UHI West Highland interim principal says opportunity to contribute to major university merger tempted her away from retirement
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THE woman chosen to lead a university college serving Wester Ross into its recently announced merger said the opportunity to contribute was enough to tempt her away from retirement.
UHI West Highland has appointed Sue Macfarlane as interim principal and chief executive to lead the college into its recently announced merger with UHI North Highland and UHI Outer Hebrides.
This appointment will allow Lydia Rohmer to fully focus on her recent appointment as principal designate of the proposed new college – UHI North, West and Hebrides – which has an expected vesting date of August 2023.
Macfarlane re-joins the college in a part time, temporary, role until August, having held the role of depute principal there from June 2015 to September 2019.
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She most recently served as principal of UHI Outer Hebrides and will now continue to work closely with her colleagues Debbie Murray, principal of UHI North Highland and Hannah Ritchie, principal of UHI Outer Hebrides.
Macfarlane said: “I fully expected to be enjoying retirement for a while, but the opportunity to contribute to what I know is going to be a successful merger of the three colleges was too great, I will enjoy working with colleagues from all three colleges again but in particular to ensuring UHI West Highland has sound representation across the college sector during this interim period and to overseeing the continued success of its staff and students.”
Macfarlane has over 30 years of experience of working in the education and skills sector. Prior to her roles at UHI Outer Hebrides she was director of transformational change at the University of the Highlands and Islands and also held senior management roles at SQA and Perth College UHI.
Hailing from Yorkshire originally, she has lived and worked in Scotland for over 35 years, first working in the private sector before moving into further and higher education.
To support her during this period, Fiona Grant will be appointed interim depute principal in addition to her current role as director, academic affairs.
Lydia Rohmer said: "On behalf of everyone at the college can I say how pleased we are to have Sue return to UHI West Highland to support staff and students for the rest of this academic year.
"We know that she will ensure our focus is on their success now as well as in the future merged college. It is vital that we appointed someone who knows us well and has the valuable experience within UHI to enable us to seamlessly continue to deliver a high quality education experience for students and help create a workforce that meets the present and future needs of the local community and economy."
What is UHI West Highland College and what area does it cover?
UHI West Highland College is an academic partner of the University of the Highlands and Islands – a tertiary further and higher education partnership.
Ten college centres are located throughout Lochaber, Skye and Wester Ross, offering a wide range of qualifications from access to degree and postgraduate levels across all of its sites.
West Highland College has learning centres in Auchtertye, Ullapool and Gairloch as well as Portree, Broadford, Mallaig and fort William.
The School of Adventure Studies has its home primarily in Fort William – dubbed the Outdoor Capital of the UK – with a further base in Broadford, Isle of Skye.
The College is led by interim principal and chief executive Sue Macfarlane. For further
information please visit the college’s website at www.whc.uhi.ac.uk
