EDUCATION WEEK: Redundancies afoot as computing division is stripped
A respected Games Development & AI course at the University of Wales at Newport is to close, the institution has told Develop.
The course abolishment comes as the university strips out its Division of Computing, with other internal courses set for the axe while teaching staff consider their jobs.
Eric Llewellyn, Academic Leader at the university’s Division of Computing, told Develop that staff had not been explained why the major cuts were underway.
“It’s our programme, but we didn’t actually close it,” he said.
The news comes on the same week that the Department For Education had been handed a major new Skills Review paper – one that effectively argued for the opposite of what is happening at the University of Wales at Newport.
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Newport's Games Development & AI course had deliberately set openings to about 20 students a year. The university wanted to keep the numbers tight for better one-on-one interaction between students and staff.
“Several of our past graduates have set up small games businesses,” said Llewellyn.
“I think these cuts are to do with regionalisation from the Welsh Assembly Government, at least that’s what we’re led to believe. We don’t actually know why these courses are closing, we haven’t been told the full details, and [we believe] we won’t until April.”
Llewellyn said the mood among staff “is not good”.
“In September last year we were informed that the games programme was going to close, so students currently on it were allowed to continue, but there would be no new applicants for the year starting September 2011,” he said.
“That was until December, when we were told that Foundation Degree Computing, BSe Computing and BSe Business Information Systems Management are also going to close in September.”
He said the university will keep its BA Computer Games Design course, “but that’s because it’s an Art, Media and Design course – the cuts are affecting our department of business’ computing division.”
He added: “We’ve taken a very large hit in programmes at the University – we’ve been reduced to two programmes from the seven we had September last year – so there’s a feeling that the job cuts will affect us greatly.”
It's important to note that the BA Computer Games Design course is strong and unaffected by these cuts, but the lack of future collaborations, which led to Dare 2 be Digital success this year for Angry Mango is bound to have an effect, bit the CGD award, with its highest callibre research underpinning, has and will continue to produce extremely talented graduates into Design, as well as art asset production. a proposed Foundation Degree in creative Twchnology and Games, may address this issue. The GamesIndustry.biz article http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2011-02-04-successful-game-development-course-closed-at-university-of-wales has a few more details. It's not all bad (well mostly it is, but not completely.
I am very sorry to hear about this closure of courses, as a graduate of the first year of this very course i can tell you that back then the course was having to work hard for every bit of funding it received from the university. It was only thanks to the extremely hard work of staff such as Mike Reddy, Eric Llewellyn, and Shane Lee that we were even able to push for equipment more suitable for the work we were doing and thus able to complete the course at all.
Unfortunately this is part of an extremely stupid plan by the Conservatives, which will finish the economy if it's allowed to happen. In fact, the Tories are so incompetent they are doing the very opposite of what's in the 'national interest'. Less money in circulation leads to another recession.
The good news is the government's not going to last, the way things are going.
The government doesn't seem to realise how much the industry depends on lecturers like Dr. Reddy, Shane and Eric, who are the most talented I've had the pleasure of meeting. Unlike the people ultimately responsible, these lecturers have the courage to pass on what they know.
As for the games development and AI courses, anyone with half a brain can see a dozen ways they contribute to advances in science and technology.
M - I don't know if you are from Wales, but your posting is completely wrong - these cuts are a result of the Labour Government in the Welsh Assembly ordering universities to stop running courses that other local universities offer as well. It is a real shame.
That's largely true. The Welsh Assembly refused to increase the tuition fees, but tried mitigating that by making cuts elsewhere in the education system to comply with what the Tories are demanding, instead of refusing to go along with it.
Although this is an old story now, I'd like to state that a Foundation Degree Creative Tech and Games, with "commendable" levels of Industry involvement, has now been validated. Sadly, a decision, not mine, was made part way through development, that it would not be offered at Newport but only through FE college partners. So, teaching on the final, final year of the Games Dev BSc in September, will be my last. All my timetable for the coming academic year 2012-13 is modules that won't run again. This, and the announcement of a merger with Glamorgan today, means I'm not sure if I'll have a job next year. Fingers crossed, I might do that disgruntled Indie Dev Auteur thing and become filthy rich…
