Breaking the mould – new School of Creative Industries unites University and College The new School of Creative Industries is leading the way for university education in Wales. The School demonstrates a new model of collaboration based on a partnership between Trinity Saint David and Coleg Sir Gâr, bringing together the strengths of both organisations. The goal is to create an excellent provision within the field of art, design, film and media in South West Wales.
New appointment Exciting developments are already underway, including the recent appointment of Helen Humphreys in the Fashion department at Coleg Sir Gâr. Hailing originally from the Gwendraeth Valley, Helen has extensive fashion experience,
including as buyer for the designer Amanda Wakeley. She will be part of the team teaching on the BA (Hons) Fashion degree and on other new courses.
Looking forward From this September, Trinity Saint David will be validating all the school’s courses, which operate across several different campuses. “The new provision builds upon the strength of the courses which previously ran at both institutions,” explains Caroline Thraves, Head of the School. “Colleagues from both organisations are working hard to ensure that the new partnership develops continuously, that both academic cultures unite and that all students are able to benefit from the new provision.”
An education revolution in the workplace Trinity Saint David leads the way A team from the University of Wales Trinity Saint David is leading the development of a variety of new courses in the workplace. This means that workers can earn credits for the skills they already possess and for mentoring their colleagues. Members from the Professional Practice and Work-Based Learning team are currently developing the two projects - LATERAL and Mentoring – which will be available at no cost to workers in small or medium sized businesses. LATERAL was created to help employees identify and gain formal accreditation for the skills, capabilities and higher-level information they use at work, awarding credits which lead to a certificate, diploma, degree or postgraduate qualification. The purpose of ‘Mentoring our Workforce’ is to offer training with credits to members of staff acting
as mentors – basing the training on practical work and on improving the relationship between the individual learner and the needs of their company. Each individual learner will receive support from module tutors, academic advisors, a programme coordinator and workplace mentors. As students at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, they will also be offered support from the Student Services Department and the Learning Resources Centre. LATERAL staff are also collaborating with a number of Sector Skills Councils, such as the Care Council for Wales, to ensure that the sector’s needs are being met while planning and organising credits. Both schemes will aim to use new technology in order to reach various workers. The intention is to create resources available online for the iPhone and iPad, while e-books will be available to support learning. There will also be further contact via blogs and twitter.
Caroline Thraves
Encouraging women into information technology A number of women enjoyed a taste of a career in the field of computers and information technology thanks to a partnership between the University of Wales Trinity Saint David and the promotional body W-Tech Wales. W-Tech visited the Lampeter Campus to hold a day of talks and workshops to demonstrate the opportunities available to women within the field. According to recent statistics, only 15% of professionals in the information technology sector in Wales are women. “E-skills UK predicts that 180,000 new people are needed for new jobs within the industry across the United Kingdom and that 5,000 of these are needed
in Wales every year,” says Roisin Mullins, Lecturer in Information Systems at the University’s Business School. The topics included CCTV, the experience of information technology workers in Antarctica and Greenland, making digital video and broadcasting over the Internet. “As a result of this event, we intend to organise similar events, in order to address the increasingly important issue of employment opportunities in the United Kingdom.” The event was organised by Women @ BCS, a subgroup of the Chartered Institute for Information Technology, and was supported by Chwarae Teg, Wales Software Alliance, Women in Technology and Technocamps.