New Campus Glasgow: Strategic Benefits Analysis
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6.7 By coming together to jointly plan their curriculum there is scope for the colleges to be
much more accessible to employers. Stakeholders believe that employers will find it
significantly easier to engage with colleges when there is a clear Curriculum Institute with
responsibility for a specific curriculum area.
6.8 Indeed, recent research by the SFC3
, identifies that more emphasis should be placed
on 'brokering, supporting and stimulating responses by colleges and universities to identified
problems from particular industries where the evidence suggests that change is needed. We
should seek to broker partnerships between the colleges/universities, the relevant Sector
Skills Council or industry body, local employers, enterprise agencies, etc.' Our consultations
with Sector Skills Councils and enterprise agencies has revealed strong support for the new
campus, precisely because these stakeholders believe the new campus will make it easier for
the business community to broker partnerships and support with the colleges.
6.9 More importantly, the new campus has the potential to be able to offer:
• Closer engagement with employers during curriculum design through the work of
the curriculum institutes, ensuring a closer match between need and provision.
• A more responsive and tailored offer - including flexibility in the time and location
that courses are offered.
• Economies of scale which will increase the viability of specialist courses, enabling
the colleges to offer a greater range of more specialist provision (see Section 3 on
breadth and specialism of provision).
• Being able to offer tailored workforce programmes for large employers.
• Cross-college information sharing on the needs of particular employers or
employer groups.
6.10 However, none of this will happen as a simple result of the new campus and the
curriculum collaboration arrangements between colleges. In particular, there will also need to
be some emphasis on the way in which employers articulate their demand to colleges and
other training providers.
6.11 Indeed, a report by the SFC on Knowledge Transfer shows that the main barriers to
colleges delivering Knowledge Transfer4
activity are cultural and structural (i.e. funding and
working practices). The main organisational barriers are related to the lack of dedicated
Business Centres in some colleges. The report does also, however, highlight the
opportunities for colleges to enhance knowledge transfer through collaborative working.
3 The labour market, the learning market; influencing change. SFC 2007
4 Knowledge transfer activities in Scotland's Colleges: a baseline study
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Appendix 13: Economic Impact Report