BA (Hons) Rural Business Management Top-Up Degree

Bill Mackay is Senior Lecturer for the BA [Hons] in Rural Business Management at SRUC Barony and Ayr [South and West Faculty]

Before becoming a lecturer, Bill’s career was in management, working with three multinational PLCs and three regional private limited companies, working in Glasgow, Edinburgh and London, including being an Operations Manager and Marketing Director. He then switched to an academic career in 2005 starting at Langside College lecturing mostly in financial management, business planning and marketing before joining SRUC in 2008.

 Bill says “I have a huge interest in rural diversification, particularly rural recreation, and hospitality. I am also very interested in rural entrepreneurship and innovation. I enjoy the challenges of interacting with different types of students, from HNC though to Honours Degree and International Masters level. I am good at organising a teaching programme so that it fits with other aspects of students’ lives e.g., work and family, and I take great satisfaction from students graduating with excellent degrees and gaining entry to fulfilling careers.”

“SRUC is about creating and mobilising knowledge and talent to benefit Scotland’s natural economy. That is something that I buy into and take satisfaction from contributing to.

My style of teaching is experiential. I like to use a variety of activities in the classroom including games and simulations. My lecturing style suits active learners with a focus on visits to real rural businesses and taking those experiences back into the classroom. I’m lucky in that I work with terrific students and excellent colleagues.”

Rachael Stark is Senior Lecturer in Rural Business Management at SRUC Aberdeen

Rachael graduated from Robert Gordon University with a degree in Publishing where she particularly focussed on marketing during her work placement. Prior to SRUC, Rachael worked in marketing roles across various different industries including oil and gas, and as Faculty Marketing Officer for a Higher Education institution.

Rachael joined SRUC’s commercial arm (SAC Consulting) as Marketing Co-ordinator in 2012 and that’s where the interest in becoming a lecturer began and so joined the education arm of the organisation in 2015.

Rachael says: “The most rewarding thing in the world is attending graduation day and watching students who enrolled as nervous, shy first years accept their awards as the confident, accomplished professionals that they have matured into.”

“I am passionate about dynamic marketing and branding – I enjoy trying to understand consumer behaviour and what makes people tick. My teaching style involves using lots of case studies and examples to contextualise theory and to stimulate interactive debate. My most popular lecture involved analysing (and tasting) a variety of chocolate brands!”

Alex has been at SRUC for over 17 years and worked as both a researcher and teacher. 

When teaching, his main interest is crop-related subjects. However, Alex also makes use of his research background by teaching research skills and supervising a number of honours and MSc projects. 

One of Alex’s favourite roles is coordinating the BSc Honours projects at Aberdeen. The students look at so many different things and he enjoys seeing them develop their interest in a specific topic, as well as finding answers to problems facing the industry. 

Claire Donaldson is a lecturer (specialises in tourism) for Rural Business Management and Wildlife Conservation Management at SRUC Barony and Ayr.

“Since graduating with a degree in Tourism two decades ago I have always worked and been passionate about the tourism industry. My journey began working on board the QE2 closely followed by the Orient Express Luxury Canal Barges in France – two very different experiences. After some travelling, working abroad and learning about new cultures I returned to Scotland and became a cabin crew member for a couple of years before initiating my own events catering business, providing homemade produce for various prestigious events throughout Scotland. It was during this time I made the tenuous (but strategic) decision to train in food hygiene and become a trainer, and this allowed me to get my foot in the door to becoming a lecturer. In 2012 I joined SRUC as a Tourism Lecturer and gained my higher education teaching qualification along with an MBA.”

“I am passionate about Tourism and specifically what Scotland has to offer. I thoroughly enjoy sharing my knowledge and expertise in this area and watching the students expand their understanding and become critical thinkers. As a lecturer Graduation Day is always the highlight and major job satisfaction of the academic year. When the students first begin their studies the majority think tourism is just about holidays. But this is not the case, tourism is a business activity and many of Scotland’s SMEs are reliant on the tourism industry offering a wide range of varied activities across all tourism niches. We make a considerable effort to take students on a range of field trips to experience first-hand some of Scotland’s rural tourism businesses.”

“My teaching style is experiential learning; in class or online we have interactive hands-on active learning experiences. This can include case studies, industry speakers, field trips and the opportunity to attend industry webinars and conferences providing excellent key insights and networking opportunities, which are advantageous upon entering the industry.”