We the undersigned are strongly opposed to the Transforming Cardiff programme. In particular we are appalled by the plan to reduce staff numbers by 380 full-time positions whilst maintaining or increasing student numbers, and by the plans to heavily reduce the number of healthcare courses offered at Cardiff University.

We petition the Vice-Chancellor of Cardiff University, Colin Riordan, to cancel the plans to reduce staff numbers and ensure all programmes in the School of Healthcare Sciences remain at Cardiff University.

What will happen to the School of Healthcare Sciences?

The Transforming Cardiff project states that the School of Healthcare Sciences is to undergo a significant review, with each programme facing potential discontinuation when the time comes for them to be revalidated.

In the Transforming Cardiff project outline (available here), the University states they are likely to “discontinue some areas of activity that are atypical of a Russell Group university, have weak academic standing (student recruitment metrics, student experience, attrition rate, league table performance etc.) and have little or no research activity”. At a meeting organized by the Students’ Union on 19/02/2019, the VC and PVC refused to give any assurances about the future of Healthcare Sciences at Cardiff University. They also stated that the University needed to review whether Healthcare Sciences had a place in a Russell Group university dedicated to research and academic excellence.

Why are we opposed to Transforming Cardiff?

As a group of students, lecturers and other interested parties who are committed to academic excellence we take umbrage with the idea that Healthcare Sciences are not befitting of a Russell Group university. The School of Healthcare Sciences research is ranked #4 in the UK, and #1 for research environment. Our school runs huge and vital research programmes including:

·         A four-year RCT of Sensory Integration Therapy (the Senita project)

·         A project evaluating ‘Freedom to Speak Up’ local guardians, an important contribution to the vital ability to whistle-blow highlighted in the Francis Report

·         A project establishing the safety of water births for mother and baby, an increasingly favoured method of delivery for mothers.

Our students have also attended and presented at numerous professional and academic conferences.

It is clear that the decision to review and likely discontinue many Healthcare Sciences courses is in part motivated by financial concerns. Cardiff University note in the Transforming Cardiff paper that “In several cases, the contract price for undergraduate courses is less than £9k per annum and, in recent years, large growth in student number commissions has caused challenges for delivery, staffing and estate capacity”.

We believe that universities should not be run as businesses. Cardiff University boasts some of the most highly rated healthcare courses in the UK, including Occupational Therapy at #1, Medical Technology (including Radiography) at #8, Physiotherapy at #9, Nursing and Midwifery at #9. Students report high satisfaction rates across many of these courses and go on to play vital roles in the National Health Service across the UK, caring for disabled, ill and dying people, bringing new life into the world and saving many lives. We believe that this is a social good which everybody benefits from, and are extremely disappointed that Cardiff University choose to evaluate our worth based on the amount of money they receive per student.

We are also angered by the implication that our research and academic standing is ‘not good enough’ for a Russell Group university. We feel that Cardiff is implicitly backing a ‘two-tier’ university system, where a small number of elite universities hand-pick the subjects with the greatest income potential and social standing. We no longer live in a world where ‘vocational’ subjects are studied solely at ‘polytechnic’ universities and resent Cardiff University’s desire to return to such a time.

What do we want?

We are asking Cardiff University to:

·         Keep all current courses at the School of Healthcare Sciences at Cardiff University. We believe there is a definite and important place for Healthcare Sciences at a Russell Group university, and we believe our research is important and contributes to a better and safer patient experience.

·         Reverse their plans to make 380 redundancies across the school. The University is first and foremost a place where students come for excellent learning opportunities and we do not believe this can be achieved by cutting the number of classes the university is able to offer us.