'Great opportunities' for SAC graduates - Principle tells graduation ceremony
’Students graduating from SAC should look to their future with some confidence’ That was message from SAC Chief Executive and Principal Bill McKelvey. In his final address to the SAC Graduation ceremony in Bute Hall, University of Glasgow he said, ’there are great global challenges, but they open up enormous opportunities for all of you in your future careers’.
The Professor reminded his audience of the recent UK Foresight Report on the ’Future of Food and Farming’. It had identified the challenge of feeding an expanding global population while protecting biodiversity and tackling climate change with scarcer resources. He believed the graduating SAC students had the skills and resilience to face those challenges.
While praising the academic achievements Bill McKelvey highlighted a wide variety of extra curricular successes by students during the year.
In sport Scott Frew (Ayr) is currently in the squad for selection to the GB Olympic Handball team. Willie McRobbie (Aberdeen) achieved the highest level in the John Muir Environmental Award scheme, while Colin Cameron Edinburgh and Scott Dewart (Ayr) went to London as finalists and prize winners in the Farmers Club Pinnacle Awards for Business Management. Meanwhile at the House of Commons Benjamin Pollard (Ayr) collected ’2,500 as the Pfizer poultry trainee of the year. At Ingliston’s AgriScot the national Business Skills competition was won by Ian Christie ( Aberdeen).
There were other matches in Aberdeen, with two married couples attending graduation. Ian Christie and Rachel Olohane were joined by Mathew Robinson and Harriette Starstedtt. ’Craibstone had lived up to its reputation as the leading matchmaking SAC campus’, said Bill McKelvey. ( see editors notes)
In his brief review of SAC activity Professor McKelvey highlighted his organisations positive approach to partnership, be it with Scottish Government or close ties with Scotland’s three rural FE Colleges. The commitment to Craibstone and the NE had recently been reaffirmed. Education staff would soon be moving into the new Riverside Campus in Ayr shared with UWS. Meanwhile SAC researchers had settled in to recently opened Roslin Building shared with University of Edinburgh at Easter Bush.
SAC Research income had expanded in the past year, much of it focussed on climate change. There was growing interest in SAC courses, with applications for places growing at all three campuses. Professor McKelvey welcomed the Scottish Governments commitment to higher education and looked forward to working with them to make sufficient places available to meet the growing aspirations of young people. Overall, he believed, SAC was in good heart.
’We are very fortunate to have a fairly unique operating model in SAC’, he said. ’ We have a strong commercial consultancy business, which draws heavily on the expertise of our academic base, but which in turn has the capability to recycle financial resources. It gives us a real resilience for the future which I believe will stand us in very good stead over these next few years. As an organisation we can look forward with confidence’
