On course to inspire the next generation as Inverness College UHI recruits for new roles

"The strength of colleges has always been their responsiveness to economic demand," agrees Diane Rawlinson, Principal and Chief Executive of Inverness College UHI, the largest member of the University of the Highlands & Islands (UHI) partnership.

"Colleges have excellent links to employers and have always worked closely with industry to supply education and training that responds to identified skills gaps, plus existing and predicted future skills shortages.

"College lecturers have relevant industry experience, ensuring that our students not only leave with an industry accredited qualification but are also 'work ready'.

"Increasingly, the strength of our colleges, lying as they do at the heart of vocational skills development, is being recognised. Apprenticeships are enjoying a renaissance. They are rightly being viewed by students and their parents as a valued entry route to a rewarding career. I believe we are moving into an era where the supposed 'academic/vocational divide' has little meaning.

"Colleges develop vocational skills in the widest sense but not to the exception of theory, advanced critical thinking and problem solving skills - or even research. Yes, one of our strengths is having the technical facilities and expertise to offer high quality training but our unique capacity to couple that training with theory, with development of employability skills and using our industry networks to help students make that first step into employment, is our real forte."

Inverness College UHI is recruiting for two posts - a Head of Student Services and a Management Information Systems (MIS) Manager.

These carry importance for its own future as it embarks upon a move to an impressive new College hub in the Highlands capital in August, coupled with the full opening of the new buildings for its Scottish School of Forestry at Balloch - together representing a £50 million investment in its estate.

The selected candidates will be joining a member of a one-of-a-kind Scottish academic structure, as part of UHI - a factor Rawlinson is understandably keen to illustrate to show the College as a bridge, straddling both further and higher education with a wide spectrum of prospective student access - yet still able to reflect skills demands on its doorstep.

"The UHI partnership is unique in Scotland in offering the full range of qualifications, from foundation through to doctorate level study across a broad curriculum," she explains. "Our apprentices work alongside our undergraduates and post graduates, sharing library facilities and social spaces. There has been extensive research published that highlights the on-going battle we have to widen access, to make university accessible to harder-to-reach groups. We still have in our society considerable numbers of bright young people who would never consider university study to be of relevance to their lives.

"To some, universities can seem alien and off-putting. Within the UHI partnership we are uniquely positioned to overcome these barriers. We can build students' confidence and self-esteem and encourage progression to university-level study without the trauma of making a transition to another institution. I believe that UHI partners are better placed to truly widen access than any other institution."

Across UHI's growing range of degree provision there are programmes you might expect in any university: business, literature, geography, science, and engineering for example. Course and research specialisms in rivers and lochs, forestry, rural and remote studies and renewable energy are particular signatures, mirroring both local need and demand from students from other parts of

the UK.

"We provide a pretty good range of undergraduate study for young people in the Highlands who are seeking access to higher education without having to leave home," Rawlinson adds.

UHI recorded a solid performance in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework exercise - the new system for assessing the quality and impact of these activities at UK higher education facilities. Over 69 per cent of the research it submitted for review achieved the two top grades, 'Internationally Excellent' and 'World-Leading'. The college has introduced a range of PhD studentships and increased its investment in research specialist staff. Much of this is linked to the sciences and to the environment.

Its institutional credentials and direction established, it's easy to see the strategic fit for the new Head of Student Services. "We can have the best teaching staff and learning environment in the world but if our students are not well supported by our administrative functions then we will have failed," Rawlinson contends.

"We need an inspirational leader who can engender a team spirit, who can help staff to understand the interdependencies in their work, who can ensure we always go the extra mile, treating every student as a unique and valuable partner.

"Although this is a senior role, the successful candidate will have lots of opportunity to work directly with students, not least through the support and encouragement they will give to Inverness College Students Association (ICSA)."

A challenging role also lies ahead for the MIS Manager. The Principal states: "We are looking for someone who sees beyond the data to what it represents; a skilled data manager

but one who has the experience to ensure that reports respond to organisational need and inform our

quality management systems, our recruitment activity and our curriculum development."