Legendary Scots lend a hand - to a degree
Robert the Bruce is ready to support the march north, while Donald Dewar is standing for the cause. Sir Walter Scott may be a monumental help and Denis Law could provide a timely assist.
All four Scottish icons have been ‘recruited’ by Scotland’s newest university to attract new students to the Highlands and Islands.
A campaign targeting young people in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Stirling and Aberdeen will see images of the famous Scots sporting the colours of the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) which has nearly 1,000 extra places available this year.
The Bruce statue at Stirling Castle, the former First Minister’s likeness in Glasgow’s Buchanan Street, Edinburgh’s memorial in Princes Street to the Scottish historical novelist, and the newly-unveiled bronze tribute to football legend Law at Aberdeen Sports Village have all been given a photographic make-over showing the figures adopting university colours and wearing ‘I ❤ UHI’ badges.
It is part of the drive to take UHI ‘to the heart’ of the cities to encourage young people in the four locations to join the 7,500 students already on undergraduate and postgraduate courses across the Highlands and Islands.
A mobile campus will visit Edinburgh (outside the Omni Centre) on 7 August and Stirling (outside the VUE cinema in Forthside) the following day. On 9 and 10 August it will be in Buchanan Street in Glasgow and on 11 August will be outside the St Nicholas Centre off Union Street in Aberdeen. During the visits staff will offer news and information directly to school-leavers and others about the university and its courses.
In addition, television and radio ads will be aired during August and messages featuring the eye-catching imagery will be posted on social network sites such as Facebook and Twitter.
UHI, which gained full university status in February, 2011, is a network of 13 colleges and research centres in a dispersed campus stretching from Shetland to Argyll and from Perth to the Western Isles. Many of its distinctive courses reflect the geography and history of the area and include archaeology, adventure tourism, energy and environment engineering and marine science.
Margaret Antonson, UHI’s marketing manager, said: “UHI is growing all the time and it is a huge asset, not just for the north of Scotland but for the whole country and beyond. We want to encourage as many students as possible from other cities to enjoy the wide range of courses we have in such wonderful locations.
“We want to show this in a fun way through targeting the cities where our four famous ‘recruits’ are best known and demonstrating that UHI has no real boundaries.
“Our mobile campus will take us into the heart of these cities and UHI staff will be on hand to provide advice and guidance, especially to those who are going through the university places clearing system.”
One student who has left the city to study with UHI is Alison Keir, originally from Glasgow and now based in Orkney where she is carrying out research for a PhD on coastal archaeology around the Highlands and Islands.
Alison, 26, first moved north to study for a Masters Degree in archaeological practice at Orkney College UHI after previously visiting the islands on field trips.
She said: “I fell in love with Orkney archaeology during my visits here and I don’t think there is a better place to study the subject as the islands are so rich in ancient sites.
“It’s a beautiful part of the world with fantastic people and a great atmosphere. There is so much to see and do in the islands and it’s about what you make of it. I have lots of friends and a good social life here and think it’s a great place to live and study.”
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