Letter: Federal factions 1

In the Cardiff-centric National Assembly, it is easy to forget the contribution that the four university colleges of Wales at Swansea, Bangor, Aberystwyth and Lampeter have made to Wales for more than 100 years.

Any demise in these constituent colleges of the University of Wales ("Breakaway Cardiff fuels federal split", THES , January 11) would be detrimental.

Given the ambitions of the universities of Cardiff and Glamorgan to become the main Welsh research and teaching institutions, perhaps it is time for the universities of Swansea, Aberystwyth, Bangor and Lampeter to abandon the federal system and form a multi-campus University of Wales.

This would allow each to focus on investing in its world-class research while ensuring economies of scale in marketing and administration. Most important, it would ensure a viable alternative to the increasing concentration of higher educational resources around Cardiff.

Dylan Jones-Evans
School for Business and Regional Development
University of Wales,
Bangor