Your April CDN Update: Leadership, Ideation, and Impact Stories

Welcome

In this month's issue, we're excited to introduce Gordon Hunt, Head of Insight, Planning, and Impact at CDN. With a diverse career in tertiary education and the third sector, Gordon specialises in governance, planning, and research. His role involves supporting our research and enhancement work, as well as our marketing and events activities. Gordon is also an active non-executive board member, which enriches his contribution to our governance programmes.

Gordon's latest blog post, 'Supporting College Boards,' provides an overview of college boards in Scotland and highlights the vital role they play. With over 300 mostly volunteer members, these boards are crucial to good governance and quality education. CDN offers a wide range of support and training to help them thrive. Read the blog post here.

Gordon also introduces this month's update:

"Welcome to this month’s CDN Update! In this edition, we’re inviting you to share your story by joining one of our ‘Understanding the Impact of CDN’ focus groups—an opportunity to reflect on how our events, courses, and programmes have supported your professional journey since 2022. Your feedback will help shape the future of our work.

We’re also excited to shine a spotlight on our Leadership Pathway for aspiring and senior leaders. Additionally, the Ideation: Illuminations campaign is now live, and entries are officially open for the CDN College Awards 2025"

If you have any questions related to research and enhancement, marketing, or governance, feel free to reach out to Gordon at gordon.hunt@cdn.ac.uk.

CDN News

Your Experience Matters: Join Our 'Understanding the Impact of CDN'

Focus Groups

Have you participated in a CDN event, course, or programme in the last three years? If so, we’d love to hear your story by joining one of our upcoming online focus groups, Understanding the Impact of CDN.

Hosted by Arrivo Consulting via Zoom, each 60-minute session will explore how CDN’s work has influenced your professional practice since 2022.

Your insights will help shape the future of our programmes and will be anonymised for use in an upcoming impact report.

Sessions run between 19 May and 5 June 2025, with a range of times available—please register for the one that suits you best.

Your Leadership Journey Starts Here

CDN’s Management and Leadership Programmes are designed to support you at every stage of your leadership journey—from aspiring managers to executive-level development.

Build confidence, gain fresh perspectives, and apply new skills in real time.

From the CMI Emerging Leadership Programme (for practising or aspiring managers and leaders) to the CMI Strategic Leadership Programme for those currently in or progressing toward senior leadership), plus access to expert coaching, now’s the time to explore the Leadership Pathway and reach your full potential.

View Leadership Programmes here

The Return of Ideation: Illuminations –

Campaign Launched!

We’re delighted to have officially launched the Ideation: Illuminations campaign on Thursday 24 April, marking the return of our inspiring 10-week series.

Developed by CDN’s Insight and Innovation Partner, Jo Turbitt, the series introduces creative strategies to encourage innovative problem-solving, brainstorming, and new approaches to teaching and learning.

Previous series are now available on CDN LearnOnline, featuring short, engaging videos designed to help you build a practical toolkit of creative solutions.

Website Consultation Survey

We’re excited to be developing a new website – and we’d love your input!

Please take a few minutes to complete the survey below by Friday 9 May. Based on our current website, the survey will help shape the design, content, and functionality of the new site—ensuring it’s user-friendly, sector-leading, and truly highlights the fantastic work happening across the sector.

Thank you in advance for your time and feedback.

Complete the survey here

College Awards 2025 – Now Open for Entries!

The CDN College Awards celebrate the talent, innovation and achievements across Scotland’s colleges—recognising the outstanding work of staff, learners, and partners.

Entries are now open and close on 26 June 2025. Winners will be announced at a special ceremony on 4 December at the Radisson Blu, Glasgow, where we’re delighted to be joined on the night by Graeme Day MSP Minister for Higher Education, Further Education and Veterans.

View College Awards here

#EqualityMatters Digest

We’re committed to helping you put equality, diversity, and inclusion at the heart of everything you do. To support this, we’ve developed a monthly #EqualityMatters digest, signposting you to relevant events, information, and resources.

Next month’s focus is... Creating Inclusive Learning Environments.

View #EqualityMatters Digest here.

The Last Word

Hello everyone,

I hope you had a lovely Easter break and are looking forward to the May bank holiday weekend! I wanted to share a few final updates with you.

We’re excited to launch a new cohort of ever-popular Coaching Skills for Managers this week. This specialised course is designed to help managers enhance their leadership and team development through effective coaching techniques. We wish the new cohort all the best as they begin their journey.

Following last month’s update, we’ve had a fantastic response to the call for articles for the Colleges Action Inquiry Research Network (CAIRN) Journal. The next issue is shaping up to be action-packed, and the editorial team is hard at work behind the scenes preparing for its June release. Stay tuned!

And one final update—we’ve now joined Bluesky! We’re looking forward to using the platform to share the latest from CDN and highlight the brilliant work happening across the college sector. Be sure to follow our channels and stay connected.

As always, we’re here to support your professional development through a wide range of courses, events, and resources. Explore everything we have to offer via the CDN website.

Best wishes,

Marie Hendry

Chief Executive, CDN