West College Scotland Fusion Newsletter Edition 5

Fusion“ Welcome to the first issue of our Fusion newsletter since becoming West College Scotland.

2013/14 represents an important year for our new College. Achieving our target vesting date of 1 August was the result of a significant amount of effort, commitment and collaborative working. Our first year as West College Scotland represents an important opportunity to establish ourselves and start to build a reputation to be proud of. It is the responsibility of every member of staff to play their part in making sure we achieve that collective ambition.

Our immediate priorities must focus on our students; for many this will be their first experience of college provision and the associated support services. West College Scotland will offer around 400 Higher and Further Education courses, as well as a range of part time provision. It is therefore essential we maximise our recruitment, to ensure every possible place is utilised to support our local communities.

Whilst we will continue to have campus variations in how we approach certain aspects of our business; we must also maintain the strong momentum achieved via the workstreams and curriculum groups, to establish West College Scotland ways of working.

I do not underestimate the challenges we still face in securing our core business of curriculum and student recruitment, achieving our alternative income targets, integrating our operational systems and delivery of all our key priorities in what remains a very challenging financial environment. This has to be achieved at the same time as maintaining our momentum on implementing our merger and all that entails. As you know we will continue to develop, consult and implement new structures across the College – and we recognise the uncertainties and anxiety this can cause. For that reason we will strive to implement changes, working with the appropriate staff and representatives, as quickly as possible to minimise any potential impact on staff.

Our merger implementation will be supported during the first year by the merger project team; details of which have been previously issued to staff. A ‘Support for Change’ programme is currently under development and more

KEEPING STUDENTS, STAFF AND STAKEHOLDERS UP-TO-DATE WITH COLLEGE NEWS…

information will be issued to staff over the coming weeks - including how to get involved. As you know we must also build on the feedback we received from staff via our cultural study. Again, work is ongoing to develop activities involving staff across the three campuses.

Finally, it may seem like a small point but it is already evident that staff have taken on the importance of changing the language we have previously used. The terms Clydebank, Greenock and Paisley Campus are already becoming part of everyday language as is West College Scotland. It is critical that staff at all levels and across all areas of work, continue to respect that each of the three campuses have done things differently and we now need to work collectively to establish how we do things as West College Scotland – simply - to improve, develop, enhance and set the bar higher in everything we do. “

Audrey CumberfordPrincipal and Chief Executive

West College Scotland

West College Scotland Students

Edition 5 - August 2013

Fusion Edition 5www.westcollegescotland.ac.uk

Photo Gallery All Staff Event

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More images are now available to view on the new West College Scotland staff intranet http://intranet.westcollegescotland.ac.uk


Meet the TeamWith four more appointments still to be made; meet West College Scotland’s Senior Team to date and read about their priorities and aspirations for the future.

Alan Ritchie Director, Finance and Estates

“ My aim for the new College is to deliver across all the sites of West College Scotland the best learning experience for students.

We want to be able to provide staff with the access to facilities they need to do their job and to always have an open door. We cannot solve the issues of the day if we don’t know about them so please do not hesitate to contact me. “

Angela Pignatelli Assistant Principal, Creative and Service Industries

“ I am very excited at the prospect of contributing positively to the development of the new West College Scotland and am keen to offer support, encouragement and inspiration to students and staff alike. “

Rose Brown Director, Student Services and Communities

“ Social inclusion, volunteering and corporate parenting will be key priorities in the development of the new College. By working with various teams of committed and specialist staff; my job is to ensure the effective and efficient delivery of high quality services, to students in all campuses and the regional communities. “

Cathy MacNabDirector, Quality, Learning and Teaching

“ I see my role in West College Scotland as having two strands – firstly, in ensuring that the College maintains high standards which meet with external stakeholders compliance requirements; and secondly, in putting in place effective structures that enable teaching and support staff to deliver the best possible learning experience for students. “

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Stephanie GrahamVice Principal, Educational Leadership

“ I love working in the college sector and am proud of what we do for our students. Having worked on the merger for the last year and a half, I am keen to see West College Scotland become a real success. I think we have enormous potential to succeed in creating an exciting and dynamic new College. I hope that I can help shape that success and support staff to work together to deliver excellent provision and standards for all our students. “

David Gunn Director, Organisational Development and HR

“ My ambition for the new College is to make it an employer of choice .This will require employee engagement strategies that enable people to be the best they can at work; recognising this can only happen if they feel respected, involved, heard, well-led and valued by those they work for and with. “

