Principal designate appointed for merged Highland college
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A principal designate has been appointed to lead and implement the merger of UHI North Highland, UHI Outer Hebrides and UHI West Highland.
Lydia Rohmer, the current principal of UHI West Highland, will take up her new role shortly, with responsibility for collaboratively leading the senior teams at all three colleges.
UHI North Highland has a campus in Alness while UHI West Highland includes bases in Gairloch and Ullapool.
It was announced last week that the boards of the three colleges had agreed the institutions should merge, with a new college to be established in August next year.
Ms Rohmer has more than 25 years experience working in the Scottish education sector.
Dr Michael Foxley, chairman of the partnership board leading the merger, said: “Lydia has extensive experience of creating successful colleges through merger having led the development of UHI West Highland, following the merger of Lochaber College and Skye and Wester Ross College.
"Before that, she held the position of curriculum director at City of Glasgow College, a role she assumed following her role in the merger of Glasgow’s city centre colleges.
"She has held senior executive roles at UHI and serves on a number of sector-wide, tertiary education groups in Scotland.
"I am delighted to appoint Lydia to this position and know she will work tirelessly with her fellow principals to build a thriving college of scale and impact, which provides maximum benefit to our students, staff, and communities, and responds to the economic opportunities in our region.”
Ms Rohmer said: “Merger gives us a once in a generation opportunity to build a college of scale and impact, which plays a transformative role in unlocking the economic opportunities for our region.
"Building on the successes and specialisms of UHI North Highland, UHI Outer Hebrides, and UHI West Highland, and in partnership with UHI, we can create a college which provides a gateway to distinctive world class education, research, and innovation, with a unique access model rooted in its rural and island communities.
"I feel incredibly privileged and humbled to lead such a fantastic team and look forward to meeting as many staff, students and stakeholders across the north and west Highlands and Outer Hebrides as possible over the coming months.”
Debbie Murray, principal of UHI North Highland, and Hannah Ritchie-Muir, interim principal of UHI Outer Hebrides, will continue in their roles until August, at which point they will assume new roles in the merged college.
The partnership board, set up to lead and develop the case for merger, will now become a transition board.
Applications are now open for the position of chair of the transition board, which will become the board of Mmanagement for the new college on vesting.
See here for more information.
