Would you like to gain recognition and accreditation for the superb job you do in teaching or supporting learners?
Advance HE is a global organisation committed to the improvement of higher education and their fellowship scheme is an internationally recognised professional accreditation system that offers accreditation through distinct categories from Associate Fellow to Principal Fellow.
The fellowship system invites applicants to ‘demonstrate a personal and institutional commitment to professionalism in learning and teaching in higher education.’ The fellowship application process is comprehensive and based on a self-evaluative and reflective journey for the applicant.
As a university that values teaching excellence, MTU supports staff to gain professional recognition of their teaching and learning practice. In Ireland, there isn’t yet an Irish recognition framework for teaching and learning in Higher Education, so we are adopting the Advance HE system which has global recognition.
To date as part of the MTU’s Advance HE programme, 68 staff have gained fellowship at one of the following levels
- Associate Fellow
- Fellow
- Senior Fellow
- Principal Fellow.
Completing the fellowship application process involves taking time to understand the framework of activities, values, and knowledge. You then need to take the time to reflect on your own experiences of teaching and learning.
Support Provided
Each participant is supported by a peer group of three to discuss their approach and to prompt conversation about what each of the group has already achieved. In addition, there is one writing workshop to support participants to write their application. Finally, each participant has the opportunity to submit a draft and get feedback from an experienced Advance HE consultant.
ADVANCE HE FELLOWSHIP PILOT PROGRAMME AT MTU 2022-23
MTU’s pilot programme commenced in September 2022 with 50 participants and, while some staff are still progressing through the scheme, we are delighted to report that MTU now has 40 staff with fellowships.
We asked some participants from last year’s MTU Advance HE Fellowship Programme if they would recommend the programme to a colleague, here's what they said:
In addition, we asked participants what they enjoyed most about doing the Fellowship programme and the following are just a selection of the comments received:
Allowing myself time to reflect.
Successfully completing it was the most enjoyable part of the Advance HE Fellowship.
Reflecting on the breadth of projects and new initiatives designed, developed, and delivered by our department under my leadership and strengthened through my enabling and empowering of colleagues and reinforcement of external networks with industry partners.
Collaborating and engaging with colleagues on the same journey.
I enjoyed having the opportunity to take stock and reflect on my own practice. I enjoyed the sense of achievement that came with reflection. It makes you more aware of your own growth as a professional.
Meeting colleagues that I did not know before
Connecting with new people
I really enjoyed every aspect of it, the well-organised sessions and workshops, the group discussions and meet ups, especially the organising a space to block some time in the diary for writing. Really enjoyed the whole journey of it!
The most enjoyable aspect of the programme was knowing there was so much support available in supporting the application, whether it was through the organised workshops, through the peer groups or through the draft feedback which was organised. The unknown aspect of the application was initially daunting but knowing the level of support made the process much more enjoyable.
This was a great chance to take stock of personal professional achievements in the last few years. We often take for granted what we 'get done' and this was a nice reminder of some shared successes.
Interaction with colleagues is one of the best things I found in this MTU Advance HE Fellowship Programme. Moreover, the support and motivation provided by the groups were excellent.
The feedback.
Academic Year 2023-24
In 2023/24, over 40 staff expressed an interest in gaining professional accreditation and joining the growing number of MTU Advance HE Fellows.
The Future
The long-term aim of this programme is for MTU is to grow our numbers of accredited staff and to build a learning community of Advance HE fellows within MTU. We also intend to become an accredited institution so that going forward we can award fellowships to our staff internally. There will be linkages with our existing professional development programmes allowing staff a number of pathways to gain Fellowship.
Further Information
If you would like further information, please contact:
- Catherine Murphy (Catherine.murphy@mtu.ie) Teaching & Learning Unit, MTU Cork Campuses
- Margaret Finch (margaret.finch@mtu.ie), MTU Kerry Campuses.
- MTU Advance HE Fellowship (AdvanceHEFellowshipProgramme@mtu.ie)