Anne Campbell Assistant Principal, Health and Life Sciences

“ My ambition is to lead a demand driven curriculum; focused on skills, employment and progression, which meets - and exceeds - the needs of its students, staff, stakeholders and communities. “

Peter PringleAssistant Principal, Business and Technologies

“ I am committed, to the success of the new West College Scotland and looking forward to ensuring the excellent work that has been achieved by Scotland’s Colleges over the last 15-20 years is maintained and further enhanced by the combination of skills, expertise and capabilities that this merger has created. “

George JohnsonDirector, Technology and Innovation

“ I have always been enthusiastic about finding new ways to enhance learning and teaching, and to support the College business through the use of technology. I am delighted to have been given the opportunity to take this agenda forward in West College Scotland. “

David BlackDirector, IT

“ I look forward to working with all staff on the many varied challenges and opportunities that building an effective infrastructure/ service delivery brings. My focus will be to ensure that our IT infrastructure and delivery fits the needs of our user base. “


It is a great pleasure to write this first report as Chair of West College Scotland. A huge amount has been achieved over the past 18 months or so; with contributions from staff and students across the region, to get us to our ‘starting’ point. It is therefore appropriate for me to start by thanking you for your contribution to the creation of West College Scotland.

We are all part of the educational history of our country. The challenge now is to build from here and establish West College Scotland as one of the best; delivering the highest quality in all that we do. That applies to everyone from teaching staff through support staff and students to the Board of the College – we all must do our best to bring success to West College Scotland.

I am confident we can achieve this ambition. Our first Board meeting was held on 1 August and we welcomed three new members to the Board – Mrs Jacqueline Henry, Ms Maggie Morrison and Mrs Joyce White – you’ll find their pictures and brief biographies on the website. The Board affirmed their commitment to educational excellence embedded in our three key communities across the region. We are to have an all-day meeting in September to lay the foundations for the years ahead working alongside the new executive team.

Michael G S Yuille Chair of the Board of Management West College Scotland

From The Chairman

West College Scotland would like to welcome Gwen McArthur as the new Clerk to the Board of Management. Prior to joining the College Gwen worked at the University of Strathclyde for over 20 years. At the University Gwen gained vast experience of governance; she was Manager of the University Court, the governing body and a number of its’ committees. It was Gwen’s responsibility to ensure that these committees ran smoothly and communicated decisions to the wider University community in a clear and consistent manner. Gwen was also involved in developing policy and reviewing and improving structures and procedures. Her final job at the University was as a Project Manager involved in the closure of the Jordanhill

Campus and the relocation of staff, students and assets to the City Centre Campus.

“ I am looking forward to working in the new College and developing good working relationships with staff, students and Board members. I am sure the College will be successful and grow to become one of the leaders in the sector in Scotland. ”If you would like to get in touch with the Board of Management contact Gwen on:

[email protected]

Welcome Gwen

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Working Together

One of Human Resources’ first tasks was to focus on an interim departmental structure; to support immediate key priorities, such as the planned programme for change, consultations and next phases of restructuring. The interim structure has now been issued to all staff and vacancies will be advertised internally within the College.

It is important that, where possible, we minimise the impact of change on staff. Proposals relating to a ‘matching in’ process for Support Staff posts have been prepared and have now been issued to both UNISON and UNITE for discussion via our JCNCS.

Monthly meetings have been scheduled with Academic and Support Staff trade unions, to progress issues relating to the harmonisation of terms and conditions of employment. An offer relating to the harmonisation of Academic terms and conditions, has been made to the EIS/FELA and will be discussed at a negotiating meeting on 4 September.

As you know we have a range of HR policies and procedures to be developed for West College Scotland. A draft Grievance Procedure for all staff has now been prepared and issued to recognised trade unions for discussion.

As with many areas of work across the College, staff within the HR functions across all three campuses have been working together via the workstreams to integrate our systems and identify how we develop our processes for West College Scotland. The integration of our HR systems is a key priority. We have selected our preferred integrated HR and Payroll System and work will now start on its implementation. We will update staff on progress.

David [email protected]

Human Resources

Communications

Here we are, West College Scotland and how good do we look? The Communications and Marketing teams have been pulling out all the stops to ensure that our new brand was visible for the start of term.

One of the first things you might have noticed on your return to college is that all of our external signage has been replaced. A big thank you to all of the staff volunteers who helped identify old internal signage for removal. It was quite a task!

A major focus for the team has been in the support and preparation of the staff event; from arranging letters and invitations, to staff ID cards and buses. It was a fabulous day and a great event to mark the start of West College Scotland.

