MINISTER for Further Education and Higher Education visited Dumfries and Galloway College this week.
Graeme Dey was welcomed alongside fellow MSPs Emma Harper and Finlay Carson to the Crichton campus on Tuesday by principal and CEO Joanna Campbell and depute principal Douglas Dickson.
The guests visited both the digital hub and the student services hub, where they learned about the Student Association’s award-winning ‘Here For You’ initiative to help tackle student poverty, which won at the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland Awards.
Next on the agenda was a visit to the green energy hub to hear about the college’s ‘Leading the way – Net Zero initiative’ from Billy Currie, director of estates and sustainability.
The net zero agenda is one of the key priorities as Dumfries and Galloway College challenges the climate emergency through the green skills academy and adapting their facilities to use renewable energy with their Green Energy Hub and right across college.
Graeme Dey then had the opportunity to learn in detail about the college’s regional skills planning and, in particular, two pathfinder projects: West of Scotland Pathways and South of Scotland Digital Skills Hub, one of seven pilot projects running throughout Scotland.
He said: “Dumfries and Galloway College’s campus is full of innovation and inspiration.
“It was a pleasure to see it first-hand and to meet with the management and staff who are all striving for success with their forward-thinking approach to regional skills planning, tackling the climate emergency, and supporting students throughout their learner journey.
“I look forward to keeping in touch with the campus and to working with Dumfries and Galloway College in the future.”
Principal Joanna Campbell said: “We were thrilled to welcome the Minister to our Dumfries campus and hoped he thoroughly enjoyed his morning with staff and students.
“Our college is proud of the relationships that we have with stakeholders in government, business, the third sector, and our local community, and this visit was another example of the work the college is doing to support regional skills planning and economic growth.”
