Lunch Time meeting - Hugh Hall Principal at Fife College

On Thursday 22^nd March 2018 in the absence of President Lindsay Roy, JVP Ewen Macdonald took the chair as he welcomed 25 Rotarians and guest speaker Hugh Hall to our lunch time meeting which was held at the Gilvenbank Hotel.

On reception was Peter May, with Malcolm Robertson saying grace.

Six apologies for absence were received.

Iain Oates mentioned the Books for Ghana advising that our club had punched above their wait in their response to this request.

Iain Haywood once again mentioned the Sportsman’s dinner which was to be held on Friday 23^rd March 2018.

Our speaker this week was Hugh Hall, Principal and Chief Executive of Fife College. Hugh officially took up his position on Wednesday 1 March 2017 taking over from former Principal Hugh Logan who retired in October 2016. Hugh was born and brought up in the East End of Glasgow and began his working life straight from school in the local Benefits Agency office in Easterhouse.  Hugh who now lives in Fife, is a chartered accountant with expertise in transformational change, governance and major project development and delivery.  His life has been devoted to public service and he has held several senior appointments in a wide range of organisations. In 2009, he was awarded the Public-Sector Finance Director of the Year award in recognition of his leadership role in the transformation of Scotland’s enterprise network. His non-executive roles, past and present, include: eight years as a member of Court at Edinburgh Napier University; Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in Scotland; Chair of Forth Valley College; Chair of Colleges Scotland and Chair of the Scottish Children’s Lottery. Hugh  whose most recent position was at the University of Strathclyde where he worked as Chief Operating Officer with responsibility for a range of services including commercialisation, strategy and policy. Hugh advised he joined Fife College at an exciting time for education in the region with the recent opening of the College’s new Levenmouth Campus and plans to build a new state-of-the-art Campus in Dunfermline by 2020. He is responsible for approximately 22,000 learners, 6,000 of which are full-time, on five main campuses throughout Fife and manages a commercial client base of £7.3 million and turnover of £43.5 million.

Hugh’s first focus over the early months was to meet and listen to as many of the staff, students and stakeholders as possible to hear their views on the future of Fife College and the challenges and opportunities that lay ahead. He had arranged a series of sessions that he could visit all our campuses, introducing himself and giving staff an opportunity to ask questions and share ideas.

Hugh spoke about Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). MOOCs which are freely accessible and open-licensed short courses, delivered to large cohorts of learners fully online.

Becoming the Principal of Fife College, he said was a great honour and he looked forward to working with the staff, students and external partners to drive the College forward to benefit those in the region and beyond.

The next meeting will be an Evening meeting to be held on the 29^th  March 2018 at the Gilvenbank Hotel. Please meet 6.15pm for starting at 6.30pm, the Speaker this week will be Steven Dewar from Curr and Dewar Auctioneers. On reception will be Peter May, Paul Harris and May Ford.

If you were interested in joining or supporting the community and international projects get in touch by Private message on The Rotary Club of Glenrothes Facebook page. You will be made most welcome.