As ever, our member institutions and colleagues employed at those institutions are at the heart of everything we do. In order to make our member benefits as available and accessible to you as possible, each month this summary will provide an overview of recent and upcoming member benefit activity, including the Connect Benefit Series and Fellowship and Accreditation, including the Athena Swan and Race Equality charters.
Advance HE member benefits are open to all colleagues at Advance HE member institutions. Our member benefits are built from services our members have continued to enjoy over many years, plus new services developed based on your feedback to ensure greater accessibility and engagement.
Professional Standards Framework Review 2022
The Professional Standards Framework (PSF), a globally-recognised framework for benchmarking success within higher education teaching and learning, is to be reviewed this year. This is the first review since 2011.
The review aims to ensure the PSF remains a robust framework for individuals and higher education institutions, supporting good practice and effective leadership of teaching and learning.
Announcing the sector-led review, Kathryn Harrison-Graves, Advance HE Director of Membership and Accreditation, said: “The project seeks to retain the strengths of the current framework, and in consultation with the sector, to propose amendments which will build on its positive impact on learning, teaching and the student experience".
Read the full story here and register for updates on the review here.
Collaborative Development Fund - funding awarded
Eleven projects, including the first awarded to an international member institution, have been successful in securing funding through Advance HE’s Collaborative Development Fund following a high level of applications.
Successful projects in the 2021-22 round of Advance HE’s Collaborative Development Fund:
College-based HE network
- University Centre Leeds (Leeds City College)
Utilising the professional standards framework for teaching and supporting learning for strategic change
- The University of Hull (lead); Griffith University, University of Limerick
The Future Student Experience Project
- Deakin University
- Staffordshire University
- University of Brighton (lead), University of Greenwich, Anglia Ruskin University, Birmingham City University, on behalf of University Alliance
- Manchester Metropolitan University
- University of Greenwich, Ravensbourne University London
Inclusive institutions: enabling and supporting culture change
- Deakin University
- University of Salford
- Imperial College London (lead), University of Reading
- Kingston University (lead), Anglia Ruskin University, Birmingham City University, Teesside University, University of Brighton, University of Hertfordshire
Read the full story here. Find out more about the projects and register your interest to receive updates here.
Global leadership survey and framework
Advance HE is working with the sector to develop a global survey for leadership in higher education, research institutes and related organisations. The project aims to generate a unique evidence base for leadership through exploring the impact of leadership development across the sector and throughout the world. The first stage of the project has involved Advance HE commissioning a scoping study which concluded with the following outputs; a literature review and a series of 11 roundtable discussions.
Ahead of the next stage of the project, a series of engagement and dissemination events, Advance HE’s Doug Parkin discusses the project and the richness of the findings with Richard Bolden, Professor of Leadership and Management and Director of Bristol leadership and Change Centre at the University West of England, UWE Bristol, and Richard Watermeyer, Professor of Higher Education at the University of Bristol and co-director of the Center for Higher Education Transformations. Listen to the discussion (and book your place on an event) here.
The online events take place in February 2022 and will bring together all colleagues and hear first-hand some of the initial findings from the global leadership survey research. In order to accommodate as many colleagues as possible, the same event will take place at the following dates and times:
Connect Benefit Series – Student success
This Connect Benefit Series project has been running since August 2021, centring on access, retention, attainment and progression, and embedding employability in higher education. The focus is now on flexible learning, with a literature review looking in-depth into 105 research articles published between 2016 and 2021. The papers reviewed detail research undertaken across the world, using quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods, including a few conceptual articles. Initial findings reveal that Covid-19 was a key driver for the increased adoption of flexible learning by HEIs. Associated outputs include podcasts, webinars and summits.
Find out more and access all other outputs from this project here. Outputs are free to access for all colleagues at Advance HE member institutions.
Connect Benefit Series – Inclusive institutions: enabling and supporting culture change
As part of our Connect Benefit Series for 2021-22, our Inclusive institutions: enabling and supporting culture change longitudinal project runs from February to July, as is open to all colleagues at Advance HE member institutions.
The project aims to:
- Stimulate new thinking for governing bodies and senior executive
- Consider wellbeing through the lens enabling culture
- Explore inclusive culture and creating the right conditions for academic staff to be innovative and deliver flexible teaching and learning.
- Identify ‘what works’ examples via case studies and reflections from a range of institutions.
Outputs include a blog, podcast, sandpit event and capstone report. Find out more here.
Athena Swan - Diversity Interventions Conference 7 - 8 April 2022
Diversity Interventions 2022 will take place on 7-8 April in-person and online, an international conference hosted and co-convened by the University of Oxford, Advance HE, and Science in Australia Gender Equity (SAGE) Limited. The event will bring together gender equity, EDI professionals, researchers, and advocates from across the world to share best practice, discuss emerging innovations, and exchange personal experiences in designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions and action plans.
Abstract submissions for Diversity Interventions 2022 are now open. Authors are invited to submit their abstracts by 1 March 2022. Further guidance is provided on the Oxford Abstracts submissions portal
Further information about the programme and registration will be available shortly. In the meantime, if you would like to get in touch with the Organising Committee, please email pavel.ovseiko@rdm.ox.ac.uk.
Athena Swan Event - 22 March 2022 (10.00-12.00 GMT)
Enhancing Practice: Shared Parental Leave and Breastfeeding Practices in UK Higher Education Institutions
In this online workshop, researchers from York St John University will discuss the findings of their recent study into shared parental leave and breastfeeding practices in UK HE Institutions. Aimed at Athena Swan leads, Deputy Leads and those working on gender equality within their institution, the two-hour webinar on will provide an opportunity for participants to engage with the researchers to evaluate current practices, develop action points and build on recommendations to support gender equality in their own workplace. Book your place here.
Recent publications
3 Es for Wicked Problems: Employability, Enterprise, and Entrepreneurship: Solving Wicked Problems
This collection of case studies builds on the discussions from the annual Advance HE Employability Symposium, which focused on ‘Employability, Enterprise, and Entrepreneurship: Solving Wicked Problems.’ This publication presents a range of cutting-edge examples of how sustainable and innovative pedagogies can be delivered across higher education, highlighting a range of excellent work already taking place within and across the sector. Download here.
A brief history of the Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education: Stages of development
The Professional Standards Framework for teaching and supporting learning in higher education (PSF) was launched in 2006, and during this time there have been many changes in the global higher education sector. This history provides a commentary on the PSF's creation, evolution and growing impact within global higher education. Download here.
Exploring the impact of Covid-19 on disabled students' experiences: in-depth qualitative report
Between May and June 2021, the Disabled Students’ Commission commissioned a survey, run by Advance HE, to understand the ongoing impact of Covid-19 on disabled students' experiences across the higher education lifecycle. At the end of the survey, respondents were asked whether they were interested in participating in follow-up discussion groups. This publication details the in-depth findings from those discussions which highlights the barriers faced by disabled students during this time, as well as their expectations and recommendations for the year ahead. Download here.