Alice not yet in wonderland..

This is Alice. More formally Professor Alice Brown CBE, the new chair of the Scottish Funding Council.

We met up today to discuss the future direction of the college sector and indeed bodies such as the Scottish Funding Council that provide support to the sector. It was a very encouraging meeting.

Alice is someone with a huge commitment to enabling the provision of top class education for students in colleges and universities. But she is also someone who doesn't see the world through rose tinted spectacles, but rather views matters on their merits and recognises there is real scope for improvement and development. That is to be welcomed.

I would describe Alice as a reformer, but not dictatorial in style; rather someone who thinks seriously, listens attentively and is open to challenge. In other language, she has all the attributes of a reflective practitioner, and that must be a good thing.

She may aspire for everyone in Scotland to live in a "wonderland" of world class education. But she knows we are not there at the moment, and that there is much work to be done.