Bangor Business School is committed to providing high quality education through the medium of Welsh, and to go beyond the expectations of Bangor University's Welsh Language Scheme. In making this commitment BBS acknowledges the support available from the University, primarily through Canolfan Bedwyr and the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol, and is committed to working in partnership to provide the best possible Welsh-medium provision for students.
Bangor Business School acknowledges that it is the primary provider of business courses in Higher Education in Wales. In terms of employability we note that bilingualism is an asset in business in an increasingly competitive world.
The School Environment
The school recognises the importance of fostering an environment that supports and encourages Welsh-medium study. To facilitate this, the school will ensure that:
- it co-operates to promote Welsh medium study by organising events during Welcome Week
- all students who speak Welsh are assigned a Welsh speaking tutor
- the norm of Welsh speaking students registering for Welsh-medium or bilingual modules, unless they choose otherwise
- Welsh has a prominent place on the website, social networks and School noticeboards
- staff are encouraged to give Welsh a prominent place in the daily work of the School; for example, making it clear to students and others that they can, where applicable, converse in Welsh
- Bangor Business School staff have the opportunity to use the Welsh language in the workplace by providing simultaneous translation facilities in committees such as the School Board of Studies
Quality, Range and Delivery Models
To ensure quality and consistency of Bangor Business School Welsh medium provision, staff will teach within their area of expertise, and modules with Welsh / English equivalents will have the same module leader, a common syllabus and identical assessments. Currently Bangor Business School is committed to providing Welsh medium teaching on all first year modules, and on any modules in the second and third year where there is a significant demand for the provision (subject to staffing constraints).
We currently offer four degree programmes where Welsh medium modules can be studied. We aim to increase the number of modules available in Welsh, and the number of degree programmes where it is possible to study Welsh language modules. To this end we will work together with the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol to promote and develop our Welsh medium provision by recruiting more Welsh-speaking lecturers.
Welsh-medium provision will be through Welsh medium modules, where all teaching and assessment is in Welsh, and through bilingual modules, where the main lectures are in English but with seminars, tutorials and assessments in Welsh. Where practicable, support materials (lecture notes, problem sets, discussion questions etc.) will be made available in both languages. Terminology will be introduced in both languages in order to give students the confidence to work in the future in both Welsh and English.
Full details of this Welsh-medium provision will be displayed prominently within BBS and on relevant websites.
Implementation
As part of Bangor Business School's policy, a Welsh Medium Studies Coordinator post has been developed and s/he will be supported by the Bangor Business School administrative team. The coordinator is responsible for implementing the policy and is also responsible for producing the Annual Delivery Plan to ensure that the policy is implemented fully and effectively during the following year. The plan should be agreed with the Director of Teaching and Learning by the end of January, so it can be incorporated in the planned allocation of resources before the pre-registration period. Other responsibilities of the Coordinator include:
- representing Bangor Business School on all relevant external committees, e.g. TASIG, Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Business Panel
- coordinate with Canolfan Bedwyr, the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and any other relevant institutions
- convene and chair the Bangor Business School Welsh-medium Teaching and Learning Committee, who meet once every semester to discuss relevant issues as well any contemporary concerns in the delivery of Bangor Business School's Welsh-medium provision so as to identify any future problems
- arrange Welsh medium Bangor Business School recruiting campaigns (in collaboration with the College and University's marketing departments) targeting those who have received Welsh medium / bilingual secondary education
- ensure a voice for Welsh speaking students by convening and chairing aWelsh medium staff-student committee
- support staff in teaching and administration, by referring them to various support services available through Canolfan Bedwyr, the Welsh Tutor etc.
Bangor Business School is committed to working in collaboration with Canolfan Bedwyr, the School for Welsh-medium studies, TASIG and with other bodies within the university to promote the above.