This month we are delighted to welcome three new members to the CDN Board, Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface; Gillian Croan, Director of Verus HR; and Brian Johnstone, Regional College Chair, Dumfries and Galloway College. That makes our Board 50:50 balanced on gender. We're excited to work with all of them, and we recognise the huge work of their predecessors over recent years.
Meanwhile, we are fast approaching the busiest period for professional development activity in colleges, so this month we have an exciting range of face to face and online professional development to offer colleagues across the college sector.
We are holding a major national conference on gender equality on Tuesday 20 June. Book your place to hear our amazing guest speaker Eleanor Cannon - newly appointed Chair of Scottish Golf - talking about her determination to encourage more female participation into sport. The conference will share lots more inspirational work that is breaking the equality barriers for men and women and discuss what more needs to be done.
Finally, I am very pleased that the Plain English Campaign has endorsed the CDN website for its accessible design and clear use of language. We will be building on this achievement with additional user friendly features - further updates will be provided through the newsletter and online.
Please don't hesitate to contact me if you wish to discuss our work in more detail:
Jim Metcalfe, Chief Executive, College Development Network (CDN)
CDN Board bids farewells and welcomes new members - making it 50:50 on gender
New and outgoing CDN Board members
At its meeting on Wednesday 29 March, CDN held a special lunch to thank its outgoing members - Dr Linda McTavish CBE, Douglas Millar and Thomas Kelly - and to welcome three new Board members, Dr Siobhán Jordan, Director of Interface; Gillian Croan, Director of Verus HR Ltd; and Brian Johnstone, Regional College Chair, Dumfries and Galloway College. The new Board is 50:50 gender balanced.
Join us on Tuesday 20 June for our national conference to explore where and how gender equality policy is impacting practice across the vocational and educational landscape. Hear why guest speaker Eleanor Cannon, newly appointed Chair of Scottish Golf, is determined to see more females engaged in the sport; and discuss what further actions are needed to reduce and remove gender barriers. Find out more.
CDN has developed an online course within the 'Inclusive Practitioner' area of our Moodle platform, CDN LearnOnline. It is designed for teachers, lecturers and tutors. Participants will gain an understanding of key factors that influence student mental health, and strategies that help to support good mental health. It also looks at ways of responding to crises. The course offers Inclusive Practitioner credits and an Open Badge.
Close attainment by opening doors overseas A wealth of overseas vocational education and training opportunities are available through the Erasmus+ programme. West Lothian College has taken an innovative approach to addressing the attainment gap through its Erasmus+ programme.
Find out how.
Celebrating marketing excellence
Congratulations to all the award winners at this year's marketing awards, where a packed audience enjoyed the musical talents of students from Edinburgh College and Sabhal Mòr Ostaig UHI, with highly professional AV supplied by Sound Production students from Forth Valley College. All the photos are available on the College Development Network Facebook page. Take a look at the winners.
Weekly round-up of college news Every Friday CDN issues an online round-up of what's been happening across the college sector. It's free and very quick and easy to sign up. Do please let us know if there is anything that you would like us to add to the round-up, too.
Take a look at the latest version and subscribe.
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