College principal returns to work after nine-month suspension

16th November 2015, 5:52pm

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College principal returns to work after nine-month suspension

https://www.tes.com/magazine/archive/college-principal-returns-work-after-nine-month-suspension
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The principal of Glasgow Clyde College is to return to work nine months after she was suspended, it has been announced. The college’s board said it would not be pursuing disciplinary action against Susan Walsh, and her suspension had been lifted with immediate effect.

Ms Walsh was suspended in February by the governing board that was in place at the time. No official reason was given, and the move came just after her leadership of the college had been lauded in an Education Scotland inspection report. It was later reported that she would attend a disciplinary meeting, which TES understands did not take place.

Last month, education secretary Angela Constance waded into the row and took the “nuclear option” of removing the college’s entire governing board, including its chair. Ms Constance had previously written to the chair warning that she intended to take action over repeated failures of governance.

The local branch of the EIS FELA union, which represents lecturers at Scottish colleges, said at the time that the removal of the board had “come as a surprise”, and that it had written to Ms Constance to highlight a number of concerns about the process that had led to the suspension of the principal.

The board’s new chair, Alex Linkston, today said that having conducted a “full and thorough review” into the previous board’s decision to suspend Ms Walsh, it would not be taking any disciplinary action against her.

He added that the past few months had “proven a difficult time for Glasgow Clyde College, and the board sees as paramount the need to move forward and to look to the future with confidence”.

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