Board of Management

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The Board of Management is responsible for overseeing the College’s activities, determining its future direction and fostering an environment in which the College’s vision is achieved. Members are appointed following a fair, open and merit-based recruitment process, and the Board also includes the College Principal, elected members of staff and representatives of the Student Association.

Board of Management

Dr Waiyin Hatton
Chair

Dr Waiyin Hatton

Dr Waiyin Hatton is a firm believer in life-long learning and a beneficiary of formal education and continued professional development throughout her career.

Passionate about unleashing talents, Waiyin set up her own consultancy, Wai Beyond, in 2012 to inspire and nurture greatness in people, teams and organisations, delivering leadership development; coaching and Board development; acting as ‘Business Mentor’; and being a role model to women in leadership.

Prior to this, she has had extensive leadership across the public and not-for-profit sectors in health care in England, Scotland and Wales. Her last post was that of Chief Executive of NHS Ayrshire and Arran, describing her role as ‘creating an environment to succeed’.

A former karate international medallist, she co-founded Ayrshire Sportsability; and puts back in the community as she currently Chair of Action Against Stalking She was elected Chair of Colleges Scotland Board, taking up the role in February 2022.

Waiyin was awarded Rotary International Paul Harris Fellow in 2015 for her contribution to the community; and has been recognised by the Association of Scottish Business Women, winning the Best Business Charity Award in 2015 and awarded Woman of Inspiration in 2014.
Liz Connolly
Principal & Chief Executive

Liz Connolly

Liz was appointed as Principal of West College Scotland on 3 September 2018, she was formerly Vice-Principal Corporate Development.

She was born and brought up in the East End of Glasgow and has an honours degree and an MBA from Strathclyde University. She attended Harvard University to study Executive Development.

Liz worked for the Scottish Development Agency before its merger with the Training Agency in 1991 to become Scottish Enterprise. She then spent the next 16 years with Scottish Enterprise, becoming Chief Executive of three separate Local Enterprise Companies, as well as Operations Director for the West of Scotland.

Liz left the organization in 2010 to spend time working on charity projects, including the building of a community centre in a village in South Africa. She has since assisted in similar projects in Nepal and Cambodia.

Before joining West College Scotland, she project-managed the merger of Anniesland, Cardonald and Langside Colleges to create Glasgow Clyde College.

She is a board member of Targeting Innovation and has recently joined the board of Interface, which connects organisations from national and international industries to Scotland’s 23 higher education and research institutes.
Mark Newlands
Non-Executive Member

Mark Newlands

Mark is Head of Partnerships for Scottish Enterprise with responsibility for the West of Scotland incorporating the Glasgow City Region and Ayrshire. Prior to this role Mark was the Head of Trade & Investment for Technology and Engineering in SDI. He joined SDI in 2007 to set up their International Education team working with Universities and Colleges and has developed extensive national and international networks with experience of doing business globally.

He has over 25 years’ experience in working with the Education sector in Scotland holding various teaching and support roles in Kilmarnock and Cardonald Colleges before joining Scottish Enterprise as Brand Manager for the Modern Apprenticeship Programme and working on a range of skills programmes for young people.

He has retained a passion for Education since his early days as a school teacher in Ayrshire and brings this passion and ambition for the college sector to his work on the board.
Linda Johnston
Vice Chair (Non-Executive Member)

Linda Johnston

Linda is the Business Strategy Manager at North Lanarkshire Council and has extensive experience of change and transformation programmes, redesigning public sector services to meet the varying needs of users . With a passion for supporting others to reach their full potential Linda has led the development of School/Employer partnerships to offer young people the opportunity to develop life skills, created job opportunities and mentoring support for young people with complex needs and supports young entrepreneurs to grow and develop sustainable business models.

