shepherding.
A college with a part-focus on golf education, Elmwood opened its own 18-hole working golf course in 1997. Construction of a golf course began in 1995 with attention given to both the quality of the course and consideration of the local environment; the course was Geo Certified in 2013.
=== SRUC ===
A proposal to merge the Scottish Agricultural College with Barony College, Elmwood College and Oatridge College was put to public consultation between March and May 2012. Education Secretary Mike Russell voiced support for the merger in June 2012, and Scotland's Rural College formally came into existence on 1 October 2012. The work of the Scottish Agricultural College in education and training, research and development and consultancy services, would be continued by the newly-merged institution. Scotland's Rural College was given the initialism SRUC upon its founding, as it would be working towards gaining the status of a university college with degree awarding powers. Professor Wayne Powell was appointed to serve as principal of SRUC in April 2016.
In 2022, SRUC's application for degree awarding powers was approved to advance to the scrutiny stage by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education advisory committee. This involves a minimum of 12 months of scrutiny, with the result of the application expected no earlier than summer 2023.
== Campuses ==
SRUC has six education campuses located throughout Scotland, each offering varied land-based education courses.
The Aberdeen campus is based on Craibstone Estate about 5 miles (8.0 km) outside Aberdeen in the north east of Scotland. As well as halls of residence and a library, the campus also boasts many sporting opportunities. Courses on offer in Aberdeen include agriculture, organic farming and countryside and environmental management.
The Ayr campus is shared with students from the University of the West of Scotland. The £81 million facility was opened in September 2011 and was awarded the internationally recognised BREEAM excellence rating for …
