Morning. I was the IET Community Manger for Scotland until November 2017 and would like to add that the IET are not stopping involvement in Scotland. I also live and work here. We still have the active Local Networks (Scotland South West, Scotland South East and Scotland North) plus IET Scotland and two techincal networks (Power and Manufacturing) who will all continue to hold activity in their various locations. Each has their own community page where all their events can be found and the volunteers put in a lot of work to host these events. Yes, the Scotland South West events will have to move to another location plus the few events held there by Power and IET Scotland, but Glasgow has many city centre venues that are suitable. The majority of the IET conferences and bigger LN events have always been held outwith the Teacher Buiding due to the size (maximum numbers of 125 in the theatre). The IET Scotland Christmas Lecture has been in various universities in Glasgow, the conferences are tending to go the same way, again for capacity. The IET has activity all across the globe without having a conference centre location in one city.
Having read the various posts, I am a little surprised there has been no comment on the decision by the Trustees to close the Teacher Building being taken last year and not until this year, the decision was made public, without prior notice to IET Scotland. While it is understandable alteration of the building would prove contentious, its worth noting Teacher Builing had been reasonably successful in a commercial sense due to accommodation letting, etc.
IEE/IET Christmas Lectures were on the go before the Teacher Building was purchased by the IEE. These lectures were seen as a partnership between the IEE/IET and the organisation that agreed to present these annual events. Since the presenting organisations were in the main universities, it seemed reasonable they were willing to provide accommodation, while through their connections with other universities come to an arrangement to host, as it was useful publicity. Inverness College, now the University of the Highlands and Island where always particularly keen to act as a host venue.
What I was always considered to be poor in terms of the IEE/IET, was the almost total failure to use the four street level windows to publicise the Institution, rather than as has been for quite some time, advertising the Teacher Building as an award winning meeting venue. We are after all an Institution promoting Engineering and Technology!
Throughout my time as an Interviewer and Interview Convener, around 9 or 10 session of interviews were held annually in the Teacher Building. Prior to the Teacher Building being available, interviews were held in the Ingram Hotel, where is did sometimes prove difficult to get a date for suitable accommodation. An issue likely to arise once more.
While there were and continue to be IEE/IET publications on display, being able to gain more general information about the Institution was never really possible. This is in no way a criticism of the Teacher Building staff who I always found to be extremely welcoming and helpful, and in that respect a very sad loss to the IET. They did their very best to respond to enquires, providing information on appropriate contacts within the Institution.
Finally it is worth noting the Teacher Building purchase was seen as an investment, at a time when the IEE had a positive funds balance. It will be interesting to see what the investment realises in the next set of IET annual accounts.
I think what is missing in this discussion is the detailed business analysis that resulted in a recommendation to suspend use of the Teacher Building and the probable disposal. I assume that the business case for closure evaluated the pros and cons and this information should be shared with this forum.
Can I also enquire about the decision-making process? It seems, there was a failure to review the decision with those directly affected.
Depending on a release and review of the business case, is there a right of appeal?
Thanks for your comments Michael. Sorry I can't join you at tonight's meeting to discuss various issues, including the Teacher Building. I'm sure a lot of members will be interested in any outcome.
My apologies for some confusion. I did not state that I was unavailable to attend the meeting. I am currently in Dubai and shall return to the UK Monday, June 4.
Michael and Jack, thanks for your responses to my post.
I like the idea of developing a new thread "The future of the IET in Scotland" and would be happy to contribute my experiences of working with a London centric institution.
Networks will obviously organise their meetings to suit their location. Nothing wrong with that but it means we don't have an IET Scotland focal point. One wonders where our esteemed London centric colleagues will meet us all when they come up to wave the flag.
