College HE Networking Community focuses on staff development opportunities

Opening with a look at the latest policy development across the sector, our summer meeting of QAA's College HE Networking Community was, as usual, full of ideas, expertise, energy and lively discussion, thanks to the enthusiastic participation of colleagues from QAA Members across the UK.

Observing that this is the time of year when we start planning next year's continuing professional development opportunities for colleagues in college-based higher education, the Networking Community's chair Charlotte Scheffmann (Dean of Higher Education at East Lancashire Learning Group) introduced a pair of insightful and inspiring practice-sharing sessions which detailed innovative staff development initiatives.

As part of their strategy to support students to continue, to achieve and to progress, colleagues from University Centre Wigan & Leigh College explained how their strategy to promote high quality teaching has been underpinned by their establishment of a Teaching and Learning Academy, which includes an induction programme for new staff, dual practitioner support, the use of QAA resources, access to research-informed platforms and professional body memberships, as well as mentoring for Advance HE fellowship applications.

Colleagues from Gower College Swansea explored how to bridge the gap to support staff experienced in teaching in FE contexts moving into teaching in HE, using supportive and collaborative training and mentoring approaches to ensure that staff understand and apply HE expectations from the outset and respond to the distinct pedagogic environments of HE in FE, unpacking such key sector reference points as Subject Benchmark Statements, qualifications frameworks, Characteristic Statements and the Quality Code, and sharing effective practice in such areas as assessment and course design, course approval processes, technology-enhanced learning, placement learning and employability.

The meeting concluded with QAA Membership Quality Specialist Lucy Leake introducing some of our latest publications and our upcoming events, workshops and CPD opportunities for QAA members.

You can learn more about our College HE Networking Community from Charlotte Scheffmann's recent blog. 

QAA members can find out how to get involved in our College HE Networking Community on our website.