Size doesn't count when it comes to winning tenders

South West Institute of TAFE is a small institute with a large reputation.

Located in the picturesque south west of Victoria and at the end of the Shipwreck Coast, the Institute serves an area of 24,000 square kilometres and an approximate population of 100,000. The Institute is the main TAFE provider for the region and has campuses located at Hamilton, Portland and Warrnambool.

The Institute has an outstanding reputation for high quality curriculum development work, specialist education services and the pioneering use of current training philosophies and technologies, including video conferencing, remote work place based training and email/internet supported vocational education.

With a solid commitment to innovation, quality, flexibility and resourcefulness, the Institution is renowned throughout the educational training network. It's this high regard that has earned its participation in some of the most significant state and national vocational education and training projects on offer.

One such project, the School Services Online project which provides online, accredited professional development for around 10,000 people who are not teachers and work in Victorian state primary and secondary schools, was the result of a tender response.

“South West TAFE's involvement came about after winning a tender let by the Department of Employment, Education and Training,” said Julie Kean, Associate Director (Development). “Despite being one the smallest Institutes, we won this tender against stiff competition from
some of the state's largest training providers.”

According to Ms Kean, the tender selection panel was impressed with the innovative approach taken in proposing creative solutions to some of the difficult issues presented in the tender documents.

But South West TAFE's tender success doesn't finish there.

The Institute's learning resource development unit, TRENDS, is currently involved in four major projects to develop online learning resources for both public and private contractors. All four projects have come about by responding to publicly advertised tenders.

"Our Institute is small, without dedicated resources for tender searching, culling and submission so we've relied on TenderSearch to alert us immediately of tender opportunities so we can make the necessary decisions and respond in a timely way," said Ms Kean.

"Receiving immediate information about tenders allows us to maximise the time available to develop the most creative proposal, tailored to the contractor's needs," she added.