Board of Management Co-Opted Member

Role Description

As a Board Member, your overarching duty is to use your skills, knowledge and time to work as best you can with your Chair, fellow Board members and staff to ensure that the College fulfils its responsibilities. The power to make decisions and hold staff to account in order to deliver these responsibilities lies with the Board as a whole and not any individual member.

The main duties of the role of a member of the Board of Management of UHI Inverness are described below:

1. Governance:

i. to lead the College for the benefit of its students, employees and other stakeholders; and

ii. to ensure compliance with all relevant legal and financial requirements.

2. Contribute to the fulfilment of the Board’s duties, roles and responsibilities including those as an employer, which will comprise:

i.  Strategy development;

ii. Leadership;

iii. Efficiency and effectiveness of the use of resources;

iv. Financial management oversight;

v. Risk management and control;

vi. Stakeholder relationships.

3. Participate in the business of the Board, including:

i.  Preparing for and attending Board meetings (normally 6 per annum);

ii. Contributing to the making of Board decisions;

iii. Chairing or participating in usually two Board committees;

iv. Attending and participating in strategic planning, training and other development events;

v. Representing the Board externally where required.

All members should exercise their responsibilities in the interests of the College as a whole rather than as a representative of any constituency.

Further information about the role of Boards and Board Members can be found on the College Development Network website at: College-Board-Member-Guide-2015.pdf (cdn.ac.uk)

Members shall seek to promote the best interests of the College wherever possible, be its ambassador, and represent it at meetings, presentations and conferences.

Trustee Role

As UHI Inverness is a registered charity, you will need to be aware of your role as a Charity Trustee. You are referred to the Office of Scottish Charity Regulator’s guidance for charity trustees which can be found at OSCR | Guidance and good practice for Charity Trustees.

 Training and Induction

As a Board member you have a duty to continue to develop your knowledge and skills as appropriate, but you can expect to be supported. If appointed, you will be provided with appropriate training and induction designed to help you perform effectively in your role. There will be an initial induction session in the College, which will be supplemented with any further induction/development required to assist you in your role. You will be required to attend induction training that is provided nationally through the College Development Network within 6 months of taking up appointment.

Process

Your Application 

The information in your application is important in determining whether you will proceed through the assessment stages conducted by the selection panel. The stages include:

-   shortlisting for interview, following which you will be notified if you will proceed to the next stage or not;

-   the interview itself and, if successful,

-   appointment by the Board with approval from the Regional Strategic Body.

The Board of Management of UHI Inverness welcomes applications from anyone who believes that they could make a strong contribution, particularly from groups currently under-represented on Scotland’s public bodies.

All Board members need to have specific general skills and personal qualities which will enable them to make a good contribution to the Board, but these do not have to have been gained by working at a management post or at a senior/strategic level. You may have gained these skills through being active in your community, in a voluntary capacity or through your personal experience. We are looking for people with enquiring minds and who can communicate ideas and thoughts to others. Please read the criteria in conjunction with the Role Description. The criteria describes the skills, knowledge and experience a Member of the Board of Management will require to perform that role.

CRITERIA SOUGHT     

Analytical Skills

1. Ability to analyse complex material and to reach sound conclusions based on this analysis.

Question

2. Ability to question constructively within a team environment.

Communication Skills

3. Ability to communicate effectively with a diverse range of stakeholders and build effective networks.

Strategic Planning

4. Ability to contribute to the development of the board’s strategic thinking.

Education landscape

5. An interest in learning and education.

Public Service Reform

6. An understanding of the Scottish Government’s policy ambitions for public services in general and post 16 education in particular.

Corporate Governance

7. An understanding of corporate governance in public, private or charity sectors and of risk management (prior board experience is not essential).

Context

8. An understanding of the needs of the economy, employers, communities and learners, and the challenges of a political environment, at national, regional and local levels.

Specific skills or experience

 9. Any of the following areas would be particularly welcome:

·        Experience in accountancy, finance and audit.

·        A good understanding of Further Education and/or Higher Education.

·        An ability to understand and analyse accounts and other financial documentation.

·        Individuals from a legal background

·        Experience of Risk Management

·        Entrepreneurial skills and the ability to ‘think out of the box’.

You are asked to provide a brief CV and a covering letter along with the Equal Opportunity Monitoring form found at the back of the application form. The Equal Opportunity Monitoring Information form is not seen by the selection panel and will not be used to assess your suitability for appointment. 

