Supporting all staff to enhance the student learning experience
Key impacts
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Staff are increasingly aspiring to develop within the educational landscape, with practice more clearly underpinned by pedagogical leadership and innovation.
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Reward and recognition opportunities related to education now meaningfully include professional services colleagues.
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Development activities are more closely aligned with Institutional priorities and student feedback, enabling teams to identify and address gaps in provision.
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A professional services colleague has achieved an Advance HE National Teaching Fellowship for the first time at the institution.
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While National Student Survey (NSS) and Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey (PTES) metrics are influenced by many factors, overall satisfaction has shown an upward trend across the past five survey cycles.
The significant value placed on staff development, and the extent to which this is fully embedded across the University, was a commendation in Bangor’s most recent Institutional Quality Enhancement Review.
Bangor University wanted to ensure that all staff, not just academic staff, had the support and opportunities they needed to deliver high quality education with the best student experience wrapped around the educational provision. Their goal was to boost confidence, capability and consistency across academic and professional services staff and teams.
To deliver on this ambition, change was achieved through a multi-faceted approach to staff development. This included mandatory training, a CPD scheme, and Advance HE-accredited reward and recognition opportunities through the University’s Centre for Enhancement in Learning and Teaching (CELT).
To better support student-facing professional services staff, Bangor encouraged participation in communities of practice alongside academic colleagues, developed inclusive criteria for its Annual Education and Student Experience Awards, and expanded mentoring for Advance HE Fellowships. This helped create clearer, more equitable pathways for development across roles. An important benefit of this approach is that communities of practice now include a wider range of voices and experiences, strengthening shared learning.
These approaches are already having a positive impact. Professional services colleagues are achieving fellowships and national awards alongside academic staff, reflecting growing recognition across the institution. CPD content is informed by student feedback, including insights from Student-Led Teaching Award nominations, and development opportunities are more closely aligned with student experience priorities.
As a result, staff now have clearer routes to develop and progress within educationally focused roles. Staff confidence and capability have strengthened, teaching practices are more consistent, the breadth of educational activity across skills and employability, retention and inclusivity is being more fully recognised.
We advocated a truly holistic approach to staff development - something that would improve education and the student experience across the whole institution. These two elements must work optimally and in tandem for a student to have a high-quality learning experience. It wasn’t about fixing a problem, but strengthening what already worked, with reward and recognition playing an important role.
Professor Nicky Callow, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Head of College of Human Sciences
Looking ahead, a continuing challenge is building the confidence of professional services staff to put themselves forward for reward and recognition opportunities. Many of these colleagues work within team-based structures, so identifying individual contributions and leadership roles can feel unfamiliar. This remains a focus for further development.