UWTSD getting ready to welcome students back in September

There is a great sense of anticipation and much activity at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD) with plans well in hand to welcome new and returning students back to the University in September.

UWTSD has already announced that its campuses will be open and ready to start teaching at the beginning of the new academic year, subject to government guidelines. The University is planning a blended delivery pattern for its programmes in Wales which means a combination of online delivery and on-campus teaching, when it is appropriate to do so.

The University is working to a detailed plan which anticipates various scenarios around the coronavirus context and government directives, much in keeping with the Welsh Government’s traffic light system. The aim is to facilitate the safe return of students and staff to the campuses whilst also enabling as much face-to-face teaching as possible in order to ensure that students can enjoy an academic and social programme.

Ian Walsh, Provost of the Swansea and Cardiff campuses said: “Our staff and our students have worked hand in glove to ensure continuity of the learning experience and to make sure that all their studies and aspects of their social life were not disrupted too much.

“As we prepare for the new academic year, colleagues are working around the clock to prepare our facilities to make sure our campuses and our online facilities meet the very highest standards expected of the university.

“As we prepare to welcome our students to the new academic year, we want them to have the confidence that their university experience is going to be of high quality - whether it’s their study or social experience, we are preparing a package to support them as they return to university or maybe come to university for the first time.

“Working with the Students’ Union and with colleagues across the City Council in Swansea and Town Councils in Carmarthen and Lampeter, we’re working to make sure facilities that we have to offer on campus and in the city meet our students’ needs.

“So, our message to students is whether it’s on campus or online you can be sure that University of Wales Trinity Saint David is on your side”

Gwilym Dyfri Jones, Provost of the Carmarthen and Lampeter Campuses added “We’re looking forward to welcoming our students back to the campuses in Carmarthen, Lampeter, Swansea and Cardiff. I want to reassure students that the University is preparing for their arrival on campus in the new academic year, subject of course to government guidelines. We’re planning for a great university experience – the social aspects, the academic but also to ensure that students are a part of a community on campus, in the towns, and within the University. 

“This period is, of course, unprecedented but there is light on the horizon. There is a light here on the campuses ready to welcome our students. We work very closely with the Students' Union on the various campuses to ensure that our students enjoy the social and academic experiences so that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential once they have reached UWTSD. We want to see our students experience personal, academic and professional success and we will do our utmost to ensure that they achieve their personal and professional goals”.

The University’s Estates and Facilities team are at the forefront of ensuring that the physical environment is ready for September. Geraint Flowers, Head of Business Projects and Commercial Department said: “We’re working very hard to ensure that students can safely access the campuses in September. 

“Whilst we will be adopting an online delivery model, we would like to focus on getting as many students here as possible in a safe and conducive manner for learning.  We’ve looked at different measures of allowing on-site delivery to take place, some of those include social distancing within classrooms, hand sanitisers, one-way systems, furniture layouts across the entire estate and, more importantly, we’ve looked at timetabling rooms so we get the best rooms for your learning, the safest rooms for your learning at the forefront of that timetabling. 

“So, whilst students may be in smaller seminar, workshop and peer groups, those groups will take place in rooms that are appropriate for safe and onsite physical learning. We think it’s important for that physical learning to take place, and whilst the blended delivery model will go on we understand that socialising and meeting other students on-campus will be very important to our students”.

Kelly Williams, Head of Operations and Compliance added: “We are working across all our campuses through this period to get our them safe and ready for our students to come back in September.

“This includes social distancing and physical measures to ensure that our campuses are as safe as they can be whilst maintaining the community that you’d expect from your campus experience. This includes looking at all our services, including accommodation and catering and making sure that you can come back to a campus where you can reside and have a great campus experience.  We’re looking at out cleaning plans, how we allocate students to their accommodation, and all of our team are really excited to get our students back on campus in September”.