College awards ceremony goes online

Staff and students from Perth College UHI were celebrated in a virtual ceremony for the first time last week.

Highland and Islands Student Association (HISA) Perth hosted their annual Outstanding, Best and Inspiring (OBI) Awards online “to ensure the staff and students were given the recognition they deserve”.

The awards allowed students to nominate in nine categories from most inspiring lecturer to best studentled event and entries were judged by a panel of staff, students and student officers.

Michaela Asisten from HISA Perth said: “Throughout the COVID-19 crisis we have been working hard to transition the student voice online by developing more online activities and spaces to maintain our communication with the students that may be struggling.

“The OBI Awards are an integral part of Perth College UHI and we are so happy that we were able to facilitate this ceremony in this digital environment.

“Each year these awards provide us with the opportunity to give back to the incredible staff and students of Perth College UHI and we hope that the new, virtual ceremony provided a positive experience for everyone that tuned in.

“Whilst not having it run as it normally would on campus, the changes made resulted in a more inclusive ceremony where our students could watch the announcements in real time as their favourite staff members or peers were given recognition for their continuous efforts.

“Despite the external factors we are facing, we hope that the OBI Awards showed our appreciation of the truly amazing work going on behind the scenes every day.”