Senior Fellow Terry Ng is UCL’s 2000th Arena fellow

Here, Terry shares her experience of gaining Senior Fellowship through UCL Arena. 

What is your role?

I'm a Lecturer in Practice & Policy at UCL School of Pharmacy teaching on the MPharm programme - an undergraduate 4-year Masters degree that serves as the initial training for students to become a pharmacist. I am responsible for the design and delivery of teaching across all four years of the programme, including a wide range of clinical pharmacy and pharmacy practice topics, from therapeutics through to law and ethics and professionalism and leadership.  

In recent years I have taken on more substantive leadership in assessment, for example, as Chair of MPharm Board of Examiners. I have a particular research interest in education, including assessment and the evaluation of innovative teaching strategies, and lead in cancer teaching for Pharmacy Practice at UCL School of Pharmacy.  

Tell us about your experience applying for fellowship. 

In preparation I had attended Senior Fellowship workshops with Arena and familiarised myself with the tools and resources provided on Moodle. I also attended a couple of application writing sessions that Arena provided, which really helped me identify what I needed to include in my application and the areas that needed to be emphasised. 

I wrote the application itself over the course of a few weeks during the summer, dedicating a few hours here and there each week to work on the different sections and case studies required. I found it helpful to do little and often because it gave me time and space to reflect on the examples I chose and the skills and experience I was demonstrating. 

What was the most useful element? 

I found it particularly helpful to reflect on my experiences and successes since joining UCL and how they have influenced my development as a leader and role model. The process served as a reminder of the wide networks and accomplishments I had achieved to enhance the teaching and learning practices for my students and also in supporting colleagues in their own growth as educators. This allowed me to map activities against the UCL Academic Careers Framework and help identify further development opportunities that would support with career progression. 

How has it changed your support for teaching? 

The process has given me confidence in my own skills and abilities, encouraging me to accept wider Departmental roles and responsibilities to further my own development, and to support the teaching and assessment within my Department. 

Why did you apply for a fellowship? 

I started working at UCL in 2014 and have been proactive in taking on leadership responsibilities and supporting colleagues in their own development in providing teaching and learning. Senior Fellowship allowed me to formally demonstrate and recognise the sustained impact and contributions I had made within my Department. 

How do you think your students have benefited from you being a Senior Fellow? 

Taking part has allowed me to recognise the impact I have had in coaching and mentoring colleagues in their own approaches to teaching and assessment. By supporting others with their own development and progression, I hope that means that the teaching experience is enhanced for a wider student population. 

What would you say to someone considering working towards fellowship? 

I would recommend any colleague involved in student teaching and learning and support to explore the possibility of applying for a category of fellowship. 

The Arena Fellowship team at UCL offer a lot of support and resources for all the different levels of fellowship, and they are not just designed for academic colleagues. The fellowship routes are also open to many categories of staff including Professional Services colleagues, and this is a great way to recognise the massive impact they make to benefit the teaching and learning of UCL students.