UHI: college partnership must survive funding crisis

But for Mrs Nairn, two things are non-negotiable: the partnership has to find ways to cut costs, but this cannot come at the expense of the partner colleges’ commitments to their communities.

“The sector is difficult, there’s no two ways about it. 

“We’re only going to see a further tightening of the sector in Scotland. A number of institutions are now looking at how they’re structured and how they’re operated and we’re no different. As with all organisations, we have to transform and evolve and be flexible.”

She said that UHI’s structure–serving 40,000 students spread across 12 partner colleges and 70 learning centres–creates plenty of difficulties. Populations, industries and resources aren’t spread evenly across its patch and partner colleges operate as separate companies. 

The executive office distributes government money and a portion of each college's funding feeds back to the executive. The central team monitors academic and financial performance and holds degree-awarding powers for each of the college’s higher education programmes. 

Delegates attending a field trip during UHI's 2023 Integrated Land Use Conference held at Dundreggan Rewilding Centre. (Image: Tim Winterburn and UHI)

As a tertiary institution, UHI offers courses and qualifications at almost every level of education. Students who left high school without their full qualifications can enroll in access courses at a UHI college, and if they choose, they can work their way through to a PhD without having to leave that campus. 

Mrs Nairn said the power of that option has revolutionised the Highlands and Islands. It has played a significant role in retaining talent in the region while recruiting new talent and creating new economic opportunities.

Read more: Colleges are at the heart of UHI's founding and mission

The overlap of higher education, further education, and specialist learning centres, such as the Highland Theological College in Dingwall or the Scottish Association of Marine Science in Oban, creates opportunities and challenges.

“It will be very different in Shetland than it is in Inverness," she said. "Or very different even in Skye to how it is in Fort William."

“And these are the things that we need to balance as a partnership. Whatever we do, it has to be based on local provision for our students, with learning and teaching delivered where it’s needed most.”

Read more: The State of Scotland's Colleges: Find all articles in the series here

Mrs Nairn said the “fairly mind-bending” logistics of the UHI partnership are only a few of the inherent hurdles to streamlined finances. The rural settings that are crucial to UHI’s mission can cut both ways.

While it’s more expensive to deliver education in rural and island settings, she said, there are government funding streams and incentives that prioritise the areas UHI calls home. 

Innovations and renovations at UHI’s campuses in Shetland and Stornoway have benefited from government funding. At the same time, UHI's facilities in Inverness received a boost to build a new life sciences centre with a combination of UK, Scottish and Highland Council funding through the Inverness and Highland City-Region Deal in 2021.

Still, there are pockets where the wealth could be spread more effectively. UHI Perth will host one of many picket lines across the country this week as lecturers go on strike in support of a new pay deal. But at Perth, staff and students have highlighted more specific concerns. 

As reported in the Courier, UHI Perth’s ongoing financial review is looking to close a £4 million budget gap, putting 70 jobs at risk. It may also close the campus nursery, a critical resource for students with children who need childcare to pursue their studies.

At UHI Moray, there was a recent scare that a cornerstone art programme might be put on hiatus. The decision was taken to continue it as normal, but students wonder if cost pressures mean this is simply a delay.

Meanwhile, UHI Inverness is financially stable and the new UHI North, West and Hebrides, formed out of a recent merger of 19 campuses, is using its regional partnerships to consolidate resources more efficiently.

Read more: Colleges stay alive by staying relevant, here's how one does it

Concerned lecturers from UHI Perth have regularly claimed that UHI’s structure, which replicates administrative positions across all colleges and the central office, is creating too much overhead and putting the colleges’ key resources–staff, curriculum options and, ultimately, students–at risk. 

They have also called for a better system for collaboration and support between campuses, so colleges such as Perth aren't left to fend for themselves.

Without offering a direct solution, Mrs Nairn recognised the disparity across UHI’s partners and said that the 2030 project will, among other goals, look to better share the wealth between partners and the central office.

“Like any large institution, there will be pockets of duplication. It goes back to the point about being effective and efficient. In the 2030 strategy, we have committed publicly to moving towards a more integrated institution. 

“That’s clearly mapped out and part of that will be about sharing resources where we can. There isn’t one single view yet of what that looks like, but what it does mean is that, actually, there are probably different ways of doing things that can share the wealth cross the organisation.

“As part of our evolution, we’ll start to look at these things.”

Being innovative while keeping an eye on the sector’s “significant and severe” funding challenges” will be crucial if UHI–an incredibly young institution in terms of Scottish colleges and universities–wants to see another 50 years. 

Walking the tightrope between individual colleges’ interests and the overall health of the university partnership is a challenge engrained in the UHI system. Still, Mrs Nairn insisted it must be embraced.

“We’re not a college, and we’re not a university, actually we’re much more. 

“One of the things that makes us different, which we’re really proud of, is that actually a lot of our courses and programmes speak to our culture and heritage. It leads back to that basis on which we were founded. We were founded for our communities."

Read more: One student chose to study from home and it's paying dividends for her community

She said that marrying financial efficiency with the “sense of place” that makes each college such a draw for students and business partners will form the backbone of UHI’s new strategy. 

“There’s no danger that UHI will be broken up or will look differently. All the reasons why we were founded are still as true today as they were before. The basis in commmunity, sense of place, societal impact and economic development, those are still true and probably more than they ever were.

“Any change would be based and rooted in our communities.”

She said it would take a crystal ball to know exactly how the next years will play out for UHI. The 2030 strategy is still in its infancy. Still, it does lay out explicit targets to simplify and streamline course offerings, harmonise resources and curriculum offerings between campuses, and continue to support the high levels of choice and academic performance that drive UHI.

Read more: Can Scotland's youngest college offer a roadmap to sustainability?

The institution as a whole will face difficult decisions, just as some of the partner colleges already have to do. But remaining agile and open to the needs of students and businesses will be key for the young partnership’s survival. 

And UHI and its colleges must survive, Mrs Nairn said.

“Because we’re so interconnected with our communities, what we do has a huge impact on our future populations. (The new strategy) is about doing the best we can for future generations now.

“Without UHI, the region would be a lot poorer intellectually and from a societal perspective. The fact that I can say we have a university campus in Stornoway or in Shetland, that’s a really powerful message and business and industry come in on it.

“If it wasn’t there, our young people would be leaving and it would be encouraging depopulation.

“UHI acts as an anchor institution. It stimulates investment and tells stakeholders like the Scottish Government that we’re a region worth investing in.”