Please review the role description and assessment criteria before completing your application. The application should contain a statement which demonstrates how your skills and experience match the published criteria, set out above, for these appointments, or that you have the ability to achieve these skills with some further development as appropriate. 

Selection Panel Evaluation

The Selection Panel must provide sufficient information and evidence to the Regional Strategic Body to enable them to feel confident that the person they are appointing to the Board of Management is suitable to take up the appointment.

In the context of public appointments this is an individual who is suitable for appointment because they meet the requirements of the role and because their past or present activities and/or behaviours do not render them unsuitable for a given appointment. There are various checks built into the stages of the appointment process designed to gather the appropriate information and evidence required. For this appointment round, the verifications in place will be:

·Evaluation of the evidence provided by you in relation to the skills, knowledge and experience required for the role will be tested in the application and further probed at interview, should you be invited.

·Confirmation that you understand the work of the body and the nature of the appointment and that you are not aware of having committed any offence or performed any act incompatible with the position that you are applying for.

·The publicity for the roles sets out the time commitment involved. If invited for interview, this will be fully explored with you to ensure that you can offer the appropriate assurance that you can undertake the commitment required.

·Prior to, or during the interview you will be asked questions about potential conflicts of interest. At interview you will be asked to confirm that, to the best of your knowledge, you do not have any conflicts that are incompatible or unmanageable should you be

appointed to the Board. If you have declared a conflict, then this may be explored further with you at interview.

·If appointed to Board membership then you will be asked to sign your agreement to abide by terms and conditions set out in the letter of appointment, which includes agreeing to abide by the College’s Code of Conduct Model Code of Conduct for Members of Devolved Public Bodies (uhi.ac.uk)

·Information on disqualifications is provided in the Annex to this application pack material and you are asked to review this prior to submitting your application. Confirmation that you are not disqualified on any grounds from being appointed to this Board may be sought at interview.

By virtue of submitting an application you are declaring that the information provided is, to the best of your knowledge and belief, true and complete.

How we will handle your application

Initially your completed application will be assessed against the advertised criteria for these appointments. The selection panel will invite to interview those applicants who most closely meet the criteria, or who can demonstrate their ability to meet these criteria over time given the appropriate support and development opportunities.

Applicants invited to interview will be advised of the membership of the Selection Panel in their invitation letter and will be asked to declare if and how they know any of the Panel.

Applicants who are not selected for the interview stage of the assessment will be advised of the outcome of their applications in writing (normally via email).

The Board of Management will appoint successful applicants with approval from the Regional Strategic Body. If you are successful, you will be invited in writing to accept the appointment.

Feedback will be offered to all applicants.

We will comply with the General Data Protection Regulations and will not retain your personal data any longer than is necessary for the completion of this appointment process. Any statistical data retained will be anonymised.

The table below shows an indicative timeline for the appointments process.

Stage in Progress

Timescale

Date appointment publicised

24 March 2025

Closing date for applications

21 April 2025

Open Evening (Hybrid)

03 April 2025

(between 5 – 6 p.m.)

Date for interviews

w/c 12 May 2025

 (subject to change)

Date by which outcome of interview will be relayed to applicants

(dependent on when RSB approve appointments)

Equality and Diversity

UHI Inverness is an Equal Opportunities Employer, and it would be very helpful if you could complete and return the Equal Opportunities Monitoring Information form with your application. 

Accessibility to public appointments is a fundamental requirement and the public appointments process promotes, demonstrates and upholds equality of opportunity and treatment to all applicants. If you require any of the application pack documentation in an alternative format, please get in touch.

Interviews/Expenses

We will be conducting interviews via an online panel, with clear joining instructions and guidance provided in advance. Nevertheless, it should be noted that applicants can claim for reasonable expenses incurred in attending for interview, including dependent carer expenses. If invited for interview, you can request a claim form.

Publicising Appointments

Should you be appointed, some of the information that you have provided may be made public in a press announcement of your appointment. We will liaise with you in advance of any such announcement. This applies particularly to any other public appointments you may hold, and of any significant political activity recently undertaken by you. The press release may include:

·               Your name;

·               A brief summary of the skills, knowledge and experience you bring to the role;

·               The period of appointment;

·               Details of all other public appointments held.

Useful Information

The College website provides comprehensive information about the College and Board

Photos and brief biographies of current Board members, together with key college and sector publications can be found at:

About us - Board of management (uhi.ac.uk)