Talk:Swansea University
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I added a section about exchange students. malatesta 20:27, 8 November 2006 (UTC)
hey there, just added some more detail to the ILS and new sections on goverance and structure, just to make the entry more imformative. AlexD 16:12, 20 December 2005 (UTC)
Hi all. I've added Charlie Williams to your list of alumni as I understand he did Computer Science or something similiar at PCA in the early nineties. Regards. --Quickpint 14:04, 11 September 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Weasel words
I've added the weasel words box to the top of this article because of the following sentences (emphasis added):
- "In 2005 the controversial closures led to the suspension of philosophy lecturer Colwyn Williamson on charges of computer hacking, which many students saw as an attempt to silence him as a whistleblower." - Which students? When? Where?
- "The survey was roundly criticised by some staff and students, as it was carried out by the Student Panel. Students claimed that the sample was self-selected and therefore unscientific." - Who criticised the survey? Who made these claims? Where is the proof?
Sources should be provided to prove the veracity of these statements (e.g. references to newspapers, reports, articles in the Waterfront, etc.). --Marknew 09:04, 3 January 2006 (UTC)
Hello Mark,
Unfortunately, the Waterfront site appears to be broken at the moment, but it has carried many articles on the issue of Williamson and his suspension. If I can get at those articles I will post them as sources.
As far as the student panel is concerned, I admit that I'm not able to provide a written source regarding its disparagment. I'm a student at Swansea and I posted the dissatisfaction with the survey because I have heard it.
Yes, that's not a verifiable source. However, it is a fact that the sample is self-selected and I feel this should be pointed out in the article. Should I change it to "the survey may not be scientific as it is self-selected"? Or what?
from the panel's website: The Student Panel now numbers over 20,000 members. Our core aims are to keep our panellists motivated and ensure they represent the UK student body. We verify all members’ academic email addresses (issued by universities and ending ‘ac.uk’.) This helps exclude 'web trawlers' and ‘professional’ on-line respondents. Panellists are recruited solely to take part in our service so have no worries about marketing scams or spam. We use the latest panel-management systems to ensure the seamless integration of survey data with sample selection to make participation easy, secure and non repetitive...
The only criterion that the Panel uses is that you have a British uni email address. Students are given amazon vouchers in exchange for participating. This is self selection.
May I ask whether you're also a student at Swansea? Thanks a lot. BillMasen 17:46, 3 January 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Negative Bias?
Having no connection, or never even been to Wales, I just wanted to put down in writing, that I feel this article is heavily biased towards negativity. A large portion of this article is conserned with what could be called "critisism/scandals/controversialities". Some might even blurt out slander or gossip, but I wont. ;) I feel that an encyclopædia should be much more sinisterly be reporting clear factualities than this page about Swansea University. It's ok to have a "recent critisms"-ish section, but I feel the lack of substance in this article. No pun intended, as I generally feel (the rest of) the article is pretty excellent!
[edit] Not Far Enough?
Sadly, some would say that the article doesn't go nearly far enough in its negative comments.
The scandals referred to are not isolated incidents but follow a general theme. For students this means that they get to live in one of the most pleasant university towns in the country but graduate with degress that are considered less-than-second-class by most academics.
Perhaps this isn't the only university with these problems but Swansea may be the most acute example.
[edit] University ratings
(I'm posting this to all articles on UK universities as so far discussion hasn't really taken off on Wikipedia:WikiProject Universities.)
There needs to be a broader convention about which university rankings to include in articles. Currently it seems most pages are listing primarily those that show the institution at its best (or worst in a few cases). See Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Universities#University ratings. Timrollpickering 21:45, 21 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] University name
Since the institution hasn't formally changed its name from the University of Wales, Swansea to Swansea University, should the page not be named for the former, instead of the latter? This is especially pertinent when one considers the institution's ties to the University of Wales and how unlikely it is that it ever will officially be called Swansea University, regardless how the institution attempts to style itself.
- Virtually every other UK HEI article is at the "brand name" used by the institution itself rather than the legal name in statutes. "Official" is a very confusing term to use in this context - do you mean what it officially calls itself or is officially called? Timrollpickering 19:01, 27 February 2007 (UTC)
- Sorry, forgot to sign off on my last message! Whilst I agree that the articles generally conform to the style desired by the individual institution, I think this is a different circumstance. It is one thing to call it Durham University (styled version) as opposed to the University of Durham (official), but Swansea University and University of Wales, Swansea are completely different. It is actually quite misleading (which is, of course, the point) and suggests that Swansea, like Cardiff University, is merely lightly affiliated with the University of Wales. Benbristol 12.41, 1st March 2007 (UTC)
