The Short Course Platform project team were nominated for 2 awards at the 2026 IS Staff Recognition Awards. The team of the year award and contribution to the community award and unfortunately we didn’t win! Firstly, congratulations to all the winners. It’s nice to see teams and individuals get recognition for the work they do above and beyond to accomplish some amazing tasks. Secondly. we were robbed

We had drafted a speech (after all the wild celebrations, kissing the badge, knee slides and general mocking and aggressive finger pointing at the opposition) and whilst we didn’t get the opportunity to read it out I still think it’s worth sharing as a last thank you for those involved in delivering the short course platform. It’s the end of a programme but the beginning of a new service.


The Speech:

The short course platform was a programme that started just under 4 years ago. It was after the closure of the distance learning at scale programme which may not have been the burning success we wanted however it had taught us valuable lessons which ultimately led us to the successful launch of the short course platform.

I think what I want to flag, is that sometimes things don’t work out the way you wanted or expected , but that’s ok, learning and evolving is part of our roles and the sweet doesn’t taste as sweet without the sour.

We would like to acknowledge all the support and time provided by stakeholders across the institution who attended numerous, steering groups, boards, demo sessions and various meetings. Their patience and time have ultimately steered and supported us to deliver a successful programme and sets of services used by over 7k learners accessing over 1k courses so far.

We would not be accepting this award without the hard work and down right determination of some key folk who have worked collaboratively across LTW and Apps. On behalf of the team we need to thank section heads Stuart and Karen for their invaluable support. Andrews team for delivering a snazzy shopfront, Lauren and Fiona’s team for all their hard work in designing course, websites, an amazing spoint hub and training just to name a few things. Legal for doing legal stuff and Neil for helping us understand it. Viki Galts team for everything accessibility. All the PMs that have organised us over the last few years and Ellen who got us over the line. Cassie for organising groups, boards, papers and making sense of are wittering’s in meetings. Adam Scott and Gordon Forbes for guiding us through the madness of finance. My team for delivering 5 technical services and all the related compliance and process fun that all involve. Lastly, I want to thank Nikki Stuart for the drive and support for the delivery of the platform.

The short course programme felt like a family, dysfunctional at times but aren’t all families/projects.