Degree plan splits Welsh

While the University of Wales contemplates big changes, its future status remains uncertain. Tony Tysome reports

Welsh academics, vice-chancellors and students remain deeply divided over plans to prevent the disintegration of the University of Wales by giving its colleges more power over their degrees.

While some believe the university's proposed reforms could set the precedent for other troubled federal academic institutions, such as the University of London, others question what role it will have left as more power is devolved to its member institutions.

The debate has been fuelled by the emergence of more details of the university's future plan, developed in response to quality inspectors'

damning judgment last year that they had only "limited confidence" in its ability to ensure that academic standards are maintained across its ten constituent universities and colleges. The university's response has been to propose a new model of the umbrella degree-awarding body - the "confederated" university.

Under proposals being scrutinised by the Quality Assurance Agency and the Privy Council, quality assurance for University of Wales degrees would be handed over to institutions within the confederation that have their own degree-awarding powers, such as Swansea and Lampeter universities.

Individual universities would enter into a contractual arrangement to accredit their degree work, and would intervene only in the event of a bad inspection report. Under the new regime, institutions that do not have degree-awarding powers would be subject to additional controls.

The plans were given short shrift by David Grant, vice-chancellor of Cardiff University, which is now an "affiliated" member of the University of Wales. "I am not really sure what it is trying to achieve. It really seems to fly in the face of the QAA review. It would be a first for the UK to have a university that awards degrees without being responsible for quality assurance," he said.

Both staff and student union leaders at Swansea University meanwhile were in favour of breaking away from the University of Wales, despite their vice-chancellor's support for it.

Andrew Morgan, acting president of Swansea Association of University Teachers, said the University of Wales had become "little more than a place for vice-chancellors to park their cars in Cardiff".

He added: "What university is going to spend the time and effort to gain degree-awarding powers and then not use them?"

Becki McKinlay, Swansea student union president, said: "We have seen how Cardiff has grown since leaving the University of Wales, and we are getting to the point where people are saying we could also be stronger on our own."

But Robert Pearce, vice-chancellor of Lampeter, said the new arrangements would be a first for the UK and could offer a model for the future of the University of London.

"What is happening in Wales is taking place ahead of what may also happen in London," he said.

No obstacles to the plans had been encountered so far, he said. But he added: "There is an issue over whether the Privy Council will give its approval to these arrangements. If it does not, then it is not yet clear what will happen instead."

But there is particularly strong support for the plans within the smaller institutions.

Hamish Murphy, chair of lecturers' union Natfhe at Newi, said: "Wales is not big enough to have a lot of independent institutions. They need to be linked under one banner."

Alan Heneberry, Natfhe chair at Swansea Institute, said: "If these plans don't work we will have to find something else. The Welsh system needs a centralised authority to guide it."

Peter Black, the Welsh Liberal Democrat education spokesman who chairs the Welsh Assembly's Education Committee, said: "The University of Wales is fairly important for historical reasons, but at the end of the day all the institutions are going to go their own way regardless. Only those that depend on it are holding the rest back." The University of Wales declined to comment, on the grounds that changes it was already beginning to make were still being assessed by the QAA.

tony.tysome@thes.co.uk