Under-fire UHI Perth principal Dr Margaret Cook has quit her post with immediate effect, The Courier can reveal.
Dr Cook leaves the top job after nearly eight years as the institution battles a £2 million deficit.
The outgoing principal had faced calls to resign over her response to financial and management problems.
Perthshire MP Pete Wishart and trade union GMB both called for fresh leadership to be installed.
It’s understood UHI Perth hopes to appoint an interim principal to take on Dr Cook’s duties shortly.
In a farewell message to staff, she said: “My sincere thanks to all of you for your hard work and dedication to our students, everything you do on a daily basis makes a significant difference to our students’ futures.”
Dr Cook on leave for health reasons
The institution is also without a finance chief or permanent chair.
We reported last week that Dr Cook had gone on a leave of absence for “health reasons”.
Depute Principals Lorenz Cairns and Lynn Murray had been filling in for her while she was away.
Earlier, Dr Cook and the leadership team faced a backlash when The Courier revealed proposals were put forward to axe university degrees entirely.
UHI Perth later U-turned and said the idea had been “strongly dismissed” immediately.
First Minister John Swinney – a Perthshire MSP – said: “I am grateful to Dr Cook for her hard work and wish her well for the future.
“It is now vital that the senior leadership team at UHI Perth focuses on securing and enhancing the services available to students.”
Perthshire SNP MP Mr Wishart said: “This is the right decision by Dr Margaret Cook.
“I and others have recognised that this is the only way to avert further reputational damage at UHI Perth.
“Nonetheless, I would like to thank Dr Cook for her service over the years.”
Last month we reported how an aviation firm linked to UHI Perth had collapsed.
Bosses at the university were branded “utterly disastrous” for failing to react to warnings over the company’s future.
Last year UHI Perth shut its nursery after claiming it was no longer financially sustainable.
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