Lita McHale

OU graduate Lita McHale

Studying for a short course with The Open University (OU) in Scotland gave Lita McHale, a Customer Engagement Officer with Eildon Housing Association, the confidence to embark on a Masters degree.

Lita works in the Scottish Borders, and first achieved a Business management: project management microcredential, flexibly fitting it around her job and personal commitments.

She then decided to do an OU Master of Science in Psychology (Conversion) degree.

On now gaining her postgraduate qualification, Lita says: “Achieving my Masters feels incredibly rewarding. 

“There were times when balancing work, study and everyday life was challenging, so completing the qualification has given me a real sense of accomplishment.

“The experience has strengthened my confidence, developed my research and analytical skills, and reminded me that learning is a continuous process. 

“It has been a journey of personal growth as much as academic achievement.”

Achieving my Masters qualification feels incredibly rewarding.”

Lita says: “Psychology has always interested me because it helps us better understand people and their experiences. 

“When I studied several years ago at a campus university for my undergraduate degree in psychology, my goal was to help people.

“While I can now be more specific about how I want to do that, the underlying motivation remains the same.

“In my role at Eildon, listening to and understanding the experiences of a diverse range of customers is central to meaningful engagement. 

“I felt this course would not only allow me to explore a subject I am passionate about, but also strengthen skills that are directly relevant to my work.

“My positive experience of studying a short Open University course previously gave me the confidence to take the next step and commit to a Masters qualification.” 

Students and tutors extremely supportive

At Eildon Housing Association Lita works across several projects, engaging with people accessing housing, care and support services.

Her microcredential learning experience helped Lita to define a range of skills she already used, and build on them within her daily working practices.

Lita says: “One of the main benefits was being able to access the course content at a time to suit my schedule.

“It was useful to see responses to questions across different work sectors. 

“I would encourage anyone who is unsure of anything to ask, as my experience of fellow students and tutors was extremely supportive.”

The course design and layout she found to be “straightforward” and “easy to follow”.

Self-confidence built

“The project management course helped me take a more structured approach to planning and partnership working,” says Lita. 

Studying the microcredential course gave me the confidence to fully apply my skills and build on what I had learned.”

“Working alongside our local partner Abundant Borders, I supported a successful funding application that helped secure a dedicated Greenspaces and Wellbeing Officer role covering community gardens across the Scottish Borders. 

“Studying the course gave me the confidence to fully apply my skills and build on what I had learned.”

Victoria Cutler-Burton, Learning and Development Officer at Eildon, comments that Lita’s work leading on the garden project “has brought value to our customers and communities across the Borders”.

“The project involved lots of stakeholder engagement, partnering with community groups, and keeping to tight deadlines – skills which Lita has had the opportunity to transfer and develop as a result of completing her course with The Open University,” she says.

Study pace and time that suits you

Lita recommends to anyone starting their studies after a break: “Go for a course that is of interest to you. 

“I found the microcredential I studied really engaging. If it’s useful to your job role or future career, then this could be your driver to study.”

“The OU offer such a wide range of courses and there are clear progression routes in these too. 

“Being able to study at a pace and time that suits you is a real advantage across many qualifications,” she adds.   

“Doing the short course helped me to see how I can fit studies into my daily routine. 

“It helped me think about exploring what subject I would be interested in,” she concludes.
 

Judith Turbyne, Children in Scotland: One of the very best things about working with The Open University is their style of working.

The third sector is brilliantly placed to work with communities across Scotland.

Victoria Cutler-Burton, Eildon Housing Association: Lita is a prime example of taking initiative and pursuing further development opportunities.

The project management microcredential course that she undertook added immense value.

Lita McHale, Eildon Housing Association: It's been really useful in terms of being able to plan multiple projects at the same time.

I just gained the confidence that I needed through that one unit.

Judith: Our vision is making Scotland a better place.

For us, it makes absolute sense to collaborate with somebody like The Open University to make sure we're dealing with the right problems, we're working on the right things, and we're investing in the right pieces of work.

The very first thing that we did was create a portal that allowed our staff to get access to a wide, wide, wide range of courses.

Victoria: In terms of her role and the skills that she's developed is invaluable.  

Judith: One of my colleagues is leading our group on inclusion and diversity and so wanted to refresh some of his learnings on that.

That's how he used the OU and he found it an extremely good resource.

Lita: It's great to have a new challenge in life.

It was a personal thing as well as a professional development.