NEW UHI Principal Meets Staff and Students At North Highland College

17th June 2014

University of the Highlands and Islands principal and vice-chancellor meets staff and students at North Highland College UHI.

Professor Clive Mulholland met with staff and students last week at North Highland College UHI just 12 days after taking up his post as the second principal and vice-chancellor of the University of the Highlands and Islands.

Professsor Mulholland was welcomed by Acting Principal Donald MacBeath and received a tour of the campus which included the Centre for Energy and Environment and the Land-Based Centre of Excellence in Halkirk. He then met with the executive group for lunch in the College's refectory - Cafe at Morven. As well as meeting the Chair of the Board of Management, Mr Niall Smith, and the College Management Team, Professor Mulholland was particularly keen to meet with North Highland College UHI students.

He chatted with students studying from HNC level right up to PHD level including students from Alness who joined by video conference. It was a great opportunity for them to have an informal chat about what life is like as a UHI student and improving the student experience even further.

BA Equine Business Management student, Meghann Ashpoole said, "Professor Mulholland seems progressive and forward thinking and had lots of enthusiasm about the future of UHI."

HNC Computing student Andrew Martin added "It was really good to have the chance to meet Professor Mulholland and he took the time to personalise the experience by asking us all about our UHI student experiences. He really wants to make things simpler and easier to use, with a keen eye on making video conferencing easier and finding new ways for lecturers and students to effectively communicate."

Professor Mulholland said: "I am delighted to be joining the University of the Highlands and Islands at an exciting time of its development. I want to build strong relationships with our partnership, that's why I'm visiting all 13 colleges and research institutions this month. We must be a university for all of our region. And, as a partnership delivering both college and university level education, I hope I can bring my experience of further and higher education, technology enhanced learning, research and the enhancement of the student experience to support the strategic goals of our unique partnership.

"I am looking forward to working with our partners to deliver an exemplar distributed institution for 21st century learners across our region and beyond."

Professor Mulholland joins the university from the University of South Wales where he was deputy vice-chancellor (research & student experience).

A biomedical scientist, with expertise in clinical biochemistry and online learning, Professor Mulholland has held positions in the scientific civil service and in the NHS, as well as the universities sector.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences, a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Medicine, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and he is a Chartered Scientist. He has previously held appointments at The University of Ulster, Queens University Belfast, Swansea University, the NHS, and the Department of Agriculture Northern Ireland.

He is a native of Bangor, Northern Ireland.

Professor Mulholland replaces James Fraser who retired at the end of December 2013.