GMIT Mayo Castlebar Downgrade Threatened

Despite all the recent lofty rhetoric from local TDs and Government, the latest news shows the lack of political will to ensure its future. The fact that many of the staff who have been asked to relocate are delivering courses that are key to the survival of the Castlebar campus is deeply worrying.

There are specific concerns about the operation of the HEA Working Group with no staff representation on the group or terms of reference laid down so far. Some staff members only became aware of the Working Group’s establishment from a press release issued by the Taoiseach.

I am also very concerned for those students who signed up to courses with guarantees that they could progress on to a level 8 qualification. Some of these students have only recently been informed that they will only be able to advance to Level 7 at the Mayo campus. Many of these students chose the Mayo campus for specific reasons and cannot easily transfer to the Galway campus.

It is difficult to see this as anything other than an attempt to downgrade the Mayo campus of GMIT. The manner in which this is playing out is disrespectful to the hard working staff and grossly unfair on current students, many of whom have already made great sacrifices.