| University of Wales, Trinity Saint David | |
|---|---|
| Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant | |
Coat of arms of the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David |
|
| Established | 2010[1] Original charter granted to Saint David's College, Lampeter in 1828 [2] |
| Type | Public |
| Endowment | £14.3million (2009)[3][4] |
| Chancellor | HRH The Prince of Wales (University of Wales) |
| President | Dr R. Brinley Jones CBE |
| Provost | Prof. D. Densil Morgan (Lampeter) Mr Gwilym Dyfri Jones (Carmarthen) |
| Vice-Chancellor | Prof. Medwin Hughes |
| Royal Patron | HRH The Prince of Wales |
| Location | Lampeter, Ceredigion and Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire |
| Campus | Multiple campuses |
| Sports | Archery, Cricket, Fencing, Football, Hockey, Rugby, Shooting |
| Affiliations | University of Wales Swansea Metropolitan University Coleg Ceredigion Coleg Sir Benfro Coleg Sir Gâr ACU Universities UK |
| Website | http://www.trinitysaintdavid.ac.uk/ |
The University of Wales, Trinity Saint David (Welsh: Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant, also referred to as UW Trinity Saint David, Trinity Saint David, UWTSD and TSD) is a collegiate university in South West Wales, comprising the Lampeter campus and the Carmarthen campus.[5] The University came into existence through the merger of the two oldest higher education institutions in Wales, the University of Wales, Lampeter (UWL) and Trinity University College (TUC) in 2010.[1][2] In 2011, it was announced that the University of Wales will also be merged into Trinity Saint David.[6][7][8]
The University is made up of the Faculty of Humanities (primarily based within the Lampeter campus), the Faculty of Education and Training, and the Faculty of Arts and Social Studies (both primarily based within the Carmarthen campus) each providing courses including Theology, Religious Studies, Philosophy, Classics, Anthropology, Archaeology, Ancient History, English, History, Drama, Film Studies, Business Management, IT, Education Studies and Initial Teacher Education and Training. The Chancellor of the University of Wales — and therefore Trinity Saint David — is HRH, The Prince of Wales, the President of Trinity Saint David is Dr R. Brinley Jones CBE and the Vice-Chancellor is Prof. Medwin Hughes.
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Trinity Saint David received the supplementary royal charter that brought it into existence in July 2010[1] thereby merging UWL and TUC. In 2008, a QAA report on UWL concluded that although the quality of Lampeter's degrees were satisfactory, they had "limited confidence" in the institution's quality assurance procedures and systems.[9] Further to this assessment, HEFCW commissioned a further report which found "very real problems of leadership and management" at the university.[10][11] As a direct result, in December 2008, UWL announced that it was in merger talks with TUC with the intention of forming a new university in Wales. This was formally announced in April 2009, when the institution's new name, University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, was revealed. The university received its first students in September 2010. The name of the institution is a combination of the original name of UWL and the latter name of TUC.
In June 2010, a declaration of intent was announced between Trinity Saint David, Swansea Metropolitan University, Coleg Ceredigion, Coleg Sir Benfro and Coleg Sir Gâr to establish a South-West Wales regional post-16 further education and higher education educational group.[12] In December 2010 it was announced that the university will merge with Swansea Metropolitan University.[13] The FE colleges will merge into one educational group, whilst the HE institutions will be merging into another educational group, with both working closely within the region.
In October 2011 it was announced that the University of Wales would also be merged into Trinity St David.[14]
When Thomas Burgess was appointed Bishop of St David's in 1803, he saw a need for a college in which Welsh ordinands could receive a higher education. The existing colleges at Oxford and Cambridge were out of the geographical and financial means of most would-be students and also, of the small number who were able to study at these two colleges, very few eventually returned to Wales.
