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Dr Jane White

Dr Jane White is a strong advocate for widening participation in higher education and has developed significant, sustainable initiatives to support student learning. She is the founding director of MASH, the institutional mathematics support centre which has become a national centre for excellence, with specialism in mathematics accessibility.
Year
2019
Institution
University of Bath
Job Title
Senior Lecturer

Once she arrived in Bath, Jane was quick to establish robust school-university collaborations, from which emerged her most significant initiative: an institutional-wide mathematics support service, MASH. Inspiration for MASH was derived from departmental drop-in sessions that she established to help students feel more confident when transitioning to university, but her vision for the service was significantly larger in scope. That vision is now being realised as students and staff from all academic departments (and even some professional services) access elements of the service on a regular basis.

MASH has become a nationally-recognised centre for mathematics and statistics support excellence. In part, this can be attributed to the staff now working in MASH who Jane has mentored. Currently, the team includes a national expert on mathematics accessibility and a second with expertise in supporting undergraduate students with non-standard vocational entry qualifications. Moreover, MASH is also pioneering practice in quality assurance for mathematics support which has been identified as a challenging activity over many years. 

Often going hand-in-hand with MASH, Jane is also very proud of the work she has undertaken over a sustained period of time to address issues of widening participation. This is particularly challenging in a university such as Bath where high-tariff entry requirements and high cost of living can make the University seem less accessible. But, of course, this makes working to support widening participation all the more satisfying when successful.

For Jane, success has arisen when she has worked collaboratively with colleagues across the institution and local secondary schools to provide sustained programmes of mathematics support that offer students the opportunity to achieve their potential. None of her achievements would have been possible without the hard work of colleagues around her. Building Communities of Practitioners has provided her with the insights, contexts and challenge that allow Jane to produce her best work.

 

Advance HE recognises there are different views and approaches to teaching and learning, as such we encourage sharing of practice, without advocating or prescribing specific approaches. NTF and CATE awards recognise teaching excellence in a particular context. The profiles featured are self-submitted by award winners.