Connect | Page 3

03 AYRSHIRE UPDATE Connecting Colleges There are many benefits to merger and one of the most significant is pooling our talent and sharing best practice from the three partner colleges in Ayrshire from a staff, student and stakeholder perspective. The colleges in Ayrshire have worked together on many initiatives in recent years as part of the Ayrshire Learning Partnership. Connecting across the colleges to move towards merger has provided the opportunity for staff and students to get involved and work together to build a vision for the regional college. The Ayrshire Partnership Board (APB) completed financial and legal due diligence for the merger and are awaiting feedback from cultural due diligence. This will be undertaken when the assignment of staff from James Watt is completed. Branch Representatives from UNISON and EIS/FELA have been meeting with Heather Dunk and these have been positive and enabled information to be shared. Organisational Development (OD) Workstream Update Key Focus The work of the OD workstream covers all aspects of Human Resources and Organisational Development functions across the three colleges including Engagement, Enhancing Performance, Governance, Management Information Systems, Remuneration and Recognition and Resourcing. A key element in moving the activities of the workstream forward is the assignment of staff from James Watt College to the Ayrshire Region. This work is due to be completed by the end of February and will enable a range of other actions to be taken forward including further cross college staff events. Vision Values and Voice workshop outcomes were used to inform the public consultation document and provided feedback to the APB. In order to engage staff in the next phase of merger activities, a series of workshops will be held in April and May. The cultural study will take place in February and March and all staff will have an opportunity to contribute. OD workstream Cross college workstreams have been created to work with the Principals and Project Manager to identify critical activities for merger and to develop action plans to ensure that the necessary infrastructure and processes are in place for Vesting Day and beyond. Here is a quick summary of some of the progress so far. Next Steps resourcing HR info Systems continuous professional development Equalities Health and safety communications