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06 AYRSHIRE UPDATE Ongoing improvements to college campuses AYRSHIRE College’s campuses are changing, thanks to building improvement works which took place throughout the summer period. Here, Michael Breen, Vice Principal Corporate Services, explains what has been happening. “Work is underway to improve the campuses of Ayrshire College and significant improvements have already taken place over the summer months in Ayr, Kilmarnock and Kilwinning. Estates staff have worked hard to prepare the facilities for our new intake of students. This is just the start and key successes to date have been the creation of a fantastic new café and adjacent office and student space in the Riverside Building at the Ayr campus. These improvements, the café in particular, will create a real buzz and are a great facility for staff and students. A number of areas have been brightened up by replacing floor coverings and repainting. Feedback has been very positive and the Estates team is looking forward to working with staff and students to identify future priorities. A gallery of photographs showing improvements across the campuses is available on the College website. New Campus Development Final tenders for the new campus project in Kilmarnock were received on September 12, 2013 and these are currently being evaluated. This is a significant and exciting milestone with construction work expected to start in early 2014. The designs and proposals presented in the final tender submissions will be shared with staff and students over the next few weeks. Systems Development Considerable work has been carried out by the finance, MIS and ICT Teams to support the achievement of a successful Ayrshire College vesting day of 1 August 2013. A number of merger objectives have already been achieved which support the establishment of a single Ayrshire College identity, including the successful introduction of Ayrshire College email addresses and the integration of communication links to ensure a robust network is operating between all the campuses. Improvements to our campuses will also consider investment in specialised curriculum equipment which is critical to support students in developing skills relevant to industry. It’s an exciting start, and we will be keeping you all up to date with progress in the months ahead.”