Our Committees

We develop our funding and policy positions by working very closely with Principals and other senior staff in our higher education institutions.

Our policy committees cover three broad areas and meet regularly four or five times a year. They are led by two Principals in the role of chair and vice-chair and all of our 19 members are represented. The conveners are nominated by their peers for two years with the possibility of one re-election.

Our committees make recommendations on policy which pass to the Main Committee of all Principals to be discussed and decided upon.

We also have a number of smaller policy groups to focus on other issues. The membership of these groups can include Finance Directors, Head of Planning, Secretaries, Heads of External Affairs and others, depending on the group’s focus. They are always led by a Principal. Policy groups will always be representative of the sector’s diversity but not every university is necessarily a member.

Our three-year Strategic Plan for 2021-2024 outlines how we will help our members achieve their shared vision for higher education. The strategy is guided by four main themes: ambition; the common good; trust; and new ways of working. These priorities will shape what we deliver for members over the next three years.

Convener: Professor Steve Olivier, Principal of Robert Gordon University.

Vice Convener: Professor Liz Bacon, Principal of Abertay University.

Click here to view the Committee’s membership.

Current priorities:

• Monitoring and engaging with the implementation of the new Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework, including the Scottish Tertiary Enhancement Programme.
• Demonstrating the sector’s contributions to the development of graduate skills, green skills and related policy, including upskilling and reskilling the workforce, the ongoing development of short courses and micro-credentials, and employer engagement in learning, teaching and assessment.
• Collaborating to address issues regarding student retention and success arising from the pandemic and the best possible learning experience for students.
• Engaging with the Scottish Government’s ongoing education reform agenda as this relates to learning and teaching.
• Take account of UK and European quality and regulatory developments that may have implications for the Scottish sector.

Convener: Professor Stephen Decent, Principal, Glasgow Caledonian University

Vice Convener: Professor Nicholas Forsyth, Vice-Principal (Research), University of Aberdeen

Click here to view the Committee’s membership.

Current priorities:

• Developing Universities Scotland’s policy position on issues such as the SFC R&I Funding, the future of the Research Excellence Framework, and the European Union’s research framework programme.
• Representing the Scottish sector interests in the development and implementation of key Scottish Government innovation policy frameworks.
• Producing a collective narrative on the activities and impact of Scottish universities’ world-leading research and innovation to inform stakeholders’ understanding of the sector.
• Maximising the opportunities for Scottish institutions to leverage research funding from sources including UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), charities, industry, and the Horizon Europe programme.

Convener: Professor James Miller, University of the West of Scotland.

Vice Convener: Professor Brad Mackay, Deputy Principal of the University of St Andrews.

Click here to view the Committee’s membership.

Current Priorities:

• Progressing implementation of the Scottish Government’s International Education Strategy, including:
  1. promoting Scotland as a destination to study, work and live;
  2. enhancing international talent attraction and retention;
  3. supporting and promoting transnational education opportunities for Scottish Universities; and
  4. ensuring that Scotland’s excellent research base remains internationally competitive, collaborative and impactful.
• Working with members, UUK and the Scottish Government in influencing UK Government to ensure that the UK visa system is internationally competitive to attract both staff and students, as well as leveraging enhanced support from UK Government to promote Scotland’s distinct higher education offering internationally.
• Maintaining engagement with Europe and ensuring that the Scottish voice is well represented at a UK and EU level in the development of and association to EU research, innovation and mobility programmes.
• Progressing the work of the Connected Scotland Partnership to co-create and deliver the promotion of Scottish higher education internationally through a programme of events.
• Demonstrating the impact of internationalisation at Scottish universities, both domestically and internationally, including demonstrating the value of a Scottish degree to international graduates.

Convener: Professor Iain Gillespie, Principal, University of Dundee.

Vice Convener: Ms Susan Stewart, Director,  Open University in Scotland.

Click here to view the Group’s membership.

Current Priorities:

• Long-term sustainable funding for the sector so that it can support both individual’s ambitions to learn and transformation of the economy.
• Responding to the outcomes of the Purpose and Principals Statement and related policy frameworks published over the summer of 2023 as they affect funding, accountability and the broader sustainability of the higher education sector.
• Influencing the Scottish Government’s “reform” agenda to support the success of higher education institutions and enables continuation of quality in the challenging public funding climate.

Convener: Professor Nazira Karodia, Vice Principal (Learning and
Teaching) at Edinburgh Napier University.

Vice Convener: Shona Paul, Head of Professional and Continuing Education at Glasgow School of Art

Click here to view the Group’s membership.

Current Priorities:

• Leading on the sector’s work to continue widening access to higher education via university admissions, with a focus on widening access measures and part-time students.
• Enhancing transparency and consistency in admissions across the sector, through our fair admissions project, including enhancing information, advice and guidance for disabled applicants and applicants who are required to interview, audition, or submit portfolios for assessment
• In collaboration with college partners, working to minimise the impact of ongoing industrial action on students going through the admissions process.
• Working to understand and address current challenges around student retention and success.
• Engaging with the Scottish Government’s education reform agenda as this relates to admissions.
• Contributing to UK-wide developments in admissions policy and practice, including UCAS’ work to reform the application process and applicant journey more broadly.

The Secretaries Group is not one of Universities Scotland’s Committees however Universities Scotland and the Secretaries Group have worked closely together for a number of years. The Secretaries Group is a professional network of staff with responsibility for effective governance and for management of professional services.

Convener: Ms Eileen Schofield, University Secretary, University of Stirling

Click here to view the Group’s membership.

Current Priorities:

• The Group considers sector governance and regulatory issues, sector-led enhancement and responding to proposals for change from government.