Partnership and efficient government: a college perspective

hands image In her address, Eleanor reiterated John Young’s comments about the benefits to the sector of the reduction in the number of awards. This had been positive in terms of clarity for employers and universities and also meant more support could be given to a fewer number of awards.

The strong emphasis on a partnership approach had encouraged shared developments and this had contributed to the efficiency of the project. Additional funding from the Scottish Funding Council for the HN Modernisation Project had been greatly appreciated by the sector, as it allowed recognition of time and effort and encouraged staff buy-in. The HN Modernisation Project had also acted as a catalyst for other development such as Vendor qualifications (DIVA), BlendEd, and CAVIC, which needed to be maintained and developed further.

Eleanor also drew attention to the support received from SQA through the co-ordination of consortium developments; through the valuable input from the Development Mangers for the specialist single centre and collaborative developments; through mechanisms such as the Status Report; and production of support materials.

In closing, Eleanor was clear that the HN Modernisation Project had been a success story. This had been predicated on a strong partnership model and there were a number of future challenges for the sector. Among these was the need to: build on the partnership model – extending this to take in National Certificate developments; maintain the reduction in the number of HN Units and awards; maximise links with employers and universities; embed the Development Manager posts; go forward with joint ventures and look at new, shared ‘added value’ developments.