Professor Robert Cormack

1. Professor Robert Cormack Universities and Society: Engaging Stakeholders EUA Conference Marseille, 1-3 April, 2004 Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

2. Development of Universitiesin Scotland • The Ancients (14th & 15th Centuries): St Andrews; Glasgow; Aberdeen; Edinburgh • The ‘Chartered’ Universities (1960s): Strathclyde; Heriot Watt; Dundee; Stirling • The Post-1992 Universities: Abertay; Paisley; Robert Gordon; Napier; Glasgow Caledonian Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

3. Universities and Regional Development ‘Great economies are built on great universities’ Bill Joy, former CEO of Sun Systems “The University of the Highlands & Islands is ofhuge significance… It is much the most important project to have been launched in the Highlands & Islands for many decades. It is vital therefore that UHI grows, succeeds and prospers.” Dr Jim Hunter, Chairman, Highlands & Islands Enterprise Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

4. Development of UHI • 1992 Barail Conference on Skye – the Hills report • 1996 Millennium Commission funding – plus project funding from HIE, Scottish Office/Executive, European Union and local councils • 2001 Higher Education Institution status and recurrent funding from SHEFC • 2007 – University status? Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

5. Fourteen academic partners • Further education colleges • Specialist colleges • Research institutions • Over fifty outreach learning centres • Using technology to link real people in real places Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

6. UHI and the Region • Economic development • Social and cultural development • Retaining young people in the H & I • Attracting young people to the H & I • Providing for lifelong learning and CPD Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

7. UHI Profile (2003-04) Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

8. Madeleine CrawfordArgyll College UHI • Previously studied with Open University but clashed with family commitments • Enrolled for UHI BA rural development studies through Argyll College • Could study locally, full-time with access to after school care for children and also continue with part-time work • Studied by video-conference, joining with students from Fort William, Oban, Stornoway, Elgin and Orkney Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

9. Research Opportunities - One • Environmental Science (SAMS & North Highland College) • Aquaculture (NAFC) • Nuclear Decommissioning and Environmental Remediation (NHC) • Renewable Energy • UHI Social Policy Network Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

10. Research Opportunities - Two • Agronomy (Orkney College) • Theology (Highland Theological College) • Archaeology (Orkney College) • Gaelic Language and Culture (Sabhal Mòr Ostaig) • Health (Ness Foundation) Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

11. Framework of governance and management Board of governors Foundation Principal Executive office Executive board Academic council Academic planning committee Sub-committees Sub-committees Faculties (3) Subject networks (17) Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

12. Political Commitment “I don’t believe anybody should be in any doubt about the strategic importance of establishing a university in the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland. For opportunities for young people and for adults, but also as a symbol of the ambition and importance of this area - not just within Scotland, but within Europe more widely and I’m very clear this is a flagship Scottish ambition and it’s one that I share.” - First Minister, Rt Hon Jack McConnell MSP, speaking at the Convention of the Highlands & Islands, in Oban, October 2002. Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

13. A Prototype University for the 21st Century? “Is UHI really a prototype university for the 21st century? Very likely. It certainly represents a radical break from higher education tradition within the British Commonwealth and clearly challenges the prevailing worldwide university model. Notably, it incorporates contemporary good practice from around the world, anticipating many of the recommendations contained in recent higher education assessments by the Dearing Commission (UK), the Delors Commission (UNESCO), the OECD Thematic Review of Tertiary Education” etc W.Saint, http://www.adeanet.org/newsletter/Vol11No1/en_9.html Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

14. EUA: Challenges • Gaining university title • Designing, funding and supporting the development of online course provision • Rationalising, consolidating and developing portfolio of courses across the UHI partnership • Funding to take account of provision in remote and rural areas • Funding to build up research infrastructure Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

15. EUA: Mission and Strategy “To create in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland a collegiate university which will reach the highest standards and play a pivotal role in our educational, economic, social and cultural development.” • Close links to H & I communities through UHI’s 14 Academic Partners • Close involvement in UHI affairs through the UHI Foundation • Extensive links to similar institutions and/or areas throughout Europe and wider afield, e.g. University of the Arctic, universities in the Caribbean, Royal University of Bhutan • Currently recruiting students in China and North America Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

16. EUA: Obstacles • Single national/legal route to university title – not suited to UHI, its structures and its mission • Federal and collegiate structures have advantages in terms of harnessing community strengths but difficulties in governance and management • Growing a university from institutions which are essentially tertiary/vocational providers – again strengths and weaknesses • External stakeholders in the H & I strongly supportive but more divided elsewhere in Scotland – ‘we have enough universities’, ‘we need more plumbers’ Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

17. EUA: Successes and Lessons • UHI has been the creation of people in communities in the H & I supported by political leaders – not the result of government planning by civil servants • Lesson – civil servants tend to be bound by existing models and frameworks • Not an ‘off the shelf’ organisational model • Lesson - need to develop self-confidence in designing a model appropriate to the special and specific circumstances of UHI Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands

18. “Overcoming the tyranny of geography.” Creating the University of the Highlands and Islands