Association of Colleges

In September 2008, AoC Board nominated portfolio holders to lead policy work in a number of areas such as further education (FE) and higher education (HE) curriculum, sport, funding, quality, international and local Government and sustainable futures.

The remit for each portfolio holder is to:

• Convene a group of College leaders to assist them – in some cases working alongside an existing group (as with the skills, HE and reputation groups)
• Develop AoC policy positions to reflect College concerns and interests. This has been the focus of the 16-18 funding group and the adult funding group
• Act as a reference group for key Government departments, agencies and  other organisations (part of the agenda of the research and the long-term development group, and the international and the local government groups)

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Board Portfolio Groups

AoC’s Board has nominated the members to lead our policy work in the following areas:

 

Curriculum:
Skills	Andy Wilson, Westminster Kingsway College
Higher Education	Chris Morecroft, Worcester College of Technology
14-19 Diplomas	Helen Pegg, City of Stoke Sixth Form College
Relationships:
International	John Bingham, Thomas Rotherham College & Nick Lewis, Castle College Nottingham
Local government	Tim Jackson, Sparsholt College
Quality:
Self Regulation	Asha Khemka, West Nottinghamshire College
Performance Management	Robin Parkinson, Great Yarmouth College
Reputation	Ioan Morgan, Warwickshire College
Funding:
16-18 Funding	John Smith, Burnley College
Adult Funding	George Trow, Rotherham College
Miscellaneous:
Research and long-term development	John Widdowson, New College Durham
Sport	Richard Atkins, Exeter College

Each portfolio holder will convene a group of College leaders to assist them with their work – in some cases, adapting an existing group for this purpose. The purpose of each portfolio group will be to develop policy positions for AoC which reflect College concerns and interests and to act as a reference group for key Government departments and agencies. Different portfolio groups will work in different ways but will all report to the Board and will be a major influence on AoC work. 

Although the work of some portfolio groups is still underway, tangible results include:

• Production of Hiding the Wiring, a best practice guide for engaging with employers (the reputation portfolio group)
• Policy statements on 16-19 funding and 16-19 organisation (the funding and the local government groups respectively)
• The HE Group has developed some innovative thinking on the role of Colleges in this area