Linda has chaired national policy groups, including the development of the public sector complaint’s handling procedures on behalf of the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and has successfully delivered a number of high profile events. These include the triathlon and time trial events for G2014 Commonwealth Games, the British Transplant Games where she welcomed over 1200 transplant athletes and their families to North Lanarkshire and designed a marketing campaign to increase the number of sign-ups to the Organ Donor Register in Scotland. More recently, Linda was Chair of the Local Organising Committee to deliver the Go Live festival event at Strathclyde Country Park as part of the Glasgow 2018 European Sporting Championships with over 20,000 local people attending the activities.
John Leburn
Non-Executive Member

John Leburn

A qualified Chartered Accountant, John has enjoyed a long and varied career with many blue-chip organisations. Well known for his “left-field” thinking, John has a strong track record of implementing best practice throughout all major areas of a business or organisation.

His experience spans many sectors such as Audit; FMCG; Infrastructure; Defence; Aerospace, Wines and Spirits and SME’s. He has managed Finance, IT, Business Analysis; Customer Service, Strategic Planning, Consumer Intelligence, Commercial Development, Supply Chain and Investor Relations functions – contributing new ways of thinking to many of them.

John is a Principal Consultant for Exponentiate.uk, providing a wide range of business support services (Strategy, Leadership, Change Management and Business Modelling) to a varied client base.
Douglas Bayley
Non-Teaching Staff

Douglas Bayley

Dougie joined West of College Scotland in January 2019 as support staff for the Construction team. He has spent the majority of his career in the rail industry and undertaking a variety of roles within the industry both in the UK and overseas. During this time Dougie was responsible for delivering fencing and vegetation contracts on the rail infrastructure.

After settling down in West Dunbartonshire and developing a love for the Dumbarton FC he took up a change of career which he was successfully recruited into in the College and has not look back since.

Outside of work Dougie’s interests centre around his family and takes great joy in his 2 grandchildren and encouraging them to spend time creatively and in the great outdoors. Dougie’s family underline his commitment to ensuring that there are the right support structures and opportunities for all young people to enable them to achieve their career goals.
Fiona McKerrell
Non-Executive Member

Fiona McKerrell

As a lawyer specialising in business advisory and restructuring, Fiona has almost 20 years' experience in advising business and stakeholders across many different industries.
She has a passion for gaining an understanding of an organisation's key challenges and opportunities, and for using both her expertise and common sense to help find optimal strategies and solutions.
She believes that a successful education system is integral to a thriving society and successful economy.
Fiona is a partner in Shepherd and Wedderburn LLP. Her hobbies include running, camping and cycling.
Gordon Hunt
Non-Executive Member

Gordon Hunt

Gordon trained as an academic librarian and managed libraries in Leeds, Cambridge and Oxford before moving to Scotland as the first head of information services at the Royal Conservatoire in 1999. After a period as a director of the National Library of Scotland he became University Librarian of UWS in 2008.

In ten years at UWS he was successively Campus Director (Ayr), Director of Planning and Head of External Engagement, working with colleges, local authorities and business.

In recent years Gordon has worked in the grant-making sector supporting education projects at The Robertson Trust and the Peter Vardy Foundation, before moving to the College Development Network (CDN) in November 2020 in the role of maternity cover for the Head of Leadership, Governance and Research.

Gordon also has extensive experience in non-executive roles including as chair of the Scottish Library and Information Council, chair of audit and governance at Stow College and founding trustee and vice chair of the Ayrshire College Foundation. He has also served on the boards of Ayrshire Chamber of Commerce and Paisley First.
Grant Lyall
Non-Executive Member

Grant Lyall

Grant is a Chartered Accountant and has spent his career working in financial services. Over the last 17 years, he gained extensive experience working at Executive Management and Board level providing leadership on risk management, compliance and audit.

Since 2019, Grant has volunteered as a mentor with MCR Pathways, a Scottish charity whose vision is that every care experienced young person gets the same education outcomes, career opportunities and life chances as every other person. This gave Grant insight into the important role of Scotland’s Colleges in improving employability and delivering good outcomes for young people.

