WALES: Minister launches review of universities

07 March 2010

Education Minister Leighton Andrews last week announced plans to review how Welsh universities are run, writes Gareth Evans for the Western Mail. At a higher education conference in Cardiff, Andrews said governing bodies had a responsibility to deliver value when spending £400 million (US$603 million) a year of public money.

The review of higher education governance in Wales will focus on whether university governors are strong enough to hold vice-chancellors and management to account. Andrews will also look at how governors are recruited, and whether independent members should be included on university boards.

He said he wanted "to ensure that there is proper and transparent accountability for how that money is spent," and added later: "We are demanding significant changes to delivery and I want to see higher education institutions - their business plans, learning programmes and research and knowledge transfer activities - more tightly linked with their local communities, the needs of the Welsh economy and learners in the 21st century."
Full report on the Wales Online site

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