7
Strategic Plan
This is the fourth Strategic Plan for City of Glasgow
College since its creation in 2010, following the
merger of specialist city centre colleges which were
crucial to the technological advances of the mid20th century.
The often-quoted reference to the
"the white heat of technological change" refers to
the rapid integration of applied science to industry,
highlighted by former Prime Minister Harold Wilson,
who officially opened the College's North Hanover
Street campus in 1964.
Having begun by setting out the vision we had for
a new pathfinder college - merging three specialist
colleges in the heart of Glasgow, on the River Clyde
and in the City Centre - our ambition was realised
beyond the expectation of many following our
formation in 2010.
The College Strategic Plan of 2013-2017 set the
bar even higher - to establish City of Glasgow
College as a world-class beacon for college
education. We delivered that and more with the
creation of a college that is truly on a national scale
- a £228 million supercampus - a powerhouse of
skills; the largest such campus development not
only in Scotland and the UK, but in Europe.
However, this was only part of the accomplishment
of a world-leading technological and professional
institution which has redefined the experience of
a college education in the UK and beyond. We
are a College that is there for the forgotten not
just the fortunate, with a focus upon the needs of
the individual; a college where individual students
matter more than the subject they are studying,
and where personalised learning flourishes through
inspiration, excellence and innovation.
In 2017, we confidently set our sights to a further
horizon, with our distinct and internationally
renowned approach to learning delivering an
impressive supply chain of over 8000 graduates
annually, to drive our economy and to enhance the
prosperity of all our students, and through them,
their families and communities. In doing so, we
positioned the college as Scotland's first Super
College, with a clear purpose to equip our students
for 21st century professions, supporting a Glasgow
City Region economy comprising 855,000 jobs.
As we prepared for further development and the
revision of this strategic plan in 2019-20, the
world was confronted by an unprecedented and
unimaginable challenge. None of us had previously
faced the seismic health, social, economic, and
personal impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Even as we vacated our City and Riverside Campus
building in March 2020, it became apparent that
these impacts would require a radical redesign of
college, and indeed tertiary provision in Scotland,
not just another round of institutional changes. As
serendipity would have it, the Scottish Government
had, in 2019, commissioned a review of the
tertiary sector by our own Principal Paul Little, in
partnership with Audrey Cumberford, Principal
of Edinburgh College, and the Cumberford-Little
Report was published less than five weeks prior to
Covid-19 lockdown.
That report goes a long way towards providing a
blueprint for the change required in the sector, and
the refreshed national role for colleges in supporting
a skills-led recovery, through agility, collaboration,
and inclusivity. It should be no surprise then that
these principles are at the core of this Strategic
Plan for 2021-2030, with this College as a pivot
for the required upskilling and reskilling of many
thousands of people of all ages, in support of
recovery.
In delivering this Strategic Plan, our College will
change the life chances of our students, help
businesses recover, and rebuild the communities
of the city whose name we are proud to bear. We
stand ready to respond to the social and economic
needs of our City Region and of Scotland, with
strengthened sector partnerships of scale and
coherence, and a distinct singular vision.
City of Glasgow College Board of Management
is confident that the College team, Team City,
will shape, lead, support, and deliver. Moreover,
in these times of change and uncertainty, City of
Glasgow College will be a civic and economic
anchor, building upon its historic reputation
for excellence. We look forward to a future of
innovation and leadership, and of inspired strategic
direction.