Un ted by strength n depth
Am d the many benef ts of college merger, says Rob Wallen, pr nc pal des gnate of the new North East Scotland College, s the chance for a v ce-pr nc pal (human resources) to make the r mark. By
EXT mo th Rob Walle cha ges job. While it will have little impact upo the title o his busi ess card, the additio of two words comes, he says, with large pote tial gai s for the microeco omies of Aberdee a d Aberdee shire, a d the stude t cohorts of Aberdee College – of which he is the curre t pri cipal – a d Ba ff & Bucha College.
Whe Walle officially swaps to the ew mo iker of pri cipal, North East Scotla d College, the latest i a series of strategic mergers of regio al colleges across Scotla d will be official as the aforeme tio ed tie the k ot of further educatio marriage.
Moves of this ature te d to produce adjustme ts i eed of professio al expertise. I this case, the search for a vice-pri cipal (huma resources) is already u der way.
A y applica t will eed a executive summary of the fresh la dscape; the pri cipal desig ate is glad to oblige. As a snapshot, what shape and size will the college estate and student roll have? ROB W LLEN: “North East Scotla d College’s ow mai campuses will be i Aberdee city ce tre, o the Aberdee Alte s I dustrial Estate, i Fraserburgh a d i Peterhead.
“The college also will ow a ce tre at Cli terty o the edge of Aberdee which is used for deliveri g commercial courses for the oil a d gas i dustry, mai ly through the college’s subsidiary trai i g compa y. There are also leased lear i g ce tres i Ello , I verurie a d Macduff, a d a leased ce tre located i the Scotla d’s Rural College campus at Craibsto e o the edge of Aberdee . The college will routi ely deliver courses i a ra ge of commu ity locatio s a d i a umber of schools.
“The merged college will have more tha 7000 full-time stude ts a d thousa ds of stude ts o part-time day, eve i g, blockrelease, work-based a d dista celear i g programmes across orth-east Scotla d – a d beyo d. It will employ more tha 600 people directly, with over 250 more worki g o college premises o a variety of co tractedout services.” Cynics believe college mer ge r s are mer e budget-containment exercises. What do you think are the broader benefits of merging, particularly for staff and the student customer group? RW:“The be efits of merger are ma y. It will allow a completely i teg rated ra ge of college services across the Aberdee a d Aberdee shire regio . U ecessary duplicatio will be avoided.
“The stude t voice will be a stro ger o e as a result of bri gi g together all of the stude ts of the previous separate colleges i to a si gle stude ts’ associatio . Some efficie cies will result from eco omies of scale. There will be greater opportu ities for staff to develop their skills a d careers.” Are there feeder agreements with universities for certain courses, allowing young people an opportunity to aspire to higher vocational qualifications that might not have been possible direct from school? RW: “The two separate colleges already have very good li ks with both the U iversity of Aberdee a d Robert Gordo U iversity. The articulatio arra geme ts established with both u iversities allow stude ts with a HND qualificatio from o e of the colleges to progress to ye a r three of deg ree prog rammes. Stude ts o articulati g HND programmes ca become associate stude ts of the u iversities. Aberdee College is a associate college of RGU – t he o ly such arra geme t. It is i te ded that this status will apply to the merged college. I creasi gly the HND articulatio route i to year three of a degree programme is see ot just as a route for those who did ot have the qualificatio to go direct i to a degree from school, but as a logical a d valid route for all lear ers, as it e ables a i dividual to obtai two qualificatio s – a HND a d a degree – i the same time usually t a ke to a c hi eve a degree.” Will the range of courses available be trimmed, expanded or fol l ow certain in-demand themes in the economy, especially in view of the importance of engineering and the demands of the energy sector? RW:“The ra ge of provisio offered o each campus will be drive by dema d. The two separate colleges already make a major co tributio i terms of trai i g for the oil a d gas sector. This will i crease further this year as a result of d e ve l o p i g a weldi g tech ology ce tre of excelle ce a d developi g further facilities for trai i g i mecha ical e gi eeri g skills for tech icia s.
“Both colleges are part ers i the Oil a d Gas Academy of Scotla d i itiative – which bri gs together colleges a d u iversities that have a particular stre gth i e ergy-related trai i g – to provide improved i formatio a d advice for employers o the trai i g offered by all of the part ers. North East Scotla d College will co ti ue to support this i itiative.
“A priority for the successful ca didate will be to e sure that staffi g is i place to meet stude t dema d, particularly i shortage areas such as e gi eeri g.” Turning to the post being advertised, what is the likely background of an ideal candidate? RW: “The successful ca didate wil l cer tai ly be a HR specialist with experie ce of ma agi g a d developi g people i a large orga isatio . Experie ce i the further/ higher educatio sector would, of course, be releva t, but (he/she) may have experie ce i other public a d priva t e - s e c t o r e viro me ts.”