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Higher education to be managed as a single institution 10 October 2011 HIGHER education in the Isle of Man is to be brought under a single management structure, headed by Professor Ronald Barr, Principal of the Isle of Man College. The transition to the new organisation will begin immediately. The decision follows a review by the Department of Education and Children of the way the higher education provision that falls under its auspices is overseen. Further education is based at the Isle of Man College, but both the College and International Business School offer a range of degree and other higher education qualifications in partnership with UK universities and awarding bodies. Until now the International Business School has had its own director, most recently Professor Ged Watts, who resigned his position last month. ‘Given the need to drive for business efficiency, the time is appropriate to streamline the running of higher education,’ said Stuart Dobson, Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Education and Children. The change in running of the International Business School will be phased over a period of two to three months and it is stressed that no students on existing courses will be affected. The Nunnery, Douglas, will continue to be the location for many higher education courses. Professor Barr said: ‘In liaison with the Department, I will now consider how further and higher education across both institutions can best be delivered. There is the potential to extend the offer over time and we will further develop our programme of training to support business development.’ The International Business School has 55 undergraduate and 20 postgraduate students on its academic programmes and a further 137 students on professional programmes. Professor Barr has been Principal of the College, which has some 8,000 full and part-time students, since September 2010. Prior to that he was the Deputy Principal for two years. Photo: Professor Ronald Barr Biography of Professor Ronald Barr: Professor Barr studied at Glasgow University, where he gained an MA joint honours degree in history and politics. This was followed by a Postgraduate Certificate in Secondary Teaching at Aberdeen College of Education and then MA and PhD research degrees in US History at Louisiana State University. He holds Fellowships with the Royal Historical Society, the Higher Education Academy and the Royal Society for the Arts. He taught at Chester and Liverpool Universities and was Head of History and Archaeology at Chester before coming to the Island in 2007. More stories >>>
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