WALES could soon have a west coast ‘super university’ if recommendations to merge three of its biggest institutions go ahead.
Welsh scholar Dafydd Glyn Jones has called on three of Wales’ most prestigious universities to merge, creating the country’s biggest higher education provider.
However, some academics have criticised the proposals due to the geographical distance between each university.
Writing in the Institute of Welsh Affairs’ Agenda magazine, Mr Jones suggested that Bangor, Aberystwyth and Swansea universities must ‘re-group’ as one. He warned that if they didn’t join together, “there is only one way they can go, and that is down.”
The three functioned as one ‘super university’ before, known as the University of Wales, from 1995 to 2007.
Under the latest proposed scheme they would operate under one vice-chancellor but each would have its own principal. Mr Jones said the universities would have to ‘re-examine their entry requirements’ and agree on a standard admissions policy.
“They should re-invest in traditional fields of study, perhaps making a gift to the newer universities of those newer subjects which are neither academic nor properly vocational, and which need not be named,” he said.
A union of Bangor, Aberystwyth and Swansea would have 32,000 students and be Wales’ biggest university.
The Higher Education Funding Council for Wales has said it wants six institutions or fewer by March 2013, and a merger of the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC) with Swansea Metropolitan and Trinity Saint David has already been confirmed at board level.
Professor Richard Davies, vice-chancellor at Swansea University, said: “A ‘west coast’ university created by merging Aberystwyth, Bangor and Swansea was discussed informally a few years ago, but it rapidly became evident that the geographical distances between the institutions would make this risky and unpromising.”