City of Glasgow College

City of Glasgow College
Former names
 Central College, Glasgow
Glasgow Metropolitan College
Glasgow College of Nautical Studies
Type Further Education
Established 15 November 2010
Chairman Alisdair Barron
Principal Paul Little
Students 32,500[1]
Location Glasgow, Scotland, UK
Nickname COGC
Website www.cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk

Coordinates: 55°51′47″N 4°14′38″W / 55.863°N 4.244°W / 55.863; -4.244

City of Glasgow College (Scottish Gaelic: Colaiste Baile Ghlaschu) is a further education college in Glasgow, Scotland. The new college was created from the merger of three Glasgow colleges, Central College, Glasgow Metropolitan College and Glasgow College of Nautical Studies. The colleges agreed to merge in March 2009 and signed up to a merger Road Map in September 2009. The new college officially launched on 15 November 2010.

Present

The opening day of the college had been planned for 1 August 2010 but this was postponed. Ministers from the Scottish Government deferred the decision on whether to approve the merger until 1 September 2010 in order to examine the proposals more carefully, and the merger was eventually approved.[2]

New campus

Riverside Campus on the River Clyde
Inside the Riverside Campus

Two new campuses are being built for the college at a cost of £ 228 million.[3] Building work has been completed on a new Marine Skills Centre on the banks of the River Clyde near Thistle Street. The main building work was completed on the Riverside Campus in August 2015, with an official opening by the First Minister later that year. A state of the art campus on Cathedral Street was completed in August 2016. The main contractor on both developments was Sir Robert McAlpine.[4]

In July 2016, the new campus was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize for excellence in architecture.[5]

Marine skills centre

The centre facilitates a variety of maritime training such as Deck Officer Trainee and Marine Operations[6]

Student association

The City of Glasgow College Students Association is commonly known as CitySA has one Sabbatical president with three part-time Vice Presidents of Social & Activities, Learning & Teaching and Diversity and Wellbeing. They are governed by a Student Executive Committee, consisting of the Presidential Team as well as 12 student volunteers. The They are currently affiliated with the National Union of Students Scotland where they have had a considerable impact in campaigns such as "Our Future, Our Fight", they have also been national recognized by winning the "College Student Association of the Year Award" in 2012 from NUS Scotland.[7]

In 2018 an article in The Spectator magazine revealed that the college chaplain had been banned from saying Mass on Ascension Day (a Holy day of Obligation in the Catholic Church) after an intervention by the Principal, Paul Little https://www.spectator.co.uk/2018/07/why-sack-a-catholic-priest-for-being-catholic/ A spokesman for the Catholic Church said: “It is staggering to think that a Mass might be cancelled on the instructions of the college management. It is difficult to imagine what problems could have been caused by allowing Mass to be celebrated.

“An urgent review of this decision is needed and hopefully no such restrictions or refusals will be imposed in future.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow Archdiocese said: “It is to be hoped that the college authorities will soon make it clear that they are open to cooperating with the Church in providing for the spiritual care of a significant proportion of their students.”

A City of Glasgow College spokesperson: “City of Glasgow College is a beacon of excellence in equality, diversity and inclusion. We respect all religious beliefs and those with none and endeavour to create a welcoming environment to support that.

“As Scotland’s super college, with many demands on our facilities from a diverse student cohort of 130 different nationalities, and a valued diverse range of staff and stakeholders, we aim to be fair in all that we do. A review is underway into how we can facilitate all religious ceremonies equitably in future.” http://www.sconews.co.uk/latest-edition/55585/secular-elite-at-glasgow-college-accused-of-blocking-catholic-mass/

References

  1. ↑
  2. ↑ Decision deferred on college merger: Decision deferred on college merger, accessdate: 15 February 2016
  3. ↑ Stewart, Catriona (25 October 2014). "Riverside Campus is sure to make big splash in city". Evening Times. Retrieved 3 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Sir Robert McAlpine consortium wins £228m Glasgow campus". Construction News. Retrieved 5 September 2017.
  5. ↑ "Damien Hirst gallery and underground house among Riba Stirling Prize nominees". BBC News. 14 July 2016.
  6. ↑ Merchant Navy Training
  7. ↑
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