Burgess had no Welsh connections; he was born in England in 1756 and, after Winchester and Oxford, he had short stays in Salisbury and Durham before being appointed to his first bishopric in Wales in 1803. Burgess intended to build his new college to train priests in Llanddewi Brefi which, at the time, was similar in size to Lampeter but ten kilometres from it and with an honoured place in the Christian history of Wales. However, when Burgess was staying with his friend Henry Ryder (the then Bishop of Gloucester) in 1820, he met John Scandrett Harford, a wealthy landowner from Gloucestershire, who donated the three acre (12,000 m²) site called Castle Field in Lampeter, so called for the Norman castle once contained in the field. This is the current site of St David's Building and the majority of the campus.
St David's College (SDC) was thus founded just outside Lampeter in 1822. Burgess left St. David's in 1825 to become Bishop of Salisbury but work on the College continued, largely supervised by Harford. The £16,000 required to erect the College had been raised from public donations, a government grant and highly publicised gifts, including one from King George IV. The main college building, designed by Charles Robert Cockerell, was completed in 1827 and the college officially opened on St. David's Day of that year, welcoming its first 26 students. As such, after the ancient universities of Oxford and Cambridge and those in Scotland, it is the oldest university institution in Britain, receiving its first charter in 1828. In 1852, the College gained the right to award the degree of Bachelor of Divinity (BD) and, in 1865, the degree of Bachelor of Arts (BA), long before other colleges in Wales gained their own degree-awarding powers.
Although it continued as a centre of clergy training until 1978, there was always a proportion of students who did not intend to be ordained. The 1896 charter specifically stated that the college could accept anyone, regardless of whether they intended to take Holy Orders and, since 1925, it had been possible to study for a BA at the College without studying any theology at all. Throughout the College's history, non-ordinands had been in a minority. In the 1950s, however, the number of ordinands declined sharply and the College faced possible closure unless it could secure government funding. Principal J.R. Lloyd Thomas did not spare himself in the fight for survival and, in 1960, after much negotiation, University College, Cardiff, agreed to sponsor Saint David's, thus the government finally began to assist SDC financially. Following this dramatic new direction, female students were first admitted to St David's in 1965.
In 1971, the College became a member of the federal University of Wales and suspended its own degree-awarding powers. It became St David's University College (SDUC). By this time, the College had begun shifting its specialisms and, whilst theology continued to be a strong point, students could choose from a much wider range of liberal arts subjects. In 1996, the Privy Council — in response to a petition from the University — agreed to change its title again to the University of Wales, Lampeter in line with moves elsewhere in the University and the recognition of its growth and changing status. In September 2007, the University of Wales became confederal rather than federal in nature, effectively giving Lampeter independent university status. Unlike other former Wales colleges, however, the institution's name remained unchanged.
In the early 1990s, there also existed an influential Human Geography department at the College. This was closed in 2001 but the diaspora of the Lampeter Geography School continue to have an influence on their field.
In 2008, the Quality Assurance Agency concluded that, although the quality of Lampeter's degrees were satisfactory, they had 'limited confidence' in the institution's quality assurance procedures and systems.[15] Further to this assessment, the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales commissioned a further report which found "very real problems of leadership and management" at the university.[10] As a direct result, on 14 December 2008, the University announced that it was in merger talks with Trinity University College with the intention of forming a new university in Wales.[16] This was followed by an announcement in April 2009 revealing that the new name of the institution would be the University of Wales, Trinity Saint David, as well as declaring the date of the merging of the two Universities to be the summer of 2010.[17]
The Lampeter campus includes a number of listed and academic buildings.
Charles Robert Cockerell designed the original college building, now called the Saint David's Building (informally known as Old Building or OB by students) in the centre of the grounds. It is a Grade II* listed building and contains lecture rooms, (formally) common rooms, administrative offices, student residential accommodation and the following three main areas:
The Old Hall was the College dining hall until the Lloyd Thomas Dining Hall was opened in 1969, and later fell into disuse until 1991 when it was re-opened after much restoration; it is now used as one of the main public rooms for meetings, conferences and use by outside organisations. It is also used for some examinations and occasional lectures.
