A curious alchemy is bringing the cutting edge of modern Scottish educational thinking into contact with one of its most distinctive and historic features. The Scottish government’s Higher Education Task Force—a gathering of the educational clans, presided over jointly by Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop and Glasgow University’s Sir Muir Russell, current chair of the Scottish Principals—has been engaged in some “blue skies thinking” as to the future of our tertiary sector.

The Task Force has been spurred into action by the impending lifting of tuition fee caps at universities south of the Border – and the impact which such a development could have on those of us operating within the Scottish model. It is wide-ranging and potentially controversial. And, as such, it has galvanised those of us who comprise the five-strong club of the ancient universities’ rectors into collective action.

More of which in a moment. What has surprised myself and my opposite rectorial numbers is the level of initial interest which our initiative has so far generated – and the potential which this opens up with a view to the future. At our recent press conference in Edinburgh there was a genuine journalistic curiosity as to the genesis of the move and what it might presage for the future. And that has set us thinking as well.

Under the auspices of the various Student Representative Council and Student Association campus executives an informal committee of the rectorships has been meeting and considering areas of mutual interest. One such—obviously—is the position and role of the office of rector itself which, despite its longevity, has to withstand occasional efforts by individual university courts to constrain or downplay its overall clout. The current crop of incumbents are not sympathetic to such freelance establishment activities—enough said—and trust that the ultimate authority, the Privy Council itself, would take a similar view if ever presented with a plea for change from an individual institution.

This comparing of notes has now broadened out into that wider rectorial role, not least against the backdrop of the Task Force initiative. The student executives feel that they have not had sufficient input to the process and, given it is the student electorate who provide us with our democratic, representative legitimacy, it seemed timely and necessary for us to enter into the debate.

Prime amongst our concerns is the fact that the Task Force is not in a position to pronounce specifically on funding issues. This creates a sense of Hamlet without the prince where its deliberations are concerned, a view shared by CHESS (the Coalition of Higher Education Scottish Students) and NUS Scotland. In drawing attention to this anxiety we now propose to take matters further by collective lobbying of the various party political groupings at Holyrood, particularly in the context of ongoing budgetary debates already underway.

Indeed, when you consider the democratic base represented, individually and collectively, by the five rectorships it does constitute a valid voice which has a right to be heard. We anticipate that our Holyrood parliamentarians will take a similar view: after all, their constituents also happen to be our constituents. (We are not minded to start arguing for a reintroduction of the parliamentary university seats, tempting though that might be!)

We agree that blue skies thinking should be part of the raison d’être of any university environment. But we do see part of our role as being to maintain a feet on the ground approach at the same time, lest we lose touch with our educational foundations. There are indications, given the financial pressures, of a sense of common cause emerging across the educational community. Perhaps the rectors can act as something of a catalyst within the ongoing process.

We need to be mindful of the fact that our current model of student funding has only operated in a period of economic growth; how will new aspirations sit alongside the inevitable financial downturn which is now an apparent global inevitability? Perhaps one of our longest-living Scottish educational offices can at least help articulate the concerns to be heard in such far-reaching future considerations.