A FORMER student leader has written an open letter criticising the University of South Wales Students’ Union (USWSU) for not fighting the university’s decision to close its Caerleon campus.
James Koash, 24, who served as an executive officer for three years at the Students’ Union at the University of Glamorgan, which has since merged with the University of Wales to form the University of South Wales, said the USWSU should change its approach.
After the campus closure was announced last Friday, the USWSU posted a statement on their website, which reads: “We are meeting regularly with the university to work through what these changes will mean to our students, and will make sure that these are communicated to you as soon as possible”.
Mr Koash said: “From reading this statement, it sounds to me that the official union response is that they will be working with the university in communicating the changes, but that they won’t be fighting it.”
Up to 145 jobs are at risk by the closure of the campus and 7,000 students will be affected.
Mr Koash, who posted the letter on his Facebook feed, added: “Since posting the letter, I have been contacted by many students who feel that my letter reflects well their own thoughts on the matter.
“I have also been contacted by one of the union’s vice-presidents, who disagreed with my letter as he himself has taken a strong stance on the matter, but I feel the union as a whole needs to. The organisation gets funding to campaign for students.”
Carys Rhiannon Thomas, president of the USWSU, said: “Our focus and priority is with our new and current students across all of our campuses. We are working hard at the moment to ensure that their experience at the start of a new academic year is excellent, and that all our students have a good freshers. We work for and with them, and it is their opinion which matters to us. If any students have concerns, then we would urge them to contact us directly.”
Yesterday there were more than 2,300 signatures on a petition against the closure of the campus.
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