What people are saying
Below is a selection of just a few positive things people are saying about the SWWHEP initiative:
Speaking at the launch, Jane Hutt, Minister for Children, Education, Lifelong Learning and Skills said:
"It is inspiring to see Swansea University, Swansea Metropolitan University and Trinity College, Carmarthen, collaborating to establish this shared services Partnership.
"The Welsh Assembly Government is committed to building on excellence in higher education and the £7.5 million that we are investing in the development of the South West Wales Higher Education Partnership is a very real display of this."
Professor Phillip Gummett, Chief Executive of HEFCW, said:
"I warmly welcome this flagship collaborative project. It offers a model for higher educational institutions to work together, sharing services, reducing duplication and integrating activities, that is leading-edge by UK, and not only Welsh, standards."
Professor Richard B Davies, Vice-Chancellor of Swansea University, said:
"We recognise that is a significant and genuinely transformational project. It is built on trust and confidence, with staff at all three institutions embracing the project and playing significant roles in driving it forward.
"We will continue to work together positively in order to achieve valuable objectives in improving the quality and effectiveness of higher education throughout south west Wales."
Professor David Warner, Vice-Chancellor of Swansea Metropolitan University, said:
"It is in our nature in South West Wales to be rather modest about our achievements. We have already been the first in the UK to swap staff, students and programmes between fellow universities, and we are about to create a new collaborative centre for teacher education.
"This project is even more innovative than either of the other two, and is yet another UK first. Perhaps we should begin to shout a little louder about what we have done, and are doing, in South West Wales."
Dr Medwin Hughes, now Vice-Chancellor of University of Wales Trinity Saint David said:
"This is indeed a very welcome development for the South West Wales region – this partnership will bring significant long-term benefits for students and staff, and for Welsh higher education as a whole.
"The initiative not only addresses the needs identified in Reaching Wider for institutional clustering and Networks of Excellence, but, through collaboration, it also satisfies other priority areas, including widening access, excellence in teaching and learning and developing a skilled workforce for the 21st century and beyond."
