Ken Milroy to lead Aberdeen & Aberdeenshire College into a new era
Friday, July 20, 2012
In June, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, Mr Michael Russell, announced in the Scottish Parliament the future arrangements for governance of colleges in Scotland. In his announcement he indicated that the Scottish Government will introduce legislation to establish in each region of Scotland a single regional board of management to take responsibility for the strategic planning and the oversight of delivery of college provision in the region.
In the case of the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Region this means that there will be a new regional board established which will take responsibility for both Aberdeen College and Banff & Buchan College.
On Thursday 27 October 2011 Aberdeen College and Banff & Buchan College of Further Education signed a Federation agreement. The new agreement will allow the two colleges to plan & deliver a fully-coordinated programme of further education opportunities across the North-east and work together to seek opportunities to share services, premises, course development and course delivery in order to maximise the efficiency of the use of resources.
Chair of Aberdeen College Board of Management, Ken Milroy played a key role in the negotiations and because of his in-depth knowledge of both organisations, has been invited to lead regional planning for the Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire Region.
The role of the new board will be to develop strategic plans for the delivery of college programmes across the region, identify efficiencies that can be made in order to use the available funding in the most effective way and to monitor performance.
Ken Milroy, who is the Chief Executive of Aberdeen Foyer, says of his new role, "By planning on a regional basis we have the opportunity to re-think, re-shape and join up education to better meet the needs of learners in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire. By sharing resources and engaging with businesses to maximise local career opportunities, we will further support the local and national economy. We should be seeking to get the best possible return for communities throughout the region."
Ken joined Aberdeen College Board of Management in 2004. He was appointed to Vice Chair in 2007 and took over the position as Chair in April 2009. One of Ken's first duties as leader of the Board of Management was to appoint a new College Principal and Chief Executive.
Since then he has reshaped the College Estates Strategy which has included the opening of a £15million award-winning new building at the College's Altens Centre with training workshops for construction students and central facilities for all of the construction, engineering and motor-vehicle students based at the Centre, the relocation of the College's company, ASET Ltd, which provides training for the oil and gas industries and attracts clients from across the world, and a major programme of refurbishment at the College's Gallowgate Centre which is being paid for by the College from a refurbishment fund built up by careful management over a number of years.
Ken will step down from his role as Chair of Aberdeen College Board of Management on Wednesday 5th September to take up his new post. Doug Duthie, who has been a member of Aberdeen College Board since 2006, will take over as chair.
Ken continues, "I leave Aberdeen College in the safe hands of Doug Duthie who has worked tirelessly for many years in public service. My contact with the College and that of Banff & Buchan will obviously continue, and I look forward to working with both principals, Mr Duthie, and the Chair of Banff & Buchan College, Mr John Cousins, to meet regional objectives and deliver positive outcomes."
-Ends-