University of Highlands to grant degrees

by a staff writer© The Herald
Originally published: 27.06.2008

The prospective University of the Highlands and Islands announced yesterday it has been given permission to award its own degrees for the first time, although it has still not been granted full university status.

From August 1, degrees taught by any of the 13 constituent colleges and research institutions from Shetland to Argyll will no longer have to be validated by the Open University. The permission, which was granted by the Privy Council, includes taught postgraduate courses, but not research degrees.

However, despite the announcement, it will be some time yet before the establishment becomes a full university. The final hurdle is to develop its research function, a process that can take several years.

Professor Bob Cormack, principal of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI), said having the power to award taught degrees would give the university more flexibility in the development of new courses and enable it to respond more efficiently to student interests and employer demands.

He said: "This is a huge achievement for UHI and means that we can now begin the next stage of our progress towards university title for which taught degree awarding powers is a prerequisite step.

"We are working with the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, the Scottish Funding Council, the Scottish Government and others to bring this about."

It is now 18 years since the modern campaign to establish the university began and there has been £160m worth of public support for the project in the past decade.

Ten years ago there were confident predictions that UHI would win full university status in 2001, but it is still working towards that goal.

Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Strathclyde universities have been helping UHI develop its research capacity with a view to winning full university title, but a UHI spokesman said that some institutions had taken more than 10 years to get through this stage.

"We hope that our approach will significantly accelerate matters," said Professor Cormack. "However, it is impossible to predict how long it will take."

Fiona Hyslop, the Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, said: "Being granted degree-awarding powers marks a major milestone for UHI and I'm delighted that the hard work going on there has been recognised in this way."

The university currently has research students whose degrees are awarded by Aberdeen University. More than 6800 students are studying at university level throughout the UHI network.

However, economist Tony Mackay, of Inverness-based Mackay Consultants, said: "I have always been sceptical about this project, not least because of the challenge of trying to establish a university on a network of established colleges.

"But even with my scepticism I am amazed just how long it is taking to win full university status given all the public money invested.

"If there was an objective financial appraisal, it would be unlikely to find good value for money."