Submission to the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee
Glenn McKee
Second Clerk of the Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee
Department of Chamber and Committee Services
House of Commons
Room 217, 7 Millbank
Cc: Higher Education Funding Committee for Wales
Secretary and President University of Wales Lampeter
Principal Trinity University College Carmarthen
Ms K Worsey Welsh Assembly
Dear Mr McKee,
Thank you for your email dated Tuesday 14th April 2009. I am delighted to be able to make a submission to the committee and have read the criteria accordingly. I will make a full submission in the next few days.
Briefly, the broader picture issues that I shall be raising are based upon my appalling experience at the University of Wales Lampeter as a mature student in 2002/3. I am a former mature student with 16 years in social work management and with two professional qualifications and to my cost got myself involved in an argument in defence of the disadvantaged. In reply for doing what I considered to be a public duty I was falsely accused of plagiarism, intimidated during an examination and falsely accused of malicious harassment. I dread to think what these people would have done to the average student.
In my submission I will be raising the following issues most of which have also been sent to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) as part of their pathway project.
1. The admission and induction of mature students such as myself with professional qualifications and life experience needs to be accommodated with due respect. Those with family commitments and single parents also need to be shown due consideration.
2. Maladministration of University Complaints Procedures, the Students Complaints Scheme and legal loopholes in the Higher Education Act 2004.
3. Whistle blowing, legal loopholes and failure to comply with the requirements of the Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998.
4. Making fabricated allegations of plagiarism by the contrived misuse of anti plagiarism software, to eliminate disadvantaged students and those who complain. This may account for such a large drop out rate.
5. The market dominance of legal giant Eversheds in representing around 100 of the 133 or so universities in England and Wales acts against the interests of students as it leads to a culture of bullying to prevent complaints being made to the OIA.
6. The Public Audit (Wales) Act 2004 that took away the power of the Auditor General to intervene in an HEI with regard to financial mismanagement under the Local Government Act 2000.
7. The fraudulent use of public funds to pay solicitors to threaten students with legal action in order to conceal individual and corporate maladministration, contrary to the Company Act 2005.
8. The role of the Church in the governance of higher education institutions, and the office of Visitor.
9. Given the average student debt is around £15,000 and it is not uncommon for students to owe their university in excess of £750, the use of threats of bankruptcy or financial inducement by universities to conceal maladministration.
10. Following item 8 students should be considered vulnerable consumers not only because of the threat of their careers being ruined, but in the case of bankruptcy a student cannot make counter claim cannot be make in the courts it has to go through the OIA.
11. The apparent inability of the regulators the Funding Councils and the Quality Assurance Agencies to intervene in these situations on the grounds they have no brief or jurisdiction.
12. The need for a University Commissioner to protect students and ensure universities play it by the rule sand not make them up as they go along to avoid responsibility.
13. Public accountability of University Councils, its members and officers in accordance with the 7 principles of public life, guidelines issued by the Funding Councils and the Committee of University Chairmen. The supervisory role of Council lay members does not work.
14. The suicide risk to students where there is institutionalised abuse, serial bullying and blatant concealment of maladministration by university officers and council.
15. Were the University of Wales Lampeter a school, a FE College or social Services Department it would have been taken over, a police investigation would have been carried out and those responsible for this sort of corporate incompetence sacked.
16. Public consultation on any changes to the level and standards of higher education provision in keeping with other public services.
17. The former head of the OIA Baroness Deech said that Universities have no sense of natural justice, various newspaper articles have reinforced this view, which maybe partly responsible for the ‘radicalisation’ of vulnerable students as there is no lawful remedy to the issues that I have raised. The Welsh Assembly has deregulated higher education to the point that it claims it has no jurisdiction to intervene, and an expert has advised me that as the law stands the only way to bring this sort of maladministration to light is by writing an article in a newspaper or journal. Following the recent raids under the anti terrorism act and the connection with John Moores University in Liverpool my information website has received a number of visitors using the search term ‘Lampeter Terrorists’.
The University of Wales Lampeter and Trinity University College Carmarthen are going to merge. I have applied to Trinity to continue my education and of course raised the issue of the fabricated allegations of plagiarism. I await their response.
I have sent a copy of this letter to respective parties so they may make a response and remind people of their public duties in these matters.
Yours sincerely
Trevor Mayes