The Old Hall also contains the paintings of various principals, presidents, benefactors, vice-chancellors et al. including Maurice Jones, Thomas Price, Bishop Thomas Burgess, Llewelyn Lewellin, Edward Harold Browne, Keith Robbins and Brian Robert Morris.
St David's Chapel was consecrated in 1827. In 1879, it was rebuilt according to the specifications of the architect Thomas Graham Jackson of Cambridge. It re-opened on 24 June 1880. It was then refurbished again during the 1930s, mainly through the provision of a new reredos in 1933 and a major overhaul of the organ in 1934. The chapel is provided with a dedicated chaplain and services are held here on Sundays and throughout the week as well as on saints' days and major festivals. These are generally well-attended by a mixture of staff, students and alumni.
The Founders' Library, named after its founders — Thomas Burgess, Thomas Bowdler and Thomas Phillips — was the College's library until the new library opened in 1966 and later housed the priceless collection of the University's oldest printed books (1470–1850) and manuscripts (the earliest being from the thirteenth century) unique to the University, given to St David's College from 1822 onwards, as well as the University's archives. In 2005, it was announced that a new £700,000 extension, The Roderic Bowen Library & Archives, was to be built adjoining the Main Library to house the University's manuscripts, as the Founders' Library was not environmentally suitable for such valuable documents. This extension to the main library was completed and opened in 2008. The Founders' Library has now been redeveloped and reopened by HRH Charles, Prince of Wales to provide outside conference and seminar facilities, access being restricted to these events.
The Canterbury Building was built to house a growing number of students at the end of the 19th century. The foundation stone was laid by the Archbishop of Canterbury in 1885 and the building was officially opened on 24 June 1887. It contained a physical science laboratory, two lecture rooms and new accommodation. However, structural problems forced the university to demolish the original building in the summer of 1971. The current Canterbury Building was opened on 20 October 1973 by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Kent and now houses the History, Classics, Foundation and English departments.
The LRC was opened on 7 July 1966 by the then Chancellor of the University of Wales, Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. It was extended and then reopened by Charles, Prince of Wales on 21 June 1984.
The LRC contains a computer suite, as well as thousands of books and journals for each of the Schools and material from the former departments of UWL. A section contains the theses of past research postgraduates.
Built to house the then new Geography department, the Arts Building was opened by The Rt. Hon Peter Thomas, Secretary of State for Wales on 4 October 1971. Currently, the Arts Building principally houses the School of Archaeology, History and Anthropology and the School of Management, VSS, IT, Business and Tourism as well as Philosophy.
The Cliff Tucker building, on the banks of the River Dulas, was opened by Sir Anthony Hopkins in 1996 on the former archaeology practice trenches and incorporates several teaching rooms and a lecture theatre. It is named in honour of Cliff Tucker, a former student and benefactor of the university.
Completed in 1997 and named after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a benefactor of the UWL, the Sheikh Khalifa building is the home of the School of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies, one the largest Schools of its kind in the United Kingdom. It was opened by Professor Sir Stewart Sutherland. Behind the departmental building is a small mosque and prayer room, used by Islamic students and residents of the town, and also the Rowland Williams Research building.
The Roderic Bowen Library & Archives were completed in 2007, adjoining the main library building. They are named after Roderic Bowen, a former President of the University. The books, manuscripts and archives kept therein were formerly held in the St David's Building Founders’ Library. The library was opened on 17 October 2008 by the former First Minister for Wales, Rhodri Morgan. It is a resource for teaching, research and scholarship within the University.
The Carmarthen Campus began life in 1848 as the South Wales and Monmouthshire Training College, making it the oldest teacher training college in continuous operation in Wales. From the outset, the institution's role was exclusively to train young men for teaching in Church primary schools. In the first year of operation, 22 students were recruited and were taught by three members of staff including the first the Principal, William Reed.
The College changed its name to Trinity College, Carmarthen in 1931.
Female students were first admitted in 1957.
In 2009, the College achieved "university college" status, changing its name to Trinity University College.
