Chris Travis to head newly united body of Scottish colleges

Scotland’s Colleges has appointed Chris Travis as its new chief executive to head the recently merged body. The organisation comprises the Association of Scotland’s Colleges, College Open Learning Exchange Group, the Scottish Further Education Unit and Scotland’s College International.

Mr Travis, who is currently chief executive of Enterprise North East Trust in Aberdeen, said: "I am delighted to have been appointed chief executive of Scotland’s Colleges, excited about the challenges ahead, and confident in my abilities to rise to them. Scotland has a dynamic college sector, which abounds with examples of excellent practice, and I feel privileged to have the opportunity to work in this area."

Scotland’s Colleges, which is based in Stirling, represents, develops and supports the college sector in Scotland. It is tasked with continuing the separate strands of work previously undertaken by its component organisations under one banner on behalf of the 43 colleges in the country.

Mr Travis continued: "I know the four organisations which have merged to form Scotland’s Colleges have all made excellent progress in their respective fields in recent months and years, and I am sure that, together, we can continue to press forward on behalf of the colleges in Scotland, their staff and, most importantly, their students."

Mr Travis was appointed by the Shadow Board of Scotland’s Colleges, which comprises senior representatives and its stakeholders, and will join at the start of December.

Chair of the Scotland’s Colleges Shadow Board, Tony Jakimciw, said: "We had an excellent response to the job advertisement, with a number of candidates of a very high standard. We are, however, confident that Chris is the right man for the job – with experience of managing a successful merged organisation and detailed knowledge of Scotland’s economic and skills landscape I am sure that he will lead Scotland’s Colleges to great success in the future."

Chair of the Selection Committee and of the Association of Scotland’s Colleges, Ian Macpherson MBE, said: "Everyone at Scotland’s Colleges is looking forward to working with Chris; he has earned himself an excellent reputation in the North East and his track record in management speaks for itself."