
Tagged merger, Swansea Metropolitan, Trinity Saint David, University of Wales, UWIC