Our college/campus websites have had a make-over and we have been busy updating the pages and liaising with

college departments to ensure that the information is correct. In addition to the website, all our social media channels have been rebranded. Between Facebook and Twitter we have 10,000 users/followers! Wow!

Other projects we have been working on include: the new nursery logo in the Greenock and Paisley Campuses, and the updating of College publications.

We also have in stock new headed paper. If you have any old paper or compliment slips, please dispose of these in the confidential waste.

There are still a lot to do and the team is looking forward to working with all departments across our campuses.

Please do not hesitate to contact your campus Marketing Department if you require assistance.

Sharon MacFarlane [email protected]

West College Scotland is a registered Charity SC 021185

w www.westcollegescotland.ac.uk

t 0300 600 60 60e [email protected]

NB. WCS Brand Guidelines and

Power Point Templates are on

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Working TogetherEstates

The summer period has, as always, been a busy time for the Estates Department. The campuses have been subject to the normal major deep clean across all areas; along with a number of statutory inspections and certifications being carried out. Small project works have also been undertaken across campuses; including the painting of areas where it was required. New high level external signage has been installed for our students’ return. Internal signage will have in the majority of cases been rebranded; but no doubt there will be a couple of old signs left, which have the branding of one of the previous colleges. Please bring any old signs to the attention of your local estates department as you become aware of them.

The Greenock campus is undergoing a number of major works to improve the

look and feel of the campus, and these works will be on-going for a number of months. The projects include: two new roofs (one on the main Finnart Street block); a complete refit of the seventh floor catering area - including an improved restaurant area which will have even better views of the surrounding area; electrical works to replace old wiring; teaching space improvements including works in the motor vehicle area and a link corridor through to the workshop block from the main entrance. During this period of change we would ask you to bear with us - the end result will be worth the wait!

The Paisley campus has had two electric car charging points installed behind the Abercorn Conference Centre for public use in conjunction with Transport Scotland and APT Data. This will help towards our carbon management plan

as well as helping the environment by reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere.

The fault reporting / works request procedures that were in place prior to the merger remain in place. The Estates Department will continue to deal with matters as they arise whilst implementing any standing planned maintenance works during this interim period.

Alan [email protected]

Curriculum And Quality

We have divided up the curriculum into three large Faculties which will managed by the newly appointed Assistant Principals. The interim situation is as follows:

Anne Campbell: Care and Life Sciences (Care, Science, Highers, Social Science, Sport and Special Programmes)

Peter Pringle: Business and Technologies (Construction, Engineering, Business, Computing, Hospitality, Tourism and ESOL)

Angela Pignatelli: Creative and Service Industries (Creative and Media subjects, Hairdressing, Make Up, Beauty and Essential skills)

The Assistant Principals will line manage the existing Heads of Faculty in Clydebank, Heads of Section in Paisley and Curriculum Managers in Greenock in the interim period, until further restructuring has taken place later in the session.

The initial task for the Assistant Principals will be to get to know the staff and curriculum areas under their remit and they are planning to spend as much time as possible in each of the campuses. Faculty events at the start of term were designed to allow teaching staff to mix and work together. The main priority for all of us is to ensure that our students get the best start possible in the new college and onto their new courses.

The Quality and MIS Departments will form part of the Directorate of Quality, Learning and Teaching headed up by Cathy MacNab. A campus presence for quality and MIS related issues will be retained and will initially operate much in line with current campus specific procedures.

Considerable work has progressed with the VLE. Each of the three versions of Moodle have been rebranded and a new WCS instance of Moodle has also been created. Over the course of the year, all courses will be migrated onto the new instance of Moodle.

Stephanie [email protected]

New External Signage being installed at the Clydebank Campus

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The new financial year started on 1 August and it will be a very different year to the one just gone. The Finance team are now in the process of completing the 2012/13 year end audit work. Although we are now West College Scotland, we still have three separate external audits, with all the work that entails. Budgets for 2013/14 and beyond are very tight and the last thing we want to happen is for large items of expenditure to be incurred in 2013/14; which should have been accounted for in 2012/13. Please ensure that you have discussed any items of income / expenditure which should have been dealt with in 2012/13 with your campus finance team as a matter of urgency.

We have combined the three finance systems into one system and have had to make amendments to the associated coding structure. During the latter half of August the budgets will be issued to the relevant budget holders along with the revised coding structure. New finance forms will also be available for use by staff in the financial year. These

forms will be available on the College intranet and from the campus finance department. The finance function roles are also being realigned to take account of the new geography the College is working in, along with the revisions to the finance system. We will keep you updated on the major changes as they happen. In the meantime, if you have any questions please contact your campus finance office who will be able to assist you.

