Guernsey Institute title for combined tertiary education

On 1 July the College of Further Education, the Institute of Health & Social Care Studies and the GTA University Centre will combine to form the new institute.

It will be led by an executive principal. It has not yet been announced who will take the post.

The Education, Sport & Culture committee will shortly appoint a shadow board of governors for the integrated organisation. Once a new education law is in place, governance and leadership responsibilities will be fully devolved to the single board.

At that point the Committee for Education, Sport & Culture will focus on setting the strategic objectives and overall budget of the Guernsey Institute and regulating quality and standards. The ambition remains for the institute to obtain university college status in the future by entering a full partnership with a UK university.

Initially the three existing organisations will retain their identities as faculties of the institute, including the GTA fulfilling its legal and statutory obligations as a company. The leaders of the College of FE, the IHSCS and the GTA University Centre will each report to the new executive principal and will make up the leadership team of the Guernsey Institute.

These changes will bring into effect a 2018 direction of the States to the committee to work towards integrating further and higher education providers as soon as practicable.

In the next few weeks the committee will appoint nine board members for the Guernsey Institute.

It is hoped that the new single board will include members of each of the three existing boards.

Last year the committee set up an Integrated Working Group to drive the integration project. The IWG is chaired by Professor Richard Conder, who is a member of the committee, and includes the principal of the College of FE, the head of the Institute of Health and Social Care Studies and the chief executive of the GTA.

College of FE shadow governors chairman Julian Winser said: ‘The interim arrangements for the Guernsey Institute have the full support of the College of Further Education governing body.

‘We are excited by the plans to merge the three organisations from July 2019 and by the creation of a single board to support the newly appointed executive principal towards full integration once the new education law is established.’

Professor Richard Conder said he was delighted by the integration announcement.

‘The position of executive principal has been posted today and I look forward to meeting the successful candidate,’ he said.

‘Once the post holder is in place, the committee will continue to work closely with them and the existing three leaders, Simon, Tracey and Louise, in order to implement and develop the Guernsey Institute.’

The committee will be holding engagement sessions with staff of the three existing organisations soon.