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University of Reading

FLAIR CPD makes 100th award

Wednesday, 20 July 2016

FLAIR CPD makes 100th award

The FLAIR CPD Scheme at the University has made its 100th award this month.

The Scheme is an internal accreditation process which enables experienced staff to gain professional recognition for the work they do in teaching or supporting learning.

It is accredited by the Higher Education Agency (HEA) and is fully aligned to the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF), a national framework for comprehensively recognising and benchmarking teaching and learning support within Higher Education.

The University’s institutional accreditation gives us the authority to award all categories of HEA Fellowship – Associate Fellow, Fellow, Senior Fellow and Principal Fellow – through the FLAIR CPD Scheme.

This year attracted a high number of applications. In all, 22 members of staff applied, one of whom was awarded Associate Fellow, 10 others were awarded Fellow, 9 were awarded Senior Fellow and one applicant was awarded Principal Fellow.

Achieving Fellowship through the FLAIR CPD Scheme brings many benefits to colleagues. These include:

  • the chance to have their practice in teaching and/or supporting learning recognised through an internationally recognised 'badge of quality'
  • the entitlement to use post-nominal letters (AFHEA, FHEA, SFHEA, PFHEA)
  • a 'portable career asset' which is increasingly required across the sector and included within job descriptions, promotion criteria and rewards processes
  • the opportunity to develop knowledge of pedagogy and evidence-informed practice through engaging with the scholarship of teaching and learning
  • the opportunity to reflect on practice and to identify strengths and goals for future development

It also benefits the University by confirming the importance of teaching and learning to the Institution and ensuring a high quality experience for our students.

A key KPI for the University is for at least 80% of the staff who teach with a contract of 0.2 FTE or above to be recognised as qualified – as defined by the HESA categories – by the end of the academic year 2017-18.