All female leadership team takes over at UHI Orkney

Women make up a majority of the college workforce, but representation is lower in leadership roles. As revealed in The Herald’s State of Scotland’s Colleges series, 61% of all college staff are female, compared to 57% in senior management posts, 42% of principals and 25% of college board chairs.

The UHI Orkney trio have boosted these percentages, but the new principal and her colleagues will bring much more to the table.

Aberdeen-born Professor McDonald has a lifelong connection to Stronsay, which she regularly visited for family holidays and where she eventually met her husband. She said that the long connection to the island has made her new role feel like a “homecoming”.

She wants to deepen the college’s connections to the community and find more ways to support young people.

“It also gives me insight into ways to approach problems and get things done here.

“Living on the North Isles is great training in never underestimating the complexity and depth of connections between folk and being aware of the nested needs of community, family and individuals.

“In Orkney, there are always creative solutions to be found through finding connections and shared practices.

“There is definitely an ‘Orkney way’ to go about things and I am hoping that my small insight into that will help me to help the College thrive.

“For instance, I know that we are UHI Orkney and we're proud of that, but we will always be 'the College'.”

Seonaidh McDonald, Pauline Black and Claire Kemp will look to strengthen UHI Orkney's ties to the local schools through the council. (Image: Orkney Islands Council)

Despite the excitement of a new role, Prof McDonald recognized that UHI Orkney is not immune to the financial difficulties that are clouding the college sector. With over 200 staff members and 1,250 students in her charge, she said that the college needs to continue to capitalise on what it has to offer.

“The College needs to be a well-trodden bridge between schools and local employers. We have had success in this in the past and it is something we would like to do more of in the future.

“Being part of the ‘Orkney Offer’ ensuring a positive destination and outcome for every young person is part of that and our senior phase student numbers have been growing each year.”

The college’s connection to the council–and through it connections to all levels of education–was a major draw for Prof McDonald and new Deputy Principal Pauline Black. She said that she wants to work to further embed the college into the community and engage with young people about the opportunities available to them on the islands.

“I was really impressed by the Orkney Islands Council values - they were really aligned with my own - people, unity, trust, ownership and creativity. I loved the fact that folks can study all levels from short courses to PhDs, it sounded really inclusive.”

Read more: How one student's choice to study from home is paying dividends for her island

The former University of Aberdeen lecturer added that she and her family are looking forward to taking advantage of exploring Orkney’s natural landscape and musical tradition.

“At Aberdeen University, a large part of my role was in teacher education and also managing music performance and student engagement. I'm hoping that I can connect with more people and continue to build on the amazing musical happenings here.

“I have lots of musician friends from all over the UK who want to add Orkney on to their tour schedules now. I'm looking forward to events such as the St Magnus Festival and I hope I can help share Orcadian music happenings with my networks across the UK. There is such a lot to celebrate here. My husband is a musician too, so we can't wait to get involved more on the local scene and play some music.”

Orkney’s landscape and heritage also offer a wide variety of academic opportunities for students and staff and she said that the college should continue to build on these foundations.

UHI Orkney, or Orkney College, is owned by Orkney Islands Council, although it is part of the larger UHI partnership of colleges. Council leaders regularly speak about the benefits of having a tertiary education institution fully integrated with the school system.

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This means that, in addition to the college’s wide-ranging curriculum which includes Viking studies, agriculture and fine art, UHI Orkney also supports schools with Skills for Work courses and other opportunities for young people to explore career opportunities.

Fellow Deputy Principal Claire Kemp, and chair of the UHI Orkney Stakeholder Group Harvey Johnston said that having the college’s leadership team up to full strength will help to navigate a challenging time.

And James Wylie, Corporate Director of Education, Leisure and Housing at Orkney Islands Council, said that the council looks forward to working with the new leadership team to support students of all ages.

“An exciting new period lies ahead and we look forward to working together with Seonaidh, Pauline, Claire and the rest of the team to continue to go from strength to strength and further build and shape a college suited to the sustainability of Orkney, playing a major role in the Orkney Offer for our learners and continuing to lead very high calibre research."