Speaker
Mervyn Ward DProf Year 2
I am a retired civil servant having enjoyed a career as an accountant and subsequently an internal auditor. I also enjoyed 15 years as a part time lecturer in further education. My employers included: local government, atomic energy, further and higher education, a non departmental public body, and the civil service. Currently I chair the board for a further education college and serve on the governors’ council with the Association of Colleges. I’m a director of a community interest company, an independent school appeals panellist, and a student. I’m also an active masters athlete, running coach and athletics official. I remain a passionate advocate for education.
Session Title
Does merger risk damaging a college reputation with employers?
Brief Description
An overview of my research project.
Having experienced merger of two colleges my initial intention was to research striving to survive college merger. Literature review showed college merger had generally been researched from an internal stakeholder perspective. External stakeholders represented a gap and employers were selected as the research target. Recent legislation has made employers central to defining skills, education and training requirements and colleges the key provider, but college reputation with employers may be strained as employers have reported dissatisfaction with college output, and there may be a risk of further stress from the discontinuities of college merger. Hence, my focus on risk of damage to college reputation with employers through the lens of merger.