What is the SWWHEP project?

£7.5 million has been awarded by the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales (HEFCW) to Swansea University, Swansea Metropolitan University and Trinity University College to implement change in key administrative services – under the South West Wales Higher Education Partnership (SWWHEP), Reconfiguration and Collaboration project.  The project is the first of its kind in the Welsh higher education sector.

Funding was approved by the Welsh Assembly Government under its "Reaching Higher" agenda to support HEIs in Wales in their attempts to improve performance, enhance competitiveness, and improve value-for-money in public services.

The financial support for this pilot project reflects the WAG's continuing commitment to pursuing reconfiguration and collaboration as a pragmatic means of securing a dynamic and competitive higher education sector in Wales.

The collaboration between the three institutions builds on joint work already undertaken and will lead to the integration of a wide range of support services and administrative functions, including: student records and intranet systems; the creation of a south west Wales 'virtual' library and careers service; collaboration in estates management and procurement; collaboration in alumni services and international recruitment; and a coordinated approach to environmental sustainability.

The three HEIs have developed a strategic partnership that will lead to even more collaborative projects. The objective is to integrate progressively a broad range of functional administrative systems, including major IT support systems, as far as is feasible, bearing in mind that SU, SMU and TUC all have distinctive missions and independent governing bodies, and that these will be maintained. 

The model is proving that there is much to be gained from bringing together a diverse set of higher education institutions in a specific region and making them play to their own strengths, but for the collective benefit.