Carlow IT reacts to criticism over delay on campus site
STUDENTS AND STAFF RECEIVE LETTER ABOUT ‘INACCURATE’ POLITICAL COMMENTS
Public criticism by local politicians over the delay in Carlow IT securing a site for a new campus in Wexford, has prompted college management to take public representatives and Wexford County Council to task in letters sent to the local authority and to all staff and students.
The extraordinary step was taken by Carlow IT President Dr. Patricia Nolan and chairman of the Governing body John Moore,, who said they felt compelled to clarify the situation following ‘inaccurate and/or ill-informed’ comments in the media by politicians.
The president and chairman wrote a letter to staff and to over 1,000 Wexford students and also dispatched a separate letter to the Council which invited them to a meeting a day after it had taken place and then criticised them publicly for not attending.
‘It is somewhat disappointing to see inaccurate and/or ill-informed commentary in the local press about the Institute and its commitment to Wexford, criticising the HEI (Higher Education Institute) with a 25-year history of promoting, supporting and providing higher education in the county’, they said.
‘Some of the comments made by Deputy Brendan Howlin TD appear to have their origin in earlier political commentary published by the press in Wexford in March.
‘By way of clarification, the President’s Office received an invitation on March 10 to attend a meeting of Wexford County Council scheduled for March 9.
‘A response is awaited to correspondence issued by the President’s Office on March 10 pointing out this anomaly and seeking clarification.
‘We wish to reassure you that both the Chair of the Institute’s Governing Body and the President are more than happy to attend a meeting of the Council’, they said.
On the issue of a new site for the
Wexford Campus for which Government funding approval was given five years ago, Dr. Nolan and Mr. Moore said they are concerned that sites put forward to date have proved unsuitable or unworkable, whether for campus needs or for planning purposes.
‘Since permission was given in 2015 to purchase a site, we have acted diligently and honourably in our actions with potential vendors, their agents and other stakeholders.
‘You have been regularly briefed on the challenges we have faced in Wexford and we have shared our disappointment when, after considerable due diligence on preferred sites and the full support of our Governing Body, the necessary external support was not forthcoming. Notwithstanding this, our efforts in this regard will continue.’
The president and chairman said the Vice President for Corporate Affairs and the Capital Projects Manager will continue to work with senior officials of Wexford County Council to achieve the goal of a new facility for the Wexford Campus and they have been assured that a meeting with the local authority will be accommodated soon.
They said ‘inaccurate and unfounded press commentary’ has also proved unhelpful in another aspect of the college’s development - the application for the Technological University of the South East, TUSEI in partnership with WIT.
‘At all times in our work on this strategically important infrastructure for the region, we have been wholly consistent regarding the integral role for the Wexford Campus in the new multi-campus university.
‘As you know, the top two high severity risks identified for TUSEI during the joint independent risk analyses are financial sustainability and industrial relations.
‘We continue to work with WIT on key aspects of a credible financial sustainability model for the new university. This includes mitigation strategies for legacy debt and investment for integrated academic delivery models.
‘With particular reference to the latter, you are all well aware that considerable work has been completed by the staff of our Institute over the past eight months to develop and validate a new academic delivery framework for the future, work for which our faculty, professional support services and learners are to be commended.
‘Work is ongoing through our joint TUSEI project office on all aspects of our application, while preparing for the international evaluation and designation day imperatives.’
The President met with many TDs and elected representatives from the
South East region over the past two weeks to discuss issues relating to the Wexford Campus site and the TUSEI project.
‘ The President of WIT also participated in some of these briefings, while the Chair of WIT is an elected representative on Wexford County Council.
‘Within this context, it is noteworthy that the public representatives who are most vocal and critical of progress on TUSEI, have not been informed by engagement with any representatives from our Institute. This avenue is always open to them and indeed all elected and other stakeholder representatives’, they said.’
The college officials said they remain committed to both the TUSEI project and Wexford’s position within it. ‘We will continue to engage and work with all stakeholders who share our vision for enhanced higher education provision in Wexford and the region.’
In the letter to Wexford County Council, the secretary of the college’s Governing Body, Cormac O’ Toole said local media reported on a Council meeting dated March 9 in which ‘remarks referring to the Institute are inaccurate, misleading and false’.
‘Over the past number of years, IT Carlow has made strenuous efforts to acquire a suitable site for the further development of the Wexford Campus. The Institute representatives at all times and on all occasions, have conducted business in a professional and confidential manner while working collaboratively with senior officials in Wexford County Council throughout’, he said.
Mr. O’ Toole said it was ‘not deemed appropriate that these would be conducted through the media’ and ‘ this seems to have been misrepresented as a lack of commitment in th provision of higher education in Wexford’.
‘On the contrary, a cursory glance at IT Carlow’s record of investment and commitment to Wexford over thepast 25 years would clearly demonstrate that this is not so.’
In relation to the late invitation to attend the March meeting, he said the error was confirmed when enquiries were made but it appeared that the non-acceptance was interpreted as a ‘snub’ by IT Carlow to Wexford County Council and its elected members, as subsequently reported in the press.
At the meeting, councillors criticised the non-attendance and spoke about looking to other third level institutions to provide a campus in Wexford.
‘It is a matter of some regret to the Institute that the record was not put straight on that, or any subsequent occasion’, he said, adding that IT Carlow is happy for the president and chair to attend a Council meeting, should adequate notice be given. Mr. O’ Toole asked for the letter to be read into the record of the next Council meeting.
Retired councillor Padge Reck who was Vice- Chair of the Governing Body of Carlow IT for 14 years said the the failure to provide a site for a new third level campus lies with Wexford and he is ‘convinced’ there are forces at work which want to take the campus to another site in the county.
‘Local politicians criticised IT Carlow for not going to Barntown when the County Council said that site wasn’t suitable; the price on a Newtown Road site was leaked and then doubled, and they also ran into problems with the Ferrybank site.’
‘ The jigsaw which is the Technological University of the South East is almost complete but one major piece is missing - that is the new campus site for Wexford and it beggars belief that Carlow IT would have to write to their own students to underline their commitment to Wexford after they have been here for 25 years’, he said.