In this UofG Community feature, we speak to Janice Douglas and Siobhan McDade, joint managers of the Principal’s Lodging, located at 12 The Square on the Gilmorehill campus. Originally built as the on-campus residence for the Principal and Vice-Chancellor, the Lodging is now primarily a hospitality venue that hosts receptions and dinners for invited guests to the University.
Janice and Siobhan have worked together at the Lodging since 2011, when Siobhan joined the University to cover for Janice’s maternity leave. Both Siobhan, who came to UofG from the Glasgow School of Art, and Janice, who has worked at the Lodging since 1998, quickly realised that their personal friendship and working relationship allowed them great flexibility and the capacity to be ever-present at the Lodging, and requested a formal job-share of the role shortly after Janice returned to work part time.
They credit their closeness and similar styles of working to the success of their job-share over the years: “It suits us perfectly. We think a job-share often hinges on people’s personalities and styles of working and it has worked for us from the beginning. It allows us a degree of flexibility in a role that demands constant attention, and ensures that there is a continuity of service for every event we host. It’s second nature to us now”.
Their role as the Principal’s Lodging Manager requires the organising and hosting of high-end hospitality events on behalf of the Principal, other senior figures and their invited guests to the University. Invited guests to the Lodging over the years include the First Minister, Cabinet Ministers from Westminster and Holyrood, Ambassadors, prominent figures from commerce and industry, donors who have a significant fundraising role for the University, distinguished visiting academics and faith community leaders.
The events demand focused attention to detail, and Janice and Siobhan organise and execute the events to ensure that they go smoothly with little interruption – despite the occasional last-minute challenge:
“We like to say that we ‘oversee’ the events. That begins with organising invitations, communicating with guests on things such as dietary requirements, and finally executing the event on the day through a hosting capacity.
"We have done so many over the years that they often follow a choregraphed flow. However, this isn’t always the case, such as when one guest decided to invite a friend that they had met in the cloisters over for the post-ceremony dinner!”
While the summer and winter graduations are often their busiest times of the year, they provide Janice and Siobhan the opportunity to meet impressive and inspiring figures such as Nobel Prize winning chemist, Professor Sir David MacMillan, who received an honorary degree in 2022.
“We get to meet some incredible people while hosting these events. Really inspirational people like the Shaws (principal donors of the Advanced Research Centre) and Professor Sir David MacMillan. He (Professor Sir David MacMillan) was amazing – a real ambassador for the University and Glasgow.”
Siobhan and Janice have a close working relationship with the Principal, Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli. Anton is the third Principal that Janice has worked with, having previously worked with Professor Sir Graeme Davies and Sir Muir Russell. Each Principal applies their own personal touch to the running of the Lodging, and Janice and Siobhan’s understanding and experience gives the Principal and other senior colleagues reassurance that the events are always in safe hands.
The Principal’s Lodging, originally built in 1871 to house both the Professor of Divinity and Principal, reflects the period in the University's history when it was common for university academics to live in many of the townhouses around campus (providing Professors’ Square its name). For many years, the Lodging was utilised as the Official Residence, with Principals up to as recently as Sir Muir Russell in the early 2000s living in the two-bedroom flat that is housed within the premises.
In more recent years, the Lodging is used primarily as a hospitality venue. The building maintains the ability to house guests of the University in its various bedrooms, however the ornate dining room and reception rooms are its primary function. The building is decorated with original artworks and antique furniture, as well as with regularly loaned artifacts from the Hunterian Museum that are used to entertain and inspire.
Like all workplaces since the pandemic, Janice and Siobhan have recognised a shift in how the Lodging operates. They host less in-person post-lecture dinners and receptions due to the prominence of webinars and virtual attendance, though they maintain that there is a value to the Lodging’s hosting function that is unique.
“There is still something special about hosting in-person at the Lodging. It allows for the Principal to give a unique experience to their invited guests that you can’t get in a restaurant or hotel for example. Our place on the campus, right beside the Gilbert Scott building, gives a feeling of being part of the University and it is something special that is difficult to replicate elsewhere."
Janice Douglas (left) and Siobhan McDade (right), joint managers of the Principal's Lodging