“We invest a lot in teaching and learning developments but we haven't necessarily focused on providing programmes for individual staff members. The HEA's Fellowship programme provides a version of that which we think is very attractive and we'd like to explore that from a New Zealand context.”
Professor Brigid Heywood
Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research Academic and Enterprise Massey University
Background
Massey University is a university located in New Zealand. It has three campuses based in Albany Palmerston North and Wellington. The university has approximately 35 000 students, 17 000 of whom are extramural or distance-learning students.
The Brief
Massey University wished to build on its commitment to support professional development for academic staff. The institution has committed to supporting their staff through professional recognition aligned to the Professional Standards Framework (PSF).
The university wanted the opportunity to do this across a number of disciplines and with staff with a large range of experience from senior staff who have been teaching for 20 years to those who have just completed their PhDs and are in their first year of teaching.
Our approach
The approach taken by the HEA was to provide fellowship workshops at each campus to enable individuals to formulate their application for professional recognition. This approach will support Massey University to develop expertise and institutional capacity to operate a HEA accredited programme in the future. In order to establish and operate effectively the institution needs to have individuals that have achieved professional recognition and the professional development workshops are an appropriate vehicle to support the institution in its engagement with the PSF. The workshops consisted of;
- An introduction to the Professional Standards Framework
- Exploration of the requirements for Fellowship of the HEA
- A review of the application process including examples of submissions for professional development.
- Time to prepare a draft or outline of evidence that participants could use in their own applications for professional development.
To maintain the early momentum of this collaboration the HEA will review Fellowship applications from Massey University staff and provide formative feedback in order to enable participants to construct a successful application for fellowship.
Outcomes/Feedback
“The academy has a wonderful structured process for staff to go through at various stages of their teaching career from new staff to those who have been teaching for a couple of years to those who are more senior who really want to refresh and develop as well as providing them with a mentoring opportunity to pass their knowledge on.”
Dr Jennifer Thompson Manager of the Centre for Teaching & Learning Massey University