Translation Unit under threat

The Imperial College Management Board has announced the proposed closure of the College’s Translation Studies Unit (TSU). Founded in 2001 to provide teaching for the College’s new MSc in Scientific, Technical and Medical Translation, the only such degree in the country, it now oversees the studies of over a hundred Masters and Doctorate students. A period of consultation regarding the fate of the Unit began last Friday and is set to run until February 18. All applications to courses run by the unit have been suspended and while the College say that they hopes the Unit will be able to find a home at a different institution it admits that, if this should prove not to be possible, it might be closed permanently.

Staff found out about the plans at a meeting on Friday 18 January. In a subsequent email to members of the Unit Dr Jorge Diaz-Cintas told colleagues that the primary reason for the proposals is that the Board does not consider “the activities carried out by the TSU are not considered core to the College strategy”. The Unit remains profitable and financial considerations are understood not to have played a part in the decision.

The plans have met with widespread opposition, with members of the Unit creating a petition to prevent its closure. Encouraging people to sign the petition Dr Diaz-Cintas emphasised that, “With a track record of 12 years of large-scale MSc teaching and PhD provision, the TSU has established itself as a strong player within the College, with very healthy recruitment, particularly of overseas students, at both MSc and PhD levels, and a strong provision of further complementary activities”. Arguing against any proposed move of the unit he claimed out that with its “strongly technical and scientific profile” the College was the “most natural home” for a department specialising in technical translation.

The petition attracted over 2,500 supporters in its first 48 hours and, at the time of going to print, was just over 260 signatures off meeting its target of 5,000. Signatories have praised the Units “unique contribution” to technical translation and have called it a “fundamental point of reference” of the field. It is unclear what would happen to PhD students in the middle of their degrees should the TSU close and these students have been particularly vocal in their concerns. Lindsay Bywood told Felix of her disappointment at how “PhD students and part-time MSc students are being cast adrift by the College in the middle of their courses”, asserting that “an award of an Imperial degree is pretty meaningless when I have no idea what sort of supervision, library, and facilities support I will receive for the next three years of my research”.

This is a view shared by Renata Mliczak, who believes that “the plans of the Management Board at IC are truly inconsiderate of all the TSU students”. She added that while it was clear that “academics around the world see the importance of the work and research conducted by IC TSU scholars, it is a big shame that IC cannot see and appreciate it”. She asserts that the proposed closure acts “as a message to the world that IC is not interested in disseminating (through translation) the great research that is done here in medicine, engineering and natural sciences, but doing it for its own sake” with Soledad Zarate, another PhD student, further questioning how “an institution of such high calibre, home to students coming from all over the world, [does] not recognise that translation is vital for the transferral of knowledge and research between cultures worldwide”.

Concerns have also been raised about how the closure might devalue degrees that have already been awarded, with Emmanouela Patiniotaki fearing that after the TSU’s “closure or transferral the validity of our degree in the translation industry will be questioned”. Yuan Long concurs, adding that with “current gloomy picture of economy” employers might consider a qualification from a “Translation Unit at Imperial which no longer exists” to have been discredited.

In a statement given to Felix the College’s communication office said: “The consultation follows a review by Imperial’s Management Board, which regularly evaluates the strategic fit of all parts of the College. Following the review of the TSU, Management Board agreed that the Unit’s activities are not core to Imperial’s strategy.

“It also proposed that the possibility of the Unit becoming established in an alternative academic environment be explored, with a better institutional fit where the TSU could form part of a larger and therefore more sustainable department. … The Management Board agreed that a priority would be to protect the position of students currently registered in the Unit. Regardless of the outcome of the consultation, all TSU students will be able to continue to work towards an Imperial College degree.”

Editorial