This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Scottish Qualifications Authority
08/03/2006
Education Minister Peter Peacock today announced a new appointment and re-appointments to the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) Board of Management. An existing board member's second term of appointment has also been extended by one year.
The new member is:
Gordon Rodgers - A secondary school teacher for six years before joining SCOTVEC (one of SQA's two parent organisations) in 1990, Mr Rodgers is currently a Business Manager with the SQA working on guiding and supporting the work of qualification teams. Until recently he was the senior representative for the Amicus Trade Union which is one of the three Trades Unions that represent SQA staff .
The new appointment will run from February 6, 2006 until December 31, 2009.
The re-appointments are:
Tony Cassidy - Chair of Edinburgh Dragon Trust plc and Director of Intralink Ltd. Until recently, member of Learning and Teaching/Quality Assurance Committees of the Scottish Higher Education Funding Council. Former Chief Executive, West Midlands Regional Development Agency and Chief Executive and Renfrewshire Enterprise Ltd.
Linda McKay - Principal of Forth Valley College of Further and Higher Education, Convenor of the SQA Advisory Council and acting Chairperson, Scottish Enterprise Forth Valley.
Margaret Nicol - Principal Teacher, Learning Support, at Madras College in St Andrews. Member of Advisory Council Learning and Teaching Scotland, and former President of Educational Institute of Scotland (EIS). She has represented the EIS since 1986 in areas such as equality, education, finance and pensions.
Tony Cassidy, Linda McKay and Margaret Nicol have been re-appointed for a second term of four and a half years from January 1, 2006 until June 30, 2010.
Extended term
Iain McMillan, CBE - has had his second term of appointment extended by one year from January 1, 2006, until December 31, 2006.
Mr McMillan has been Director of CBI Scotland since 1995 after two years as its Assistant Director. He has 22 years experience in the banking industry during which time he has held a number of senior management posts spanning marketing and product development, planning and line management. In the CBI he has been involved in policy development. He was awarded a CBE in 2003 for services to lifelong learning.
All posts are part-time and attract a remuneration of £ 4,306 for a time commitment of around 23 days per year.
Mr McMillan and Ms Nicol hold other ministerial appointments. Mr McMillan is a non-executive Director of the Scottish Ambulance Service for which the remuneration is £7,490. Ms Nicol is a member of the Learning and Teaching Scotland Advisory Council, which is not remunerated. None of the other appointees hold any other ministerial public appointments.
The SQA is an executive non-departmental public body established under the Education (Scotland) Act 1996, as amended by the Scottish Qualifications Authority Act 2002. It is responsible for the development, accreditation, assessment and certification of qualifications other than degrees in Scotland.
Ministerial public appointments have been made in accordance with the Code of Practice issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments in Scotland.
All appointments are made on merit and political activity plays no part in the selection process. However, in accordance with the original Nolan recommendations, there is a requirement for appointees' political activity (if there is any to be declared) to be made public. None of the appointees declared any political activity within the last five years.