Grant has recently taken early retirement and his interests include cycling, running and golf.
Graeme Bold
Non-Executive Member

Graeme Bold

Graeme has over 20 years’ experience in financial services and was appointed Workplace Pensions Director at Scottish Widows in September 2019, where he is responsible for developing the channel strategy, transformation plans and propositions to market including digital services, insight and data led engagement and Master Trust pensions.

Prior to this, he was Operations Director at M&G Prudential leading strategy, development and the global services business in Mumbai. He was at Standard Life for 20 years and held a range of roles including Strategy Director, Operations Director and Proposition Director covering retail platforms and workplace pensions through RDR, Auto-enrolment and Pension Freedoms. Graeme is a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries and holds positions as board trustee and chair of corporate committee at Sight Scotland, and board member of Origo Services and Criterion.
Abbie McGrath
Students' Association President

Abbie McGrath
Sandor Nagy
Students’ Association Vice President

Sandor Nagy

Sandor is a trilingual, award winning visual artist, a lifelong learning advocate and a keen cyclist.

Currently studying photography and representing WCS students as the Vice President for the Student Association. Over the years, Sandor explored art through various mediums including painting, photography, performance art and he attended several art camps & art festivals and countless group exhibitions as well. His works have been featured in magazines and art books, being recognized by awards as well. He embraced the art world from various sides and gained experience in various fields during his career.

Sandor is a member on acknowledged art organisations and unions across the world and to give back to society he is happily volunteering not just across several art organisations and on the Board of Management but across several committees (Quality Standards, Sustainability, Health and Safety) and networks (LGBTQIA+, Equality, Disability) at West College Scotland.

In a world which is constantly changing due to technological advances, increasing strains on our environment and the depletion of finite resources. Sandor believes that it is imperative to fulfil our responsibility to educate the new generations regarding the importance of art and education in our society while focusing on environmental awareness also.
Ronald Leitch
Non-Executive Member

Ronald Leitch

Ronald, from Paisley, started his career at Glasgow Airport as a Modern Apprentice in partnership with Reid Kerr College back in October 2000. He has held numerous senior roles at the airport and the wider AGS Airport group with a range of leadership responsibilities across our airside, rescue and fire, security, terminal, engineering, and capital investment.

From 2015 to 2019, Ronald led the Capital and Engineering functions where he was responsible for delivering capital investment programmes totalling £70 million, including the replacement of the airport’s baggage systems to meet Standard 3 compliance and also major refurbishment programmes in the terminal and airfield. Ronald also played a crucial role in bringing the iconic A380 aircraft into service at Glasgow in 2019, which was a first for Scottish aviation, using his experience in operations to lead design development and construction delivery.

Now the leader of Glasgow Airport in the role of Operations Director, he has led the business over the last two years through its most difficult time and looks forward positively to better times ahead.

With his wealth of knowledge and experience across two decades in aviation, Ronald has joined the Board with a desire to support and assist those in Education harness links with industry and be part of shaping the future of West College Scotland for its staff and students to ensure the best learning opportunities exist in the communities it serves.
Jane McKie
Non-Executive Member

Jane McKie

Until the end of the academic session 2020-21, Jane was Vice Principal – People at Ayrshire College, a role she had held since regionalisation in 2013. A dedicated public servant, Jane is a highly experienced and dedicated HR and OD professional, with an extensive working career, both in the NHS and the college sector. Jane held a variety of NHS roles, finishing that part of her career in NHS Ayrshire & Arran as Assistant O&HRD Director for Policy and Performance, before moving to the former Kilmarnock College in 2008 as Director of Organisational Development. This new career move enabled Jane to understand and be part of the transformational role that colleges can play in changing people’s lives and developing their careers.

