7
City of Glasgow College Annual Report & Accounts 2019-20
Statement from the Chair of the
Board of Management
It is my privilege to introduce this
Annual Report for 2019-2020 as Chair
of the Board of Management of City
of Glasgow College. We are used to
reflecting each year upon the challenges,
threats, and changes we have faced in
the preceding reporting year, some new
and some more predictable. However,
2019-20 will be remembered across
the globe for the unforeseen profound
cataclysm which the Covid-19 pandemic
brought to us all.
As we all wrestled with personal and
professional difficulties from March 2020,
the College moved swiftly, decisively
and effectively to remote operations,
continuing to provide quality learning and
teaching, student support, and all the
other vital functions and responsibilities
required of a major provider of tertiary
education.
In such times, the true measure of an
organisation's resilience and commitment
is tested more than might ever have
been expected. It is when we look to
our guiding principles and key priorities:
for City of Glasgow College - Our Values,
Our Purpose and Our Way. I am indebted
to our able Board of Management for
their calm strength, their wise counsel,
and, as ever, their generous commitment
of time and commitment over this period.
I am extremely grateful for their support,
given throughout the year both to me and
to the executive team, ably led through
these perilous times by our Principal Paul
Little.
2020 is also a year for marking the
College's 10th Anniversary as City of
Glasgow College, if not in quite the way
we had hoped. Nevertheless, we must
acknowledge the proud history of the
College. In 2019, we celebrated 50
years of maritime education in the City,
on the banks of the world renowned
River Clyde, and the College's other
specialisms similarly reflect our proud
history, and have, over generations,
shaped the College's provision of skills
for life and work across many specialist
technical and professional curriculum
areas. From seafaring to the creative
and communications industries, food
and hospitality, leisure, sport, building,
engineering, and business, our graduates
continue to make their mark in their
chosen fields.
At this time, our City, region, and indeed
the whole nation are looking to the
College and its graduates to re-energise
the economy and reinvigorate those
sectors that have suffered so much
from the impacts of Covid-19. Some
businesses will never recover, while
there will be opportunities for new
enterprises to flourish. City of Glasgow
College therefore has a vital role to play
in upskilling and reskilling our workforce;
preparing young people for their first
experience of employment in those areas
where opportunity lies, and others of all
ages for whom a change in career path is
necessary.
The College is committed, with our
sector colleagues in the City, and our
many regional stakeholder partners, to
maximise opportunity, liberate potential,
and meet the qualification and career
aspirations of all our learners - to
revitalise and empower the national and
local economy, and build and renew
communities. The College has made
that commitment to present and future
generations clear in our Strategic Plan,
and we shall do so "Our Way", through
Inspiration, Excellence, and Innovation.
Alisdair F Barron MBE
Chair of the Board