26/11/2024
This is our official statement as an elected committee on the proposed movement of UWTSD undergraduate humanities teaching away from Lampeter campus. This statement is accompanied by a list of urgent questions that we intend to bring to the universities attention. (Welsh below)
The Student Committee to Save Lampeter, on behalf of the students of Lampeter Campus, strongly opposes the proposed move of the Humanities department from the historic Lampeter campus to the Carmarthen campus. This move has sparked significant discontent among the student body, and provoked significant upset, worry and anxiety amongst students with 98% of them against the proposal. As the oldest university in Wales, Lampeter holds a special place in the history and culture of higher education in the region. The committee believes it is crucial to maintain and invest in the continued operation of this historic campus rather than abandoning it for a campus that is already in serious decline itself. If the move goes ahead, as we fear it will, then for all intents and purposes, Wales will have lost its oldest and most prestigious degree giving institution.
For many first and second-year students, the move would cause significant disruption to their studies, as they would be forced to transfer to a new campus mid-course. This would affect their learning, social integration, and overall academic progress.Many second-year students are even being forced to rethink their dissertation topics as they are unsure whether their lecturers will be able to make the move.
The relocation of programs such as Archaeology will mean the loss of the specialised facilities on the Lampeter campus. This will have a serious impact on students' educational experiences and on these courses’ longevity moving forward. Access to resources and hands-on learning opportunities in the field would be significantly reduced, harming students' learning outcomes. For these reasons we have fears that many courses will be dropped all together in the years to come. Students’ wellbeing and choice is being compromised. The peaceful and calm environment Lampeter campus provides, as well as its proximity to all amenities, makes it smooth and easy for students to navigate their way around and reduces their anxieties, making it easier to devote their time to their studies. Their concerns now lie in the disruption caused by the transition. They will have to settle into a new environment and must reacquaint themselves with its operation, setup and layout.
The move will also disproportionately affect students who rely on Lampeter's accessible location, whether in terms of transportation, accommodation, or other logistical considerations. A campus transfer could make higher education less accessible to students from disabled backgrounds. Although Carmarthen is a more metropolitan area, the transport links to the campus are very poor, and the area is difficult to traverse for those who are disabled. Many students chose Lampeter specifically for its accessibility and will likely face reduced learning outcomes due to this decision.
The committee is also deeply concerned by reports that all staff members have been offered severance packages or voluntary redundancies as part of the restructuring. This ruthless attitude is an utterly disgraceful way to behave towards the staff who have kept this campus alive while the university officials have barely stepped foot outside Carmarthen and Swansea. It is the student body’s fear that the loss of staff and lecturers will jeopardise the education they have paid large sums of money for.
Students who have been here for more than a year have watched as courses that students signed up for have been either cut or standards within course content have significantly dropped. To reiterate, we have paid significantly to come here for the course that has been offered, to find that once enrolled, standards are compromised. Students have felt a lack of say and choice. In any business if delivery is sub-standard a customer has the right to recompense.
The Student Committee To Save Lampeter is calling on university leaders to reconsider this decision and explore alternative options that preserve the unique academic environment of Lampeter while addressing financial and strategic challenges. We remain committed to ensuring that the university's rich history and its diverse student body are not compromised by a short-sighted restructuring plan. Many students like ourselves, feel scammed by the University of Wales. It is not right for us to be told, after paying tuition, that we must move away from the town and campus that made us choose UWTSD. The SCSL are urgently calling for a re-evaluation of this proposal and a more constructive dialogue towards a more desirable path for the staff and students of Lampeter Campus.
The Student Committee to save Lampeter have compiled a list of urgent questions that we feel must be answered to ensure a constructive and transparent dialogue with students.
Will the university provide evidence that the movement of humanities from Lampeter to Carmarthen will change the trajectory of decline that Carmarthen campus is currently facing, and can the university guarantee the survival of humanities courses on Carmarthen campus past 5 years?
Archaeology and Internation Development and Global politics have been identified by students as under particular threat due to this proposal. Can the university provide 3-4-year plans for all affected courses, and how they are going to remain viable on Carmarthen campus?
Will the university provide written assurance on how they will meet the accessibility concerns of students, many of whom chose Lampeter campus for its accessibility.
Will the university provide a cost projection of the transfer to Carmarthen campus, for example the transfer of facilities and creating the verbally proposed transport links?
Will the university provide a binding written contract on the verbal agreement that accommodation prices will be frozen for the duration of studies.
Will the university provide a breakdown of the £33.5 million cost, claimed to be necessary for the continued viability of Lampeter Campus?