Due to the reclassification of the College as a public body, which will be effective from 1 April 2014, the College now falls under the Scottish Government’s budgetary control regime. This reclassification has a number of implications for the College as we move into our first year of operation. The most visible will be a move from a July year end to a March year end. Whilst we are still awaiting final guidance on this matter it is clear that our first year of operation will be an 8 month period to March 2014. Michael Yuille, our regional chair, is leading a group of college professionals and

staff from the Scottish Government through the implications of this change and is hopeful of arriving at a positive outcome for the sector. As the implications of this reclassification become clearer we will update you on any amendments to be made to our business. For now, normal operations continue and there is no requirement to amend any planned spending patterns.

We are in the process of revising the finance policies and procedures and this will be an on-going process during the first quarter of this year. The revised policies will be reviewed and authorised through the relevant sub-committees of the Board of Management which have now been established. If you are in any doubt about the applicable policy or procedure during this interim period please contact your campus finance department who will guide you as appropriate.

Alan Ritchie [email protected]

Finance

Student Support

The staff involved in the eight workgroups will be reconvening after the summer break to continue with the harmonisation of practices, procedures and policies. In light of the recent SMT appointments and the establishment of the new Educational Leadership team, we will be reviewing the role of the workgroups in relation to the new Student Support structure. It is likely that much of the work already started or proposed by the workgroups will be continued by the relevant support teams as part of normal business activities – the emphasis being on raising standards and ensuring

consistency of student support services across the whole college.

The working groups in this workstream include cross college groups from; Admissions, Student Association, Nurseries, Libraries and Resource Centres, Guidance, ELS, Counsellors and Bursaries. Each workgroup has made significant progress in identifying good practice and proposing the necessary changes to ensure we deliver high quality support services to our students, colleagues and partners. We are now in a position to realise our ambitions and will be focused on

improving all aspects of the student experience at West College Scotland.

Rose Brown [email protected]


Student Funding

Due to time constraints it was not possible to consolidate the student funding system onto one platform. However, thanks to the Student Funding Department and their hard work to ensure that the systems look, feel and operate the same. The Student Funding Departments have aligned their operating policy and procedures, to ensure that our students receive exactly the same service; no matter what campus they are based at. Online

applications were up and running for the end of June which has allowed the department to process a number of applications. The students will have received their award letters and packs allowing them to access their funding from the start of their course.

If you are aware of any students who have not received their application form, or if you have any queries in regard to student funding please contact your

local Student Funding Department. Please note that all funds were allocated on a first come first served basis. Students who are studying on an FE course and do not require funding yet are still required to complete an application online to cover their fees.

Alan Ritchie [email protected]

Working Together

Corporate

The Corporate team has been working closely with the 2014 Commonwealth Games Organising Committee to identify and support potential training opportunities. Subsequently West College Scotland has been successful in securing almost 300 places to deliver Security training for all 3 campuses to support the numerous Commonwealth events taking place next summer.

Final recruitment and delivery of 900 New College Learning Programme places has taken place. Clydebank, Greenock and Paisley campuses

were all successful in receiving funding to support young people to access training, qualification and work experience as part of the Skills Development Scotland initiative. Over 500 employers were engaged as part of this programme, providing work experience and mentoring opportunities, as well as supporting the wider employer engagement of the College. Following this the College has been successful in being awarded funding through a new Employability Fund to provide a wider range of training to support local communities.

The International team is continuing to meet with UKBA to agree a process to transfer our current three Tier 4 licences to one overall licence for the new College. It is likely that this process will start within the next month and be subject to UKBA verification and checks to confirm the robustness of our processes and procedures.

Sara [email protected]

IT

In terms of IT there are some visible signs that reflect the merger of the three infrastructures and are set to assist in the operation of our new College. I also know there is much work that has been completed, but is not yet obvious or available to our user base. Some of this will become more evident in the weeks ahead.

These changes reflect the hard work of not only the contractors we have

engaged, but also the teams at each campus that have contributed so diligently to their respective workstream activities. It is also down, in no small measure, to the goodwill, forbearance and good humour of our user base.

Looking forward, and against that background, so much more needs and will have to be done, to achieve the level of integration that our new

college expects. We will still, for most core systems, be starting AY13_14 with three operational instances of each, while work continues on the deployment and migration arrangements to merge or replace the running instances.

David [email protected]

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College Round Up..