Whilst taking on the role of board member is new to her, Jane’s executive leadership experience enables her to be very aware of the significance of first class corporate governance, particularly where key strategic decisions are required during times of change and development and financial constraints. Jane is a firm believer in the principles of staff governance and that a positive organisational culture, meaningful values and the investment in, and wellbeing of, staff underpin a successful and healthy organisation for the benefit of all stakeholders. She remains passionate about supporting the sector and continues to be inspired by what colleges and their staff do so well to enable students to achieve their ambitions and to maximise their potential, benefitting their communities and local employers.
Danny McMahon
Non-Executive Member

Danny McMahon

Danny is an experienced Engineering Leader having joined Rolls-Royce straight from School and completing an apprenticeship, Danny went on to graduate with an honours degree from Glasgow Caledonian University in 2011. Working as a Business Metrologist within Rolls-Royce Danny completed a Master of Science degree with the University of Strathclyde in 2015.

Having worked in the aerospace sector for 11 years Danny then moved roles to take leadership of the Metrology team at the Advanced Forming Research Centre, Part of the University of Strathclyde, where he grew the teams activities and helped to establish a Digital Team. Danny then led both teams growing their activities and capabilities around Digital technology and Measurement into what is now a key part of the Digital Factory within the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS).

Danny is currently a Business Partner within the Digital and Technology Plan function of Diageo looking at global investment and strategy for manufacturing. This role involves engagement across all Diageo sites globally to identify key areas where investment should be made in technology solutions.

Having made lifelong learning a key part of his career Danny has particular interest in skills and culture development and the ever-increasing impact technology has in these areas.
George Rice
Teaching Staff Member

George Rice

George has been a member of the lecturing staff at West College Scotland since January 2016 and previously taught evening classes at City of Glasgow College. He formerly worked as a member of support staff in the college from 2010.

He was born and brought up in Alexandria and now lives in Dumbarton, having previously lived in Stirling while completing his undergraduate degree. He has a BA (Hons) and MSc from the University of Stirling and a MLitt from the University of Dundee.

George was formerly a shop steward for UNISON for a period of seven years, including during the merger of Clydebank, Reid Kerr and James Watt Colleges to form West College Scotland. He has taken part in negotiation and consultation with senior managers both locally and at national level.

He has a passion for the FE sector and is focused on ensuring that the college strives to serve the local community and, in particular, those from disadvantaged backgrounds in order to improve their life chances.
Dr Jillian Couto-Phoenix
Non-Executive Member

Dr Jillian Couto-Phoenix

Jillian is Head of Skills and Talent for the Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Centre. Here she leads a range of career development programmes to encourage new generations into aquaculture and to develop those who are already working in the sector.

Jillian has had a varied career to date. She started out as an academic scientist in the medical/life-sciences, and then, following a discipline hop, pivoted to develop a research and teaching portfolio in environmental engineering and biotechnology.

Wanting to enable newly discovered science and technology to make a more direct impact in society, Jillian moved from academia to managing research and innovation programmes that connected universities to manufacturing businesses. She then joined the National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, where she oversaw the delivery of two transition training fund programmes focused on upskilling and training to meet the industry’s digital transformation, net zero and sustainability skills requirements.

Jillian is passionate about the transformational capability of life-long learning and has a particular interest in helping develop inclusive programmes to enable individuals to transition back into careers after a break and to help those wishing to transition across sectors.
Jackie Russell
Non-Executive Member

Jackie Russell

Jackie Russell is an experienced Human Resources professional, with a background in Human Resources and management in the Higher Education and Health sectors.

Jackie was the Director of Human Resources at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. A member of the senior management team, her remit covered the areas of Human Resources, Equality and Diversity, Health, Safety and Wellbeing and Child Protection.

Her board experience includes being a member of the Glasgow Regional Colleges Board for eight years eight. Jackie was chair of the Nominations and Remuneration Committee and also acted as Interim Senior Independent member.

She has been a Trustee of Sparqs, the student quality organisation and a co-opted member of the Remuneration Committee of Sistema Scotland, the music charity.

She is professionally qualified in mediation and has acted as a mentor for staff and students.

Jackie is a graduate of Glasgow University, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and has a particular interest in education and equality, the arts and culture.

She also has an interest in sports and has helped to run martial arts classes for nearly 30 years.