QAA Higher Education in Further Education Colleges Liaison
Group and the Higher Education AcademyFurthering Higher Education 2009: Improving the HE in FE student experience
Friday 30 January 2009
Aston Business School, Aston University, Birmingham, B4 7ET
This one day event aimed to promote good practice and offer practical advice for lecturers of higher education in further education colleges.
Penny Blackie (Independent Consultant) and Anne Thompson (Research Associate, University of Sheffield) provided the keynote address, in which they highlighted examples of good practice featured in HEFCE’s forthcoming publication ‘Supporting higher education in further education colleges.’ Each delegate received a preview of this publication on a USB data key, together with a range of QAA publications and workshop materials.
The event provided an opportunity for lecturers of higher education in further education colleges to attend workshops aimed at developing understanding of how different strategies, approaches and examples of good practice might be applied in their own college to have a beneficial impact on the student experience.
Keynote speaker biographies
Penny Blackie has been actively involved with higher education in further education colleges for many years. Her role as Higher Education Partnerships Manager at a large college was supplemented by participation in two HEFCE research projects and she led the group commissioned by HEFCE to update the good practice guides published in 2003. She represented further education colleges on the Better Regulation Review Group and chaired the HEFCE/LSC Practitioner Sounding Board dealing with issues affecting mixed economy institutions.
Penny spent four years with Foundation Degree Forward (fdf), first as Regional Director for the North West and then Director of Regional Strategy across all regions. She left in July 2008 and now works freelance. Penny chairs the Higher Education Academy Reference Group for HE in FE and is the external evaluator for the HELP CETL in Plymouth. She is a QAA coordinator for IQER and a member of the QAA Access Recognition and Licensing Committee. With Gareth Parry and Anne Thompson, Penny co-authored Managing higher education in colleges, published by Continuum in November 2006. She is now working with the same people on a Leadership Governance and Management project funded by HEFCE, the HE in FEC expert programme for senior managers which will also produce staff development materials.
Anne Thompson spent many years working in further education, most recently as Vice Principal of Waltham Forest College. She works as a consultant and researcher and is a Research Associated at the University of Sheffield working on a range of projects relating to HE in FECs and the FE/HE interface.
Final programme
| 1000 - 1030 | Coffee and registration |
| 1030 - 1045 | Welcome and introduction |
| 1045 - 1130 | Introduction to HEFCE’s forthcoming publication, Supporting higher education in
further education colleges. Discussant: Colin Rainey, Senior Adbisor, Higher Education Academy |
| 1130 - 1230 | Workshop session A (please use the links on the right for more details) |
| 1230 - 1330 | Lunch |
| 1330 - 1430 | Workshop session B |
| 1430 - 1530 | Workshop session C |
| 1530 | Close of event |
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