Members of the Governing Body Cambridgeshire College All Members of Staff of Arts and Technology Chief Education Officer, Cambridgeshire East Road Mr Robert Rhodes James MP Cambridge CB1 1PTDear Colleague
I am writing to give you two pieces of news, one of which you will have been expecting for some time. The other will no doubt come as a considerable surprise.
The first item is that CCAT has been designated by the Secretary of State as a PCFC institution. This is official confirmation of the assumption on which we have been working in our planning for the future. The delay in the announcement has apparently been caused by difficulties in respect of other colleges, our own case having been regarded as very straightforward.
The second item, which is quite new, is a proposal that there should be a merger of CCAT, Essex Institute of Higher Education, and The City of London Polytechnic (known as City Poly). Mike Salmon, Director of the Essex Institute and I have had discussions with the new Provost of City Poly, Professor Roderick Floud, as a result of which proposals will be put to our Governing Bodies for achieving a merger on the 1st April 1989. I enclose a letter which each of us is sending to all concerned. From that letter you will see how the proposal has the strong support of Dr Stubbs, the Chief Executive of the PCFC, and we can be sure that he is not speaking alone on a matter of this importance.
City Poly has well over 5,000 full time equivalent students, of whom about 4,500 are in higher education. A half of these are in programmes in Business and Finance, and a large slice of the remainder are in associated programmes. This area of business education is the internationally known strength of City Poly, and it could obviously form a very substantial base for development in our region. There are many issues of organisation and structure to be considered, but on the whole the match of academic programmes among the three institutions is promising.
From a Cambridgeshire point of view, we must ensure in the discussions that are to follow that the opportunity is taken to produce the development of provision which has so far often been frustrated, and that our commitment to East Anglia continues.
I know that this announcement will raise many questions in your minds. I am equally sure that to most of them there are not yet answers. However, I will do everything possible to beep you informed of developments. One occasion for doing that will be the staff meeting which is to be held on 12th September.
Other arrangements will be made as necessary, especially if anything new of major importance comes up in the meantime. I shall be meeting some staff representatives on 29th July, and of course I would be happy to talk to any member of the Governing Body who would like to get in touch.
With best wishes
Yours sincerely
K SWINHOE Principal
City of London Polytechnic
Essex Institute of Higher Education
Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology
Dear Colleague
We write to tell you of a new development in the future of our three institutions. As you know Essex Institute of Higher Education and Cambridgeshire College of Arts and Technology plan to merge on April 1st 1989; we are now actively discussing the possibility that, at the same time, they will merge with the City of London Polytechnic. Formally, this may be through incorporation of the other two institutions into CLP. This would would create a new institution, of well over 10,000 Full-time Equivalent students, to serve the needs of East Anglia, East London and the City of London. The institution would ultimately be based in three large sites in the City of London, Chelmsford and Cambridge.
Many details remain to be discussed before a formal proposal can be put to the Governors of the institutions. We are already clear, however, that the academic strengths of the three institutions complement each other very well. The new institution would be particularly strong in business, finance and law, in humanities, art and design, in social studies, in construction, in electronics and in environmental science but would have a strong presence in other areas. Part-time provision would be a very significant feature and, because of this, the combined institutions would educate over 30,000 people annually. This would give an extremely strong base for expansion to meet the varied educational needs of the growing population of East Anglia while continuing to serve the professional needs of the City.
There will be many difficulties. We will need to settle on a name. Operating on three large sites will require strong communication and careful academic planning. Substantial capital funds will be required and it will be vital to obtain the support of the Polytechnic and College Funding Council and of the Department of Education and Science. We are delighted, therefore, that Dr William Stubbs, Chief-Executive Designate of the PCFC, has said:
"This is a welcome initiative. The outcome could provide both an answer to the long-standing demand in the Anglia region for a polytechnic and a consolidation of the substantial London connections of City Poly. The PCFC will be interested in seeing a satisfactory outcome to the discussions which are now under way. The objectives should be a detailed plan which can be recommended to the Secretary of State."
We look forward to a very positive response to a proposal which will strengthen all three institutions and give them a secure and exciting future as one of Britain's leading Polytechnics. We will keep you in touch with the proposal as it is developed during the next months. We can assure you that the needs of staff will be at the forefront of discussions and that we shall seek and welcome your views from now on.
[Signed]
Roderick Floud Mike Salmon Ken Swinhoe Provost, City Poly Director, Essex Institute Principal, CCAT