Scotland’s newest college could offer a roadmap for other institutions needing to pool resources and adapt to a difficult financial climate.
As reported in The Herald, Scotland’s colleges are in the midst of a financial crisis, with declining funding levels and inflation rates compounding the stress. The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) was formed in the early 2000s to help retain local talent and allow partner colleges to lean on each other.
More than 20 years later, three of those colleges made a similar decision. Born from a merger of UHI North Highland, UHI Outer Hebrides and UHI West Highland colleges, the new UHI North, West and Hebrides college now spans 19 campuses and is home to 9,000 students and 600 staff.
So why did the colleges, already part of the UHI partnership, merge even closer and what benefits has this brought to their communities?
Unique challenges, unique offerings
With campuses and learning centres across the northern and Hebridean coasts, UHI North, West and Hebrides operates across an area larger than Wales but with some of the lowest population densities in Europe.
The communities exhibit a mix of Gaelic and Norse cultures, while the landscape ranges from some of Britain’s tallest mountains to the largest blanket bog in Europe.
Such a wide array of cultures and environmental factors means the region has much to offer. Still, travel between centres can be difficult and small campuses might be limited in their resources.
Rather than shy away from those, UHI North, West and Hebrides has taken the challenges as opportunities, as many of UHI’s other partner colleges do.
Read more: Colleges are at the heart of UHI's founding and mission
A spokeswoman for UHI North, West and Hebrides said that, while offering the same range of access courses, qualifications and degree programmes as other UHI partners, UHI North, West and Hebrides has also shaped its curriculum heavily around the local landscape and culture.
“Proudly rooted in the culture, location and landscapes of the North and West Highlands, Skye, and Outer Hebrides, we are pioneering relevant, distinctive and sustainable leaning and research.”
The curriculum offered is “shaped by the needs and ambitions of rural and island communities, but with local, national and international reach.
She added: “Working collaboratively, we provide opportunities for people to live, work, and study in one of the best places in the world.”
Par for the course
A glance at UHI North, West and Hebrides’s course directory, followed by a quick glance out the window of any campus, quickly verifies both of those claims.
It’s easy, for instance, to stand along the fairway at Royal Dornoch and understand why Dornoch is also home to the UHI NWH Centre for Golf, which offers a range of certifications and degree programmes in golf and golf management, some in partnership with the PGA.
That’s what Orla Rooney, 20, thought when she decided to leave Glasgow and travel to UHI North, West and Hebrides college to study golf.
“Where better to do it than in the Highlands?
“It has been a positive experience for me and I have loved learning about sports psychology, golf coaching and how to maximise my strengths and improve my weaknesses.”
Opportunities near and far
Leave Dornoch and travel through the Highlands to Fort William, commonly known as the outdoor capital of the UK. Where is the best place to house the School of Adventure Studies?
Read more: One student chose to study from home and it's paying dividends for her community
A UHI North, West and Hebrides spokeswoman said that adventure tourism is vital for the region and attracts not only tourism but new businesses.
“Our close links with the outdoor sector mean that all our courses are designed to be relevant and dynamic.”
Students can enroll in courses from National Qualifications to postgraduate certificates. Adventure studies can help local students build a stronger appreciation of the natural landscape they call home. Keeping young people, or talented people of any age, close to home is key for the communities that UHI North, West, and Hebrides serves.
But that doesn’t mean there isn’t also value in an outsider. When Francesco Li Vigni left his home in Italy to study Outdoor Leadership in Fort William in 2016, he was chasing a dream that it seemed only Scotland could offer.
“In Italy, we don’t even have a word for ‘the outdoors’ so it was really hard to visualise for myself or even explain to my family what my dream career would be.”
Towards the end of his programme, he took a work placement with a company in Iceland. Starting as a kayaking guide, he soon became a glacier guide and–thanks to his course's qualifications–a base manager responsible for eight guides and almost 30,000 visitors every year.
Read more: Colleges stay alive by staying relevant, here's how one does it
He took on more responsibilities and by 2019 he could offer UHI students work placements with his company.
“As the company grew, I felt more than equipped to contribute to its development as a result of the skills and learning I had learned at the college, ensuring that professional practice is at the forefront of all of our operations.
“I’m particularly proud that I am now in a position to be able to offer work placements to students – from between one and six weeks, and many of them have gone on to work for us full time. A great way to be able to play my part in developing the next generation of outdoor practitioners.”
An example for the next stage of UHI?
One of the founding tenets of the UHI partnership is providing a curriculum that makes sense locally and meets the needs of students and community partners. Each college looks to capitalise on its community resources, and through the higher education umbrella, UHI capitalises on each individual college's strengths.
However, as the institution moves closer to its third decade, some local colleges are beginning to feel the weight of financial pressures and leaders are thinking critically about how the partnership should be organised.
Better resource sharing between colleges will be part of the UHI 2030 strategy, streamlining the partnership for the future. This is exactly what UHI North, West, and Hebrides accomplished.
Read more: "UHI not going anywhere" despite sector funding crisis: Vice Chancellor insists
Founding documents provide several reasons for the merger (combining resources and expertise, developing industry partnerships, addressing depopulation, creating a more sustainable college and reliable employer), and each dovetails with UHI’s overall mission.
UHI executives have said that the 2030 strategy is still being developed, but Scotland’s newest college might offer a hint about how to proceed. And the blueprint may be something to consider for other college regions equally susceptible to the funding crisis.
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