Deakin University has achieved Advance HE accreditation for two of its staff development programmes in Teaching and Learning, meaning that it will now be able to confer Fellowship on successful participants of those programme.
The two programmes are the DeakinHE Reflective Practice Pathway and the Graduate Certificate of Higher Education (Learning and Teaching) (GradCertHELT). Three hundred staff have already expressed interest to be part of the Reflective Practice Pathway this year.
The accreditation process follows the hard work of the team in the Deakin Learning Futures team, including Associate Professor and Director, Teaching Capability, Barbie Panther, Course Director, Dr Julia Savage, and Project Coordinator, Jen Aughterson, to align the programmes with the Professional Standards Framework (PSF), the internationally recognised benchmark of teaching excellence. The PSF is fundamental to Fellowship.
Deakin University, which is a member of Advance HE, already has 67 Fellows, and the participation in the Fellowship has accelerated significantly in the last four years from seven Fellows to today’s number. The new accreditation, which is valid until 31 August 2021 and extended on review until 31 January 2024, means even more opportunities for engagement by a growing number of Fellows at Deakin in Advance HE’s global communities of practice.
Professor Liz Johnson, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Education, Deakin University, said: “We are delighted to have had both of these staff development programmes accredited. Deakin University has a long-standing commitment to premium teaching and learning and the student experience as demonstrated by our leading performance in the Australian Student Experience Survey.
"The University strives to continue this record of excellence, notably in response to the current disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Fellowship means that we can better reward and recognise the fantastic and innovative work of our staff to achieve great outcomes for our students.”
Ian Hall, Advance HE Head of International Membership, said: “Many congratulations to the team at Deakin University. We are delighted to be working with them and it’s great to see the hard work the team has invested in accreditation in reaching this successful outcome. I am confident that embedding the PSF in the development programmes will be an important part of realising the goals the University has set itself for building on its fantastic reputation for teaching and learning.”
Ranked in the world top 1%, Deakin University was formally established in 1974 with the passage of the Deakin University Act 1974. The University teaches over 60,000 students each year in five campuses, including its online Cloud Campus, and other learning centres across outer metropolitan Melbourne. Over the past 40 years, it has earned a rich reputation for its online provision as well as its face-to-face teaching offer.
Find out more about Advance HE accreditation and Fellowship.