Originally published on February 17th, 2009

Mark Ballard, the former Green MSP and current Rector of the University, has offered his support to the man who will replace him in the role, journalist Iain Macwhirter.

Speaking to the Student, Ballard warned Macwhirter against using the position to advance a personal agenda, saying: “The key thing is to remember that his mandate and his position allows him to let other people speak, whether they’re staff, unions or the students’ association, rather than necessarily being somebody who campaigns in his own right.”

Ballard emphasised the importance of the Rector’s role in lobbying the Scottish Government on university issues, and said that fighting for more funding should be Macwhirter’s top priority.

“I think the greatest long-term challenge is persuading the Scottish Government that if you want a world-class higher education system, you’re going to have to pay for it.

If we’re not going to go down the English and Welsh route of getting students to pay more and more for their education, we’re going to have to try and really ask for more funding. Things like making sure university lecturers are well-paid, which I’m sure is going to be an immediate challenge for him,” Ballard said.

The current Rector has a track record of opposition to tuition fees, and activism on green issues, which has led to him being arrested on several occasions during direct action.

On his time as Rector, Ballard said: “I think that my greatest achievement was working on the Rector’s Charter, which I helped to draw up with Simon Pecker, the rector of St. Andrews University. This, for the first time ever, sets out what rectors should be doing in the role. I think it’s taken the institution forward and shown how it can be relevant in the 21st century.

“In terms of the University, I was particularly pleased we’d achieved such a huge increase in the number of student bursaries during my period of rectorship, which was because of a coalition on the University Court that believed that there ought to be better support for poorer students at university.

“My greatest disappointment is that despite agitating and supporting students, we didn’t get the University to build more low-cost accommodation.”

Macwhirter will be formally installed as Rector in a ceremony next month.