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Colin M Hunter OBE
Viva Abertay!
Abertay is a small but well-formed, well-managed University, with an excellent record over a range of subject areas. It is proven to provide an outstanding student experience. It has a dedicated staff team working within a positive, supportive culture. Dundee is a great city in which to be a student. There is much to celebrate and to continue to build on.
Governance
The role of Chair of Court involves supporting the Executive whilst scrutinising and questioning decisions in a culture of constructive challenge. Openness and transparency are fundamental components. The role of the University Court is clearly laid out in the Statement of Primary Responsibilities. Based on these responsibilities, I will ensure that key decisions are examined and challenged while maintaining trust and mutual respect, always with the University’s best interests to the fore.
Communication
Excellent communication is the fundamental which builds and maintains trust, cooperation and good relationships at all levels: between the Court and the University, between the management and staff and between the staff and the students. This will be a regular discussion between the Court and Executive and between myself and the Principal. Excellent communication will be actively pursued, rather than being an afterthought.
Values
Values underpin everything. My personal values throughout my adult life and which were enshrined in my GP practice are: fairness and equity, quality (patient care), looking after each other, working with others to maximise outcomes and having fun. The Abertay values chime with my personal values around being inclusive, caring, innovative (based on a high-quality environment) and collaborative. Building and strengthening internal and external relationships has been an important factor within my practice and in past leadership roles and will be as important at Abertay.
Opportunities and Threats
Abertay has many strengths and therefore there are many opportunities. We can continue to build on these to ensure a sustainable financial future for the University. We can use the excellent work already done as a foundation for finding more.
Being a smaller University is a strong positive. However, in the current climate we need to be vigilant of external treats such as further changes to immigration or potential mergers. I truly believe that more would be lost than gained if the independence of the Institution were to be compromised. I know this is not something you, the staff or students, would want. We all need to help build momentum towards Abertay being in such a strong position that this would not be possible. Our main strength is being a charity with a group of independent Trustees (the University Court), who would have to agree to this happening.
Summary
I have valued my time as Chair at RGU. I have learned a great deal and I would love to work with the team at Abertay to ensure a strong, exciting future for the University.
