College merger plan given cautious welcome in Caithness
A plan to merge North Highland College UHI with two other colleges could benefit Caithness – as long as it does not impact on the independence and identity of the Thurso-based facility.
That was the view expressed by Ron Gunn, who chairs Thurso Community Council and the Association of Caithness Community Councils.
Councillor Matthew Reiss, who represents Thurso and Northwest Caithness on Highland Council, voiced a similar opinion on the proposed merger of North Highland College with Lews Castle College UHI in Stornoway and West Highland College UHI.
Under the plan a new college would be formed within the University of the Highlands and Islands partnership by January 2023.
Councillor Reiss said: "If it is good for Caithness then I would support it, but it is early days yet and we need a lot more detail.
"It is interesting that the three college principals have backed the plan. If it is prudent financially and if it is good for the county I would be supportive.
"If the number of students increases as a result and helps reverse the population decline then that would be a good thing for Caithness."
But Councillor Reiss said he would have to "weigh up the risks against the benefits" of any merger.
Mr Gunn said he would welcome anything that could improve opportunities for the students and staff so long as there would be "no detrimental effect on North Highland College".
He added: "I think, in general, it would give folk more scope but mergers are not always the best and I would not want anything which was detrimental to the independence and identity of Thurso college. In principle, I would welcome the plan but we need more information about what is involved."
The merger, it is claimed, would "unlock new opportunities for students, staff and local communities".
In a joint statement issued on behalf of the three college principals they said: "We believe this is a unique opportunity to develop a new college of scale and impact that serves and supports around 9000 students in 20 remote rural and island campus locations across the Highlands, Skye and the Western Isles.
"We will bring together and build on existing excellence and expertise within our three organisations in order to drive a step change for education from school to university as well as in research, enterprise and innovation in our region."
They added: "While there is a huge amount of work to be done over the next few months to explore with our key staff, students and stakeholders whether this can be successfully achieved, we agree that this is the absolute best option for our colleges.
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"We believe we can better serve our students and our communities by providing a wider range of study options for our students and strengthened career pathways and job satisfaction for our staff.
"We will also be able to unlock new opportunities for future strategic development and investment through ambitious collaborations and projects that, as single small colleges, we are unable to achieve."
To progress the plan, a merger partnership board has been formed to achieve the vision and aims of all three colleges and to steer the process.
The board consists of the principals and chairs of the three organisations, with staff and student representatives from the three college boards and members of the Highlands and Islands Students’ Association. The board will develop a proposal which will inform the final decision of each of the college boards involved.
The board is chaired by Dr Michael Foxley, who served as the University of the Highlands and Islands regional lead for further bducation between 2014 and 2021.
A merger co-ordinator will be appointed in the next few weeks and will work across all three colleges "to support the merger partnership board, associated work streams and the full consultation process".