Thoughts On Wales

Trinity Saint David

Paying some attention to my former PhD University, that issued my Doctorate.

The University of Wales, TSD-Wikipedia

According to Wikipedia.

Wikipedia TSD

Cited:

'The University of Wales, Trinity Saint David (Welsh: Prifysgol Cymru, Y Drindod Dewi Sant) is a collegiate university in South West Wales, comprising the Lampeter campus, the Carmarthen campus and the Swansea campus.

It also has a campus in London, England.[5] The University came into existence through the merger of the two oldest higher education institutions in Wales, the University of Wales, Lampeter (UWL) and Trinity University College (TUC) in 2010.[1][2] In 2011, it was announced that the University of Wales will also be merged into Trinity Saint David.[6][7][8]

On 1 August 2013 the University merged with Swansea Metropolitan University.[9] The University is made up of the Faculty of Humanities (primarily based within the Lampeter campus), the Faculty of Education and Training, and the Faculty of Arts and Social Studies (both primarily based within the Carmarthen campus) each providing courses such as theology, religious studies, philosophy, classics, anthropology, archaeology, ancient history, English, history, drama, film studies, business management, IT, education studies and Initial Teacher Education and Training.'

Cited:

'Completed in 1997 and named after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a benefactor of the UWL, the Sheikh Khalifa building is the home of the School of Theology, Religious Studies and Islamic Studies, one the largest Schools of its kind in the United Kingdom.'

Cited:

'Reputation

Both Trinity and Lampeter each had positive reputations in separate areas. Whilst Trinity had a good reputation for the arts and vocational training for areas such as teaching, Lampeter historically enjoyed a reputation as the best University in Wales for research. The merger of the universities has aimed to ensure that these two reputations survive and the new university has recently gained a good reputation for its research particularly in the area of religion and the humanities and for personal development. In addition, the university's school of business has recently been ranked second in Wales for its degrees.'

The source link is now gone, but I stated here:

DRRNM

'May 2009

In the most recent Complete University Guide published in association with The Independent newspaper, the Department of Theology & Religious Studies at the University of Wales Lampeter was ranked 13th in the UK.'

'In December 2008, the Research Institute for Theology & Religious Studies was rated 9th in the UK for its research strength by Research Fortnight magazine in its RAE 2008 Analysis Power Rankings.'

'Then in February (2009), The Guardian newspaper placed the Department in first position in the UK for the number of postgraduate distance learning students.'

Interestingly with the University of Wales, Lampeter and its merger with Trinity University College:

Trinity was the first institution I signed with my new adviser, as I left Manchester. The stay was brief as I followed him to the University of Wales, Bangor, now Bangor University. There my MPhil was completed, while I was in British Columbia.

I remember Wales, Lampeter being rated ahead of Oxford in at least two of three Religious Studies and Theology related categories and ahead of Cambridge in one.

This was a fairly major accomplishments considering the difference, according to Wikipedia in 2013 endowments.

Wikipedia Cambridge

 'Endowment £4.9 billion (2013, incl. colleges)'

Wikipedia Oxford

 'Endowment £3.772 billion (inc. colleges)'

Wikipedia TSD

 'Endowment £14.3 million (2009)'

Obviously there is a massive, many times difference between the new Wales, TSD and 'Oxbridge'.

This would have been the same in 2009 in regard to Wales, Lampeter, although I am not aware of what the combined endowment of Wales would have been.

Even so, I do remember within the last year or so the Wales, TSD website claiming the new University was now one of the largest in the United Kingdom and with four campuses this is probably the case.

When I started at Wales my adviser told me that the University of Wales was the second largest University in the United Kingdom, after London. So, now it appears to have scaled down somewhat with Bangor and other campuses becoming independent.

Thoughts on employment benefits of a University of Wales/Bangor University/University of Wales, Trinity Saint David degree:

Again, obviously, from a world-wide acknowledgment perspective, one would be better with a degree from Oxbridge, or London. As I have probably noted previously online and in person, London was my first choice for academic and lifestyle reasons. I applied at two colleges and neither had an adviser for me.

My second choice was Cambridge, as I had been there in the Summer of 1995 and had also been to Oxford, and much preferred Cambridge. In the Spring of 1997 I had a pleasant interview at Cambridge and I reason they would have accepted me in the PhD program providing I passed the Graduate Records Exam (GRE).

I thought that as I already had great distinction and a 3.8+ GPA at Trinity Western with an MTS degree, I should not be expected to study for a few months (by my high standards) in order to pass subjects that had nothing to do with Religious Studies in order to write a PhD thesis.

Wales was in my top five preferences, along with Durham. I had been to Wales previously and thought that a national University would be prestigious on my curriculum vitae providing there was high academic standards in the area of Religious Studies and Theology.

So, by attending Wales, and what is now Bangor University, to start, I basically exchanged studying for a GRE at Cambridge that I admit would have been good learning, for an MPhil thesis.

My Theology and Philosophy knowledge would be greater with the second approach.

Would more academics in Human Resources departments potentially pay more attention to me when applying for positions if I had a MPhil/PhD degree from Oxbridge or London?

Perhaps, especially in North America where at times those in Human Resources I am deducing are unaware that the level of thesis research at Wales is identical to that of Oxbridge and London.

In other words, the work written MPhil/PhD theses are the same level.

Remember in the United Kingdom system the external thesis reader and external reviewer at the Viva is from an outside University. Therefore standards must be roughly the same.

University Rankings 2013

Wales, TSD was 28th in the United Kingdom for 2013 and is not listed so far in the 2014 top forty list.

Times

The Times list had Bangor, University 20th for 2013.

Those in Human Resources, Religion Studies and Theology in the United Kingdom at least, and those in the know in the Western World, will have some understanding of MPhil and PhD theses and will realize that the highest level United Kingdom theses work was accomplished in my case.

I would reason comparable to anywhere in Europe having done 600+ pages at ten to twenty references per page with the PhD and having done two academic surveys.

I have received the impression that some in North America are pretty unaware however of the United Kingdom and European academic systems.

One University in the United States wanted me to pay a professional service $50 to verify my degrees.

I balked.

Not so much at the verification, but at a University and professional service profiting in such a scheme.

I was ethically offended that such a request would be made of me after applying online for an academic position. Spending thirty minutes with my career life story and then facing this unethical behaviour.

Guess what?

I could soon learn if hired to be a very effective Human Resources person within an academic institution and I would soon learn which degrees can be verified and which cannot. In other words, the world rating of academic degrees.

Within a few six to ten hour shifts I would have much of the knowledge down.

Others with solid academic backgrounds could do the same.

That money grab approach strikes me as being at the expense of those in academia, at times out of work.

An institution should hire at least one person to perform that kind of work.

Wales, Trinity Saint David, in its current form was only established in 2010 and is rated well considering.

These things considered I lean toward the idea that having two Wales theses degrees, MPhil and PhD, serves me better academically than a GRE and PhD from Cambridge.

But it is debatable, definitely.

 

Facebook

From Facebook, supposedly Justin whatever...