Scotland's Universities

As an amendment to motion S4M-13313 in the name of Liz Smith (Scotland's Universities), leave out from “dependent on” to end and insert "linked strongly to their longstanding ability to attract both students and staff of the highest quality, their international competitiveness, their ability to act with versatility to take advantage of opportunities for the institution and the fact that they are autonomous institutions; further believes that autonomy should not, in the words of Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, the Principal of Robert Gordon University and author of the Report of the Review of Higher Education Governance in Scotland, which was published in 2012, ‘shield them from legitimate expectations that they engage with staff, students and external partners, or from the need to behave in an accountable manner’; agrees that access to university should be based on the ability to learn not the ability to pay; recognises the commitment that the Scottish Government has made to higher education, investing over £4 billion in the sector in the last four years, enabling universities to lever in money from other sources and helping Scotland maintain its reputation as a leading nation in higher education; calls for the restoration of the post-study work visa and continued membership of the European Union to ensure that universities continue to flourish, and looks forward to ongoing collaboration with Scotland’s world-renowned universities to support their continued success."