Institutions are experiencing significant change in teaching and learning due to technological advancements (including AI), and increasing external pressures on students. And this set against a backdrop of significant financial challenge for the higher education sector.
Effective academic governance ensures that your institution’s arrangements are suitable and provide value for students, staff and wider stakeholders. Understanding the culture and key factors for success is essential for evaluating the effectiveness of academic governance, and the crucial relationship between the Academic Board/Senate and the institution's governing body in delivering impactful academic provision.
Our work supports governors and governing bodies to navigate these roles and meet regulatory requirements, using insight from our sector-level work and in-depth understanding from working with providers of all shapes and sizes. We can support institutions to review their academic governance overall, or develop their governors and governance professionals through tailored solutions.
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The governing body must actively seek and receive assurance that academic governance is robust and effective."CUC HE Code of Governance 2020
Reviews of academic board / Senate and the academic governance system
Drawing upon our extensive pool of governance experts we work with you to review academic governance and assurance by taking an in depth look at your academic board/Senate and the arrangements which support academic governance and assurance from student to Board Our systems-thinking approach is based on our Framework for Academic Governance developed for the funding agencies and covers areas such as; culture; the maintenance of academic standards, defining and monitoring academic quality and continuous improvement in quality of provision.
Understanding academic governance and assurance bespoke board sessions
We deliver tailored academic governance development sessions for your governors. These are contextualised for your institution, delivered either on-site or remotely and provide time and space to develop your institution’s vision, nurture relationships between members and encourage new approaches. All sessions are delivered by our governance experts.
Who we've worked with
An introduction to Academic Governance in Higher Education for new Governors
Every sector develops terminology which is specific to their needs, and higher education is no different. For many new Governors, getting to grips with some of this specialised language can take some time. This brief guide intends to help new Governors acclimatise to some of the language, acronyms and terminology relevant to academic governance in UK higher education.
Assuring Academic Outcomes and Student Experience – Governor Development Programme event
This event is specifically designed for Chairs and all governors who wish to understand more about how they can assure the quality of education and the student experience appropriately in the light of recent events. The event will be an interactive session with opportunity for governors to network in an online environment and share their views as well as ask questions of speakers and each other.
Keep up to date with Advance HE
Monthly Governance Bulletin
Every month we send out a newsletter that collates the latest news from the month and our most recent resources, including blogs and Advance HE reports. The newsletter also highlights upcoming dates for key events and programmes within the Advance HE portfolio.
Governance News Alerts
Our News Alerts provide regular updates from across the sector on the latest policy changes or introductions, updated guidance and news. We provide an at-a-glance view of the piece along with the implications for boards and governors.
Resources and guidance
Advance HE is committed to producing and sharing news, guidance, research, publications, resources and toolkits to support good governance. Take a look at our Governance guidance pages where these are collated.