Award-winning Skye lecturer Lara goes above and beyond
Skye-based college lecturer Lara Hinde believes in going above and beyond for her students and now she has an award to prove it.
The Highland and Islands Students' Association (HISA) recently published its awards for staff and students.
The HISA Awards allow students to nominate staff and students in various different categories, with entries judged by a panel consisting of staff, students and student officers from across the university partnership.
West Highland College UHI had 24 category nominations for a total of 13 staff and one student award. Of these, one member of staff was overall winner of her individual category and four staff and one student representative were highly commended in their categories.
The winner of the ‘Above and Beyond' category across the whole university partnership was Lara - a lecturer in the School of Adventure Studies based near Broadford, who delivers the NQ Outdoor Adventure course.
She was also nominated in the ‘Most Inspiring Lecturer' category.
One student saidd: ‘Lara has gone out of her way on numerous occasions to help us feel settled on Skye. She's a super inspiring person and has supported all of us through the course and throughout Covid.'
Another added: ‘Lara has gone out of her way to give us opportunities and is such a delight to be taught by. She treats us all with respect and is one of the nicest people I've had the pleasure of meeting.'
Speaking about her award, Lara said she was absolutely delighted and very grateful to receive the award.
She added: ‘The award is also a testament to the hard work of many other staff at West Highland College UHI who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure the course could be delivered in full in spite of the disruption caused by the pandemic and to the students themselves who demonstrated fantastic teamwork and supported each other to complete the course.'
Lydia Rohmer, Principal and Chief Executive of West Highland College UHI, said: ‘The HISA awards come at a time when many of our staff and students have experienced the most difficult of years.
‘I am therefore extremely delighted our students recognised the excellent support provided by our colleagues and engaged in large numbers to support the nominations.'