There have been conflicting claims asserted on the deficit of Lampeter campus, ranging between £4 million and £12 million, will the university provide a written and official clarification on this figure to clear up any ambiguity?
Currently, the verbally proposed date of a final decision on this proposal has been set as ‘late January.’ Will the university set a more exact and official date for this decision as well as commit itself to further dialogue in the months following?
Does the university have any plans for consultations, investigations and assessments relating to the decline of Lampeter campus, and the transfer to Carmarthen campus? If so, can the university commit to further transparency and involve the student body in these discussions
Mae'r Pwyllgor Myfyrwyr i Achub Llanbedr Pont Steffan, ar ran myfyrwyr Campws Llambed, yn gwrthwynebu'n gryf y cynnig i symud yr adran Dyniaethau o'r campws hanesyddol yn Llanbedr Pont Steffan i'r campws yng Nghaerfyrddin. Mae'r cynnig hwn wedi achosi anghydfod sylweddol ymhlith y myfyrwyr ac wedi achosi pryder a gofid mawr, gyda 98% ohonynt yn gwrthwynebu’r cynnig. Fel y brifysgol hynaf yng Nghymru, mae gan Llanbedr le arbennig yn hanes a diwylliant addysg uwch yn y rhanbarth. Mae'r pwyllgor yn credu ei bod yn hollbwysig cynnal a buddsoddi yn nyfodol y campws hanesyddol hwn yn hytrach na'i adael o blaid campws sydd eisoes mewn dirywiad difrifol. Os bydd y symudiad yn mynd yn ei flaen, fel yr ydym yn ofni, byddai Cymru wedi colli ei sefydliad graddio hynaf.
I lawer o fyfyrwyr blwyddyn gyntaf ac ail flwyddyn, byddai'r symudiad yn achosi aflonyddwch sylweddol i'w hastudiaethau, gan y byddai'n rhaid iddynt drosglwyddo i gampws newydd yng nghanol eu cwrs. Byddai hyn yn effeithio ar eu dysgu, integreiddio cymdeithasol, a'u cynnydd academaidd cyffredinol. Mae llawer o fyfyrwyr ail flwyddyn yn cael eu gorfodi i ailfeddwl eu pynciau traethawd hir gan nad ydynt yn siŵr a fydd eu darlithwyr yn gallu gwneud y symudiad.
Byddai ail-leoli rhaglenni megis Archaeoleg yn golygu colli'r cyfleusterau arbenigol sydd ar gael ar gampws Llambed. Byddai hyn yn cael effaith ddifrifol ar brofiadau addysgol myfyrwyr ac ar cynaliadwyedd y cyrsiau hyn yn y dyfodol. Byddai mynediad at adnoddau a chyfleoedd dysgu ymarferol yn y maes yn lleihau'n sylweddol, gan niweidio canlyniadau dysgu'r myfyrwyr. Oherwydd y rhesymau hyn, mae gennym ofn y bydd llawer o gyrsiau yn cael eu dileu yn llwyr dros y blynyddoedd i ddod. Mae lles a dewis myfyrwyr yn cael eu peryglu. Mae'r amgylchedd heddychlon a thawel y mae campws Llambed yn ei gynnig, ynghyd â'i agosrwydd at yr holl gyfleusterau, yn gwneud y campws yn hawdd i’w lywio ac yn lleihau pryderon myfyrwyr, gan eu galluogi i roi eu hamser i'w hastudiaethau. Nawr maent yn poeni am yr aflonydd a achosir gan y trosglwyddiad, gan orfodi myfyrwyr i ymgyfarwyddo â lleoliad newydd a dysgu sut i weithredu o’r newydd.
Bydd y symudiad hefyd yn effeithio’n anghymesur ar fyfyrwyr sy’n dibynnu ar hygyrchedd lleoliad Llambed, oed hynny mewn termau trafnidiaeth, llety, neu ystyriaethau logistaidd eraill. Gallai trosglwyddo i gampws arall wneud addysg uwch yn llai hygyrch i fyfyrwyr ag anableddau. Er bod Caerfyrddin yn ardal fwy metropolitaidd, mae’r cysylltiadau trafnidiaeth i’r campws yn wael iawn, ac mae’n anodd i’r sawl ag anableddau lywio’r ardal. Dewisodd llawer o fyfyrwyr Llambed yn benodol oherwydd ei hygyrchedd, a bydd y penderfyniad hwn yn lleihau canlyniadau dysgu'r myfyrwyr hyn yn debygol.
