The UK Advising and Tutoring (UKAT) Conference took place last week over four days: ‘Festival of Effective Advising and Tutoring.’ A number of our colleagues engaged in various parts of the conference that were available for all to attend and Dr Marjorie Wilson represented Teesside University as the main delegate. She attended the full conference and presented a paper, which was extremely well received, around the development of our Personal Tutoring Code of Practice and Learner Analytics.
The Conference culminated in its Awards Ceremony which saw five colleagues from Teesside recognised through the UKAT Professional Recognition Scheme.
Beverley Boden awarded Recognised Senior Advisor
Joanne Irving-Walton awarded Recognised Senior Advisor
Nicola Poppitt awarded Recognised Leader in Advising
Dr Helen Tidy awarded Recognised Senior Advisor
Dr Marjorie Wilson awarded Recognised Senior Advisor
A huge congratulations to these colleague who represented a quarter of the total number awards made at the ceremony; this recognition reflects their commitment to students and their professional practices around Personal Tutoring.
The UKAT Professional Recognition scheme has been developed collaboratively with UKAT member institutions and piloted across 11 institutions including Teesside University. Referenced against the UKAT Professional Framework for Advising and Tutoring, the scheme evidences the competencies and skills that tutors/advisors need to deliver effective, quality-enhanced approaches to student success. It encourages staff to develop a reflective approach to the continual enhancement of their advising and tutoring practice informed by scholarship within the field. It is anticipated that recognition awarded through the scheme will provide a useful way to demonstrate student support and the personalisation of learning to evidence claims made in TEF submissions and Access and Participation Plans.
The aim of the UKAT Professional Recognition Scheme is to give greater recognition to tutors and advisors, and the contribution that personal tutoring/academic advising make to student persistence and success. The scheme is akin to the Advance HE HEA Fellowship scheme but focused exclusively on personal tutoring and academic advising. It awards formal recognition to applicants at one of three levels based on the submission of a reflective portfolio of evidence of their practice:
Recognised Practitioner in Advising
Recognised Senior Advisor
Recognised Leader in Advising
Throughout 2020/2021 Teesside University intends to support 20 colleagues from across the University to seek recognition through this Professional Recognition Scheme. We have already done some initial communications around identifying interested colleagues and further communications will follow to confirm these colleagues.
If you are interested in progressing an application for professional recognition further details about the UKAT Professional Recognition Scheme can be found here: https://www.ukat.uk/professional-development/professional-recognition/. You might also want to informally liaise with one of the colleagues listed above to get more of an insight into the application process and time commitment required to complete this.