GreenockWriter’s book goes globalA former lecturer has written a historical book that has gone right around the world! Viki McDonald was inspired to write ‘ Greenock’s Jewish Community 1880-1940’, after purchasing a candelabra which had come from Greenock’s synagogue. The former business studies lecturer spent three years researching and writing her book, whilst contacting people all over the world to investigate the Jewish

community history in Greenock. Viki’s book is available for sale at the Mclean Museum.

The Beatles StoryMusical maestros at the Greenock Campus needed no ‘Help!’ as they tuned up for their end of term Beatles show. More than 45 college musicians and 100 students in total put on their biggest and best show. Music Lecturer David O’Hagan said, ‘This was certainly the most ambitious and biggest show

Clydebank Make-up MayhemMake-up Artistry students wowed on-lookers as they demonstrated their skills at an end of year showcase at Glasgow’s Hampden Park. The live art gallery saw each student transform models using a mix of fashion led and special effects cosmetics.

Focus on FilmClydebank Campus brought a splash of glamour to the River Clyde when

it’s hosted its’ fourth Focus on Film awards. The annual showcase of short films produced by the students is the highlight of the Communication and Media department calendar, inspiring students to look good on both the big screen and the red carpet.

Curriculum Leader, Julie Laing, said, “Focus on Film is a night we all look forward to. It’s a great way to end the year and show off the great work produced by our students.”

we’ve ever done. It was a real team effort and everybody got involved.’

Paisley World Photography Organisation partners West College Scotland

Photography students from the Paisley Campus have been chosen by the World Photography Organisation (WPO) to take part in an exciting nationwide programme for student photographers.

In partnership with Hotel Indigo Glasgow, InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) boutique brand, the students create a unique photography project inspired by the hotel’s surroundings. The resulting images will be exhibited locally and nationally.

Selected students will be briefed to shoot a project inspired by the hotel that reflects the property in the context of its local neighbourhood. The students’ work is in turn judged by a prestigious panel of WPO aficionados.

Nigerian StudentsA group of 10 students from Nigeria recently arrived in Scotland to study at the Paisley Campus over a 6 month period. The programme, funded by Amnesty International, The Nigerian Government and Learning Resources Nigeria is part of a five year, two phase programme of workforce development aimed at developing the Niger Delta region.

The group will undertake various qualifications over the course of six months intense study. Andrew Fogarty said “We are delighted to welcome the group to Paisley, and indeed Scotland and we hope this will be the beginning of a long lasting academic relationship with our Nigerian partners”

Horned Demon - Make-up Mayhem

Greenock students performing live

Nigerian Students at Ocean Terminal


West College Scotland is now a new organisation, in the last year we have conducted the consultation, written a merger proposal document which has been approved and the government has put in place the orders to effect the merger. Alongside this we have been planning all the activities that were needed to make sure we could continue to work as a new organisation; especially with other agencies so they recognise the new College.

We are now completing the planning phase for the integration activities which will change everything we do

from 3 separate organisations, systems, processes into a new West College Scotland way.

We are now looking at re-aligning the project structure to reflect the new SMT roles. In addition there will be a series of projects set up to address creating a single student record system, HR/Payroll system and VLE. We must ensure the IT infrastructure is stable and that new email addresses and telephones are connected across all 3 campuses. There are many other projects that cover non systems areas; such as introduction of new procedures and policies.

Project Manager’s Report

The student Association have continued to meet over the summer, and are now in the midst of classes starting.

The Clydebank Campus has just had its Fresher’s week and the Greenock and Paisley campuses have scheduled their events at the end of September/start of October.

Our student elections will be taking place in the next few weeks too – so if you know of anyone who has what it takes to become an Executive Member of the Student Association, then point

them our way! Look out for our Student Magazine which will be published throughout the year; it’ll have all the relevant information that’s happening through all three campuses so make sure you grab a copy. As always, we have our Facebook and Twitter pages, so keep your eyes peeled for any info there too. This year, we have a sponsored jump from the Titan crane in Clydebank. Come and see us for more information…

Please feel free to come and speak to us at any point about anything we can help you or our students with.

Student Association Update

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This will happen over a period of time and all the changes have to be coordinated. As these plans are finalised they will be communicated. The areas that will change first will be the introduction of a new landing page for the intranet, which in the beginning will be the building block for news, the staff directory, and non-contractual HR policies and procedures. We need to make sure that the College systems which we are linking together are robust and stable before we make too many changes.Steph RobertsonProject [email protected]

Michelle McCrorieStudent PresidentPaisley Campus

Documents

West College Scotland Fusion Newsletter Edition 5