Mae'r pwyllgor hefyd yn bryderus iawn am adroddiadau fod pob aelod o'r staff wedi cael cynnig pecynnau diswyddo gwirfoddol fel rhan o'r ailstrwythuro. Mae'r agwedd ddi-ildio hon yn sarhad llwyr ar y staff sydd wedi cadw'r campws yn fyw, tra nad yw swyddogion y brifysgol fawr wedi mentro y tu allan i Gaerfyrddin a'r Abertawe. Mae myfyrwyr yn ofni y bydd colli staff a darlithwyr yn peryglu'r addysg y maent wedi talu symiau mawr amdani.
Mae myfyrwyr sydd wedi bod yma ers mwy nag un flwyddyn wedi gweld cyrsiau’n cael eu torri, neu safon y cynnwys cwrs yn gostwng yn sylweddol. I ailadrodd, rydym wedi talu'n sylweddol i ddod yma am y cwrs a gynigiwyd, i ddarganfod, unwaith cofrestru, bod safonau’n cael eu peryglu. Nid yw myfyrwyr yn teimlo bod ganddynt lais nac opsiwn. Mewn unrhyw fusnes, os yw’r gwasanaeth yn is na’r safon ddisgwyliedig, mae gan y cwsmer hawl i iawndal. Mae'r Pwyllgor Myfyrwyr i Achub Llambed yn galw ar arweinwyr y brifysgol i ailystyried y penderfyniad hwn ac archwilio opsiynau eraill a fydd yn cadw amgylchedd academaidd unigryw Llanbedr Pont Steffan tra’n mynd i’r afael â heriau ariannol a strategol.
Mae'r Pwyllgor wedi llunio rhestr o gwestiynau brys y teimlwn sydd angen eu hateb er mwyn sicrhau deialog adeiladol ac agored gyda'r myfyrwyr:
A fydd y brifysgol yn darparu tystiolaeth y bydd symud y dyniaethau o Lanbedr Pont Steffan i Gaerfyrddin yn newid y dirywiad sydd eisoes yn wynebu campws Caerfyrddin, ac a all y brifysgol warantu goroesiad cyrsiau dyniaethau yng Nghaerfyrddin am 5 mlynedd o leiaf?
Mae myfyrwyr wedi nodi Archaeoleg a Datblygiad Rhyngwladol a Gwleidyddiaeth Fyd-eang (IDGP) fel rhai sydd o dan fygythiad arbennig oherwydd y cynnig hwn. A all y brifysgol ddarparu cynlluniau 3-4 mlynedd ar gyfer yr holl gyrsiau a effeithir, ac egluro sut y byddant yn parhau i fod yn hyfyw yng Nghaerfyrddin?
A fydd y brifysgol yn darparu sicrwydd ysgrifenedig ar sut y bydd yn mynd i’r afael â’r pryderon hygyrchedd sydd gan fyfyrwyr, llawer ohonynt wedi dewis Llamed oherwydd ei hygyrchedd?
A fydd y brifysgol yn darparu amcangyfrif cost o drosglwyddo i Gaerfyrddin, gan gynnwys costau cyfleusterau a chreu’r cysylltiadau trafnidiaeth a gynigiwyd ar lafar?
A fydd y brifysgol yn darparu cytundeb ysgrifenedig sy’n rhwymol ar y cynnig llafar y bydd prisiau llety’n cael eu rhewi am hyd y cyfnod astudio?
A fydd y brifysgol yn darparu dadansoddiad o’r £33.5 miliwn y dywedir ei fod yn angenrheidiol ar gyfer parhad Campws Llambed?
Mae’r ffigurau am y diffyg ariannol ar gampws Llambed wedi amrywio rhwng £4 miliwn a £12 miliwn. A fydd y brifysgol yn darparu eglurhad ysgrifenedig ac swyddogol i glirio unrhyw ansicrwydd?
Ar hyn o bryd, mae’r dyddiad cynnig ar lafar ar gyfer penderfyniad terfynol wedi’i nodi fel ‘diwedd mis Ionawr.’ A fydd y brifysgol yn pennu dyddiad mwy pendant ac yn ymrwymo i ddeialog pellach yn y misoedd dilynol?
A oes gan y brifysgol unrhyw gynlluniau ar gyfer ymgynghoriadau, ymchwiliadau ac asesiadau sy’n ymwneud â dirywiad campws Llambed a’r trosglwyddo i Gaerfyrddin? Os oes, a all y brifysgol ymrwymo i fwy o dryloywder a chynnwys y corff myfyrwyr yn y trafodaethau hyn?