Each Faculty is led by a Dean — who is an academic appointed to oversee the day to day running of each faculty — and each School is managed by a Head of School.
Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Social Studies: Mr Kevin Matherick
Dean of the Faculty of Education and Training: Mr Gwilym Dyfri Jones
Dean of the Faculty of Humanities: Dr Mirjam Plantinga
The Vice-Chancellor is the chief executive of the University and is assisted in that role by several key officers. The current composition of the senior management is:
The University has research and consultancy departments, including the Centre for Beliefs and Values, Centre for Enterprise, European and Extension Services, Archaeological Services and the Centre for the Study of Religion in Celtic Societies. The pioneering Sophia Centre for the Study of Cosmology in Culture is a world centre for the study of the impact, role and function of cosmological, astronomical and astrological beliefs and practices in human culture.
| Institution | University of Wales, Trinity Saint David |
|---|---|
| Location | Lampeter, Ceredigion and Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire |
| Established | 2010 |
| President | Rikki Miller |
| Vice presidents | Vice-President Welfare and Education (Lampeter campus): Mattias Eken; Vice-President Welfare and Education (Carmarthen campus): Abi Jones |
| Executive officers | (Position: Lampeter/Carmarthen) Environment and Ethics: (vacant)/(vacant); International and Cultural: (vacant)/(vacant) ; LGBT: Kayleigh Morgan/(vacant); Mature Students: Trevor Jose/(vacant); Men: (vacant)/(vacant); RAG: (vacant)/(vacant); Students With Disabilities: (vacant)/(vacant); Women: (vacant)/(vacant) |
| Affiliations | NUS Wales |
| Website | http://www.tsdsu.co.uk/ |
The students on the University's two campuses are represented by Trinity Saint David Students' Union (TSDSU) which has a building on each campus, each of which includes a bar and nightclub. TSDSU's main responsibility is to provide support, representation for students and their activities to the University.
TSDSU is run by a trustee board, three paid student sabbatical officers and an executive committee composed of liberation posts.
Both Lampeter and Carmarthen campuses have sports halls with badminton and squash courts and a health and fitness suite with weight training equipment, with a hockey team drawing from students of both campuses and a fencing team based on the St David's College campus which regularly competes in Welsh leagues and championships. Both campuses also have indoor climbing walls. For outdoor sports, the University has tennis courts, a cricket field and facilities for football and rugby. The college cricket pavilion at Lampeter was opened officially on 1 May 1909 and is now a listed building in its own right.
Rugby was introduced to the old St David's College by Vice-Principal Rowland Williams around 1850 and, as such, the Lampeter campus can claim to have the oldest Rugby football team in Wales. Despite some debate as to whether this honour belongs to the town team or the University side, the Welsh Rugby Union's official history "Fields of Praise: The Official History of the Welsh Rugby Union, 1881-1981"[18] indicates the college team as the first. However, Lampeter Town RFC were the representatives of Lampeter at the formation of the WRU in 1881.
At Trinity, Rugby has long been an important part of college life. Indeed, a number of alumni went on to become outstanding international players including Sid Judd, Ronnie Boon, Dewi Bebb and Barry John. Wales and British Lions winger, Gerald Davies, is a former student of both former universities and current Honorary President of Trinity Saint David: Lampeter RFC.
Both campuses provide on-campus halls of residence, although some students opt to live in privately-rented student housing within the respective towns.
The University provides various residences for students. The Lampeter Campus is generally able to house the majority of its students on campus principally within the following Halls and Buildings, named after personalities involved with the campus's past.
The University awards University of Wales degrees and, as such, the academic dress matches that of the University of Wales — graduates wear a black stuff gown, with bell sleeves for bachelors and glove sleeve for masters. Hoods are lined with mazarin blue shot green (arts) or mazarin blue shot red (divinity). The University also awards the degrees of Master of Science (lined yellow shot black) and Master of Business Administration (yellow shot red, bound light blue).
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