There is dismay in Scottish higher education over the unexpected resignation of enterprise and lifelong learning minister Wendy Alexander, and a warning that it must not deflect her strategies to put the sector at the heart of Scotland's economic future.
Ms Alexander resigned last Friday, only days after launching a consultation paper as part of a review of higher education. She gave no reason for her departure, saying simply that she had decided at "the turn of the year" to stand down as a minister.
The most likely reason appears to be an ever-growing portfolio: first minister Jack McConnell added transport to her brief just before Christmas. Ms Alexander has been replaced by former social justice minister Iain Gray.
David Bleiman, Scottish official of the Association of University Teachers, praised Ms Alexander's understanding of and passion for higher education. "One of her achievements has been to build a consensus around the future strategy for higher education, and especially the concept of an economic future for Scotland based on Scotland's science and skills.
"For Iain Gray, the biggest challenge is making it happen. That includes gaining the commitment not only of Scotland's business and lifelong education communities, but also of the cabinet, which must be ready to give priority to Scotland's distinctive economic strategy in the coming spending review," he added.
A spokesperson for Universities Scotland said: "Wendy Alexander's strategy was right for higher education, and we hope that it will be pursued, putting higher education at the heart of the economic agenda and social inclusion. We are looking forward to working with the new minister."
Ms Alexander's consultation paper says Scotland's falling population means that higher education institutions will have to revamp how and what they teach.
The expected drop in the number of young Scots over the next 30 years, coupled with economic pressures to extend people's working lives, means that institutions will be confronted with "new types of students seeking new skills, with new demands for how and when and where courses are presented", the paper says.
Institutions should be working together to expand the opportunities available to students, as well as working with bodies such as Future Skills Scotland to predict and tackle skills gaps.
The paper warns that not enough is being done to develop e-learning. It sees e-learning as crucial for capturing a larger share of the international market, but stresses that this is only one of the approaches necessary.
Institutions may need to do more teaching abroad and must continue to attract non-Scottish students, who pay more than £70 million in fees and spend more than £120 million off campus a year.
The paper warns that there must be a better deal for contract researchers because "many young scholars do not perform to their potential when existing in a context of uncertainty".