Education / UHI keen for new space in ‘heart of Lerwick’ as part of single campus vision
UHI SHETLAND says it will continue consulting with staff, students and other stakeholders over the coming year on plans to merge its services into one campus in Scalloway.
Writing in a new blog on the UHI Shetland website, college principal professor Jane Lewis said the single campus vision could take three or four years to implement.
The UHI currently has a base at Gremista in Lerwick as well at Port Arthur in Scalloway, at what was known as the NAFC Marine Centre prior to a merger of Shetland’s tertiary education a couple of years ago.
The vision is for UHI Shetland to have its headquarters in Scalloway, with the upstairs of the Port Arthur House accommodation block becoming office space.
The UHI still hopes to keep a presence in Lerwick, potentially closer to the centre of town.
“Gremista, where the Lerwick campus is currently situated, is not easily accessible, whereas a base in the heart of Lerwick would be beneficial for students and the local economy,” Professor Lewis said.
“We will be working with stakeholders such as the Shetland Islands Council to look for a suitable space.”
Professor Lewis highlighted “substantial operational costs” at both campuses, with energy bills in particular rising greatly in recent years.
Maintenance, heating, lighting, rent and other costs amount to around £340,000 a year for Lerwick and roughly £250,000 for Scalloway.
It also comes on top of wider financial challenges which has seen UHI Shetland losing more than ten jobs through voluntary redundancy.
Professor Lewis said there is a “backdrop of stringent public sector funding cuts” which have seen an 8.5 per cent real terms reduction in cash for colleges from 2021/22 to 2023/24.
She added: “Both ageing campuses will need substantial maintenance input in the coming years as well as being in need of upgrade and improvement, notably to meet our net zero commitments.”
There have been questions in the community over the UHI operating from a single campus in terms of space, but the college chief wrote that usage surveys of teaching spaces show that “both campuses are underutilised compared to sector norms”.
Professor Lewis said usage is 25 per cent, “whereas utilisation of rooms would be deemed ‘good’ at around 50-60 per cent according to the Guidance on the Effective Management of Space of Scotland colleges (GEMS)”.
“This is the case across both campuses, with some specialist areas having higher occupancy rates,” she added.
“Considering this and as part of our recovery work, the college board has made the decision to reduce the college to one campus and to explore the feasibility of this move being to Scalloway.
“This will preserve our limited student accommodation, access to the sea and specialist engineering and laboratory facilities.
“Other facilities and teaching spaces will need to be accommodated on the Scalloway site, but there are unused buildings on the campus that we would hope to repurpose to accommodate Shetland’s training and learning needs for the future.”
Professor Lewis concluded that “we hope our current and future students, staff, stakeholders, and the community will engage with us over the coming year to help us shape the future of UHI Shetland”.
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