- Unhappy birthday - 15th November 2024
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Edwin Phillips reads a special Easter Monday press release from controversial Aberystwyth University explaining why they are offering 12-month contracts to new staff at a campus on a holiday island officials have announced they will close.
TIME: AT BEACH.
The public should be aware that words may not be what they seem.
Just because we said in December we will “not enrol further intakes of students” at our Mauritius campus from March 2018, obviously does NOT mean we will not enrol further intakes of students at our Mauritius campus from March 2018.
This is abundantly clear from our advertising for new staff at our very important campus on an island in the Indian ocean.
The truth will be evident to anyone reading the advert for a “Research Assistant (One Year)” on an “Employee Law Expert System” at the campus, giving an interview date of late February, with the full time post open to Mauritian nationals only.
Our Mauritius campus continues to be an unalloyed success, as shown by the huge triumph that 40 students had enrolled in its first two terms.
The finances of the campus are also enormously successful.
This is revealed in our latest accounts showing £658,000 was made from tuition fees during 2015-16 and 2016-17, against an unfortunate deficit of £1,017,000.
The scheme for a new campus on Mauritius was widely welcomed, and we urge all those who have spoken out against it to make themselves known to our authorities.
They will be dealt with.
We especially urge identifying themselves, those members of staff who told that appalling website The Eye the venture was a “complete waste of money”.
The comments should be ignored of leading politicians who studied at Aberystwyth and former senior members of staff.
Especially our former student the Plaid Cymru Assembly Member (AM) Simon Thomas, who said opening the Mauritius campus was “not a wise move”, and the former Vice-Chancellor who claimed it was “madness”.
The campus was announced during the enormously successful tenure of April McMahon as Vice-Chancellor.
We only dropped a small amount in The Guardian and fell just from 70th to 87th in the Complete University Guide, when she was in charge.
Professor McMahon was absolutely correct in saying these tables should be “taken with a pinch of salt”.
It was an embarrassment for our esteemed institution that a petition was started demanding her immediate resignation.
The student from Birmingham got his facts wrong, when he wrote on it: “I came to Aberystwyth in 2011 expecting to leave with a degree from a well-renowned university.
“I am now leaving this year with the university having fallen 33 places in the Guardian University League Table in the space of only two years!!”.
Only falling 33 places is in fact a triumph!
Just as it is advertising for staff on a 12-month contract at a campus in the Indian ocean we said we would close.
Tomorrow – internal sources tell The Eye of their fears about drive to turn another contentious Welsh university into a business.
