When Brian Cronin was approached about becoming Chair of Oldham College, it wasn’t a role he had been considering. But Oldham felt familiar, given that much of his career has focused on social mobility and improving opportunities in communities facing similar challenges.
After a period as Chair Designate, Brian has now formally taken on the role. He spoke to HoDan Baxter about what he has learned from getting under the skin of the College, why he wants student voices to play a bigger role in governance, and where he believes a board can add the most value.
What has stood out to you since joining Oldham College?
I was really surprised by how much great work they are doing. I knew it was a lot, but it’s far more than you’d imagine as someone who isn’t necessarily familiar with the sector. I don’t think we talk about it enough either, because it’s tremendous!
We had one of our quarterly learner voice sessions with students a few weeks ago, and that was very insightful. I think I picked up three very clear messages from it.
Our teachers and students speak to each other in a very open and mature way, and that gives students confidence that they are actually listened to.
The leaders of our College genuinely and passionately want to deliver the best possible outcome for every individual who walks through those doors. The relationships they foster to provide the necessary support are tremendous.
And our students are just super-talented people. They came to our meeting with a range of creative suggestions about how the curriculum should change next year and where resources might need to be updated to mirror the workplace. It was great. These are young people who have already formed opinions on how we reflect the environments they want to work in, and then have the confidence to tell us.
We’re lucky that we can bring in the knowledge of expert teachers who can respond to this and develop the curriculum around what our students need to reach their planned career destinations.
I think there’s a perception that young people at college don’t necessarily want to be there, but they have to be there. That feels different here. They want to come to our College.
Our staff are constantly going above and beyond for their communities, but to them it’s just part of their normal day job. We need to do more as a College to talk about this.
What did being Chair Designate give you before taking on the role?
My time as Chair Designate was an important and positive step.
I had lots of handover conversations with Jonathon, the outgoing Chair, which were hugely valuable and I’m very grateful for. It allowed me to get underneath things at a deeper level. As in every case like this, I’ll have a different approach, so being able to understand his focus has been extremely useful.
I also spent time sitting in a lot of committee meetings to observe. That gave me a chance to listen and learn without the pressure and expectations of being the Chair.
I’ve found it a really positive, and vital, learning experience.
How do you see your role as Chair?
I’ve been trying to take a step back and review our Board. It’s a group of people who bring a very broad set of skills and deep levels of experience.
I think my job moving forward will be to make things simpler and make sure we aren’t getting into the day-to-day. These are things that the College needs to do.
I want us to take a step back as a group and see where we can add the greatest value to the leadership team, while continuing to put our trust in them as they get on with making the day-to-day successful.
I want to help the Board focus on what is important and be the facilitator of the big questions.
What role can students play in the work of the Board?
I want to spend some time putting extra effort into supporting the student representatives on the Board in the years ahead and make this more of a highlight too.
There’s a lot going on at the College, and I think our student reps will have a lot of valuable insight. It’s important for the Board to understand what it’s like to be at the College. That gives us extra insight alongside the stats around retention and achievement, but also helps us understand what drives our students.
That ethos of taking on views, being student-focused and listening is clearly a vital element of the College culture.
The mature relationship between students and their teachers has probably surprised me most. These relationships are different to anything else I’ve experienced, and I think that’s a huge benefit when we’re trying to prepare students for the world of work.
The College feels like a work environment, so our students leave with a clear understanding of the expectations and behaviours they’ll need when they get their first job and beyond. It’s really setting them up for success.
What made Oldham College the right opportunity for you?
This role wasn’t something I was considering. I had a gentle nudge from the Peridot team, and that was helpful.
We then had some structured and in-depth conversations about the role. I was cautious because I’ve had really poor experiences with recruiters in the past, which have put me off roles completely. But this was a different experience. I learned more and more about the College as we went along.
Oldham is one of those places that is very much like others I’ve worked in throughout my career. It has a similar demographic and a similar set of social challenges and backgrounds, so it felt like it was right in my ballpark.
The stories we hear from students and the challenges they face are similar to those I’ve worked with elsewhere. Every role I’ve had has had a link to social mobility and improving opportunity, so I thought this was a role where I could add value and try to make a difference in some way.
What would you say to someone considering taking on a role like this?
I think a lot of people look at what they can do in terms of skills and think about whether the timing is right.
But I always ask myself the same question: where can I add value and use my experience to give back?
We need to do more as a society to give back and help the next generation, who have a really tough time in the modern world.
Yes, there’s a time commitment to a role like this, but in reality, you can make a far bigger difference to people’s lives than you might imagine. To me, that’s worth every minute.
Dan Baxter is our Principal Consultant, Further Education Appointments. With his extensive experience working across the education sector with organisations that champion those who need support, Dan has been brilliantly supporting our clients to inspire the next generation ever since.
