It’s rare to be able to describe a university as unique without being accused of exaggerated licence in the pursuit of marketing collateral. At University of the Highlands and Islands the claim can be substantiated beyond doubt.

“We are not a traditional university. We are different,” Fiona Larg, Chief Operating Officer and Secretary, categorically states at the beginning of her explanation. “Under recent Scottish Government legislation, in addition to higher education, the university now has responsibility for all further education within its region, creating an integrated tertiary institution that is unique in the UK.

“We are part of a new breed of tertiary institutions, one of only a few in Europe.

“Our partnership of 13 independent colleges and research institutions is locally based and rooted in communities, but with national and international reach, as part of a regional university structure.

“Our reputation is built on our innovative approach to learning and our distinctive research and curriculum – all enriched by the people, natural environment, economy, culture and heritage of the Highlands and Islands and its communities.

“We have 40,000 students at the heart of our university partnership and we are measured by their success. Our curriculum portfolio across both further and higher education is designed to meet current and future local and regional needs and to attract other students to the Highlands and Islands to study.”

A Director of Corporate Resources is now needed, the post playing a pivotal role in providing strategic and operational leadership of the corporate resources functions of the university. The post will be based at the university’s executive office in Inverness, the selected candidate – who will possess an understanding of the further and higher education sector – will be responsible for planning, directing and controlling the financial and human resources of the university.

The new post holder will have 37 staff across a range of disciplines including finance, human resources, procurement, grants and contracts, European Funding, facilities management, health and safety, philanthropy and commercial activities.

He or she will have responsibility for the strategic allocation and control of the overall institutional budget of around £80 million and direct departmental responsibility for £2.4m.

“The financial strength of the university and our academic partners is vital if we are to achieve our overarching vision, achieve global reach and become a distinctive, world-class institution,” Larg adds.

“It needs an increasingly collective and collaborative approach to the strategic management of our university partnership and activities, but one which is sensitive to the diversity within the partnership and the need to remain responsive to local and sub-regional needs.

“Our staff are geographically dispersed across multiple campuses and employers. This increases the complexity of achieving our goals, but it should not diminish our ambition.

“Our priorities will include greater alignment of employee terms and conditions and reward structures across the university partnership, recognising the distinctive and diverse roles within it, and improved opportunities for networking and collaborative working across organisational boundaries.”

There are three themes for the university’s strategy in the coming five years – based on Students, Focused Research and Creating a University “For All Our Region”.

The university has applied for what it calls “the final element” in its journey to becoming a fully-fledged university – research degree awarding powers. “I hope a favourable result from the Quality Assurance Agency will allow us to be able to award our own research degrees in the near future,” says Larg with some pride. “I look forward to us being able to award the first University of the Highlands and Islands PhD.

“Being the ‘university for all of our region’ can be achieved by acting as a force for economic, social and cultural change across our region, by connecting and collaborating with businesses, public and third sector partners and communities. This is underpinned by our participation as an active partner in community planning, contributing to reduced inequality, improved services, enhanced training and skills development and the promotion of sustainable economic growth.”

With an impressive platform set for development, the university carries the expectations of the region it so eagerly wants to serve.

That, in turn, requires its academic structures and associated work practices to respond not just adequately, but in a highly effective manner in line with the needs of local micro economies and important sectors across the Highlands and Islands.

“For example, with increasing numbers of parents returning to work, the need for qualified childcare professionals is on the increase,” Larg indicates.

“Coupled with a growing commitment in Scotland to provide high quality education and care for children and young people, there is a need for well-qualified and motivated staff
to deliver what children and their families expect.”

A centre of excellence

“Over 69 per cent of the research we submitted for review to the Research Excellence Framework (the UK Government benchmarking for the overall value of universities’ research) achieved the two top grades: Internationally Excellent and World Leading,” says Fiona Larg, University of the Highlands and Island’s Chief Operating Officer and Secretary. We outperformed the newer universities in Scotland; ranked 63rd in the UK and eighth in Scotland by Times Higher Education.

“A fantastic result for such a young university.”