South Lanarkshire College Marketing Team recognised at National Awards

The South Lanarkshire College Marketing and Communications Team have been recognised at the National College Development Network (CDN) Awards held in Glasgow recently.

The awards, which took place on Friday 25 November at Radisson Blu in Glasgow with over 280 guests – the biggest Scottish College Awards ever – celebrated the talent, innovation and success of staff from across Scotland’s colleges.

The team were shortlisted in the Marketing and Communications category for their #StartingSLC campaign which was created during the pandemic.

The campaign aimed to tackle the communication barrier with students during the pandemic and ensure students still felt part of the college community during a period of online and blended learning. This was done through personalised postcards and welcome messages sent to students starting at the College, community welcome banners around the local area, welcome videos from College staff and engaging welcome content on social media during the first 6 weeks of the term.

The campaign was Highly Commended on the evening, being recognised by the judges as a great campaign to engage students and applicants during the pandemic.

Stella McManus, Depute Principal, added, “It’s been great to see our Marketing and Communications team and this campaign being recognised at the prestigious College Development Network Awards. The CDN Awards are the most celebrated awards within the college sector in Scotland, so it is absolutely brilliant to gain Highly Commended at the awards ceremony.

The pandemic was especially difficult for our students as they continued to learn, and adapt to, online and blended learning. This campaign had the aim of ensuring our students still felt part of the college community, despite the barriers created by the pandemic. The campaign really did bring the College community together digitally and connected students with lecturers, the College and each other.

Students are at the heart of every decision we make at the College and this campaign really highlights this; thinking creatively to support our students and ensure they still had an excellent learning experience whilst studying with us during the pandemic.

This campaign was one of many initiatives put in place during the pandemic to support our students and community and it is great to get recognition for the work and creativity of our staff at the college. Our staff really did go above and beyond during the pandemic to support our students and it is brilliant to see this, amongst other initiatives, being recognised at a National level for good practice.”