Meeting the Staff Development Challenges Presented by Creating a University

Abstract

This article reviews the progress of the University of the Highlands and Islands Project (UHI) in developing a university from an academic partnership of further education colleges and research institutes. The success of the project depends on the development of staff to meet the demands of new ways of working and teaching. Staff development challenges include supportinglecturers, whose previous experience was primarily in further education, in designing and delivering new degrees. New academic frameworks have been developed using technology to support collaborative work across the partnership. The UHI’s first postgraduate course is anMA in Professional Development. This course was designed by UHI staff, with the assistance of external advisors, to support colleagues in developing their professional practice. The courseembodies many ideas about development that are central to the UHI.