Highlands and Islands Regional MSP Tim Eagle has said that moves to centralise the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) should be resisted.
Mr Eagle spoke out after meeting in confidence with members of staff and other interested persons who expressed deep concern that the longstanding decentralised model of the university may be at risk.
Mr Eagle said: “There is a widespread fear that the autonomy of the colleges and other academic partners that comprise UHI is now at significant risk. While it is always right that the operational model should be reviewed, especially at a time when the entire university sector in Scotland in under financial pressure, it should not be at the cost of UHI’s foundational principle that the benefits of the institution should be spread across the region.
“It’s well worth recalling the history of UHI. The proposal to create a university for the region was originally pushed forward by the former Secretary of State for Scotland, Michael Forsyth, who had to overcome considerable opposition from the education establishment of the day.
“Visionaries like the late Professor Sir Graham Hills then developed the proposal further, all the time emphasising the importance of embedding UHI in the communities it was designed to serve.
“My concern is that much of the managerial and governance structure of the UHI partners could be stripped away and centralised in Inverness. This would undermine the strong connections the colleges currently have with their local communities, and mean UHI moving to a “command and control” model.
“It’s very important that those charged with the responsibility of planning UHI’s future understand that this would be an unacceptable development.”
