full report - Higher Education Academy

The partnership team is playing a key role in working closely with institutions
to understand their needs and show and share where the HEA
can offer help and support.
a summary report, launched at the two-day ‘What Works?’
conference in March 2012, and the final report, Building student
engagement and belonging in higher education at a time of change:
final report from the What Works? Student Retention and Success
programme, in July 2012. The conference attracted over 200
attendees and included leading international and UK keynote
addresses. A Compendium of effective practice was also published
this year to enable the successful What Works? model to be applied
beyond the programme of work, with a second to follow
next year. The HEA and Action on Access are currently working
together to develop a second phase to build on the valuable
work of the ‘What Works?’ project.
The HEA held the Black and minority ethnic (BME) students
learning and teaching summit programme in 2012 comprising
a series of activities designed to generate, collect and review
evidence on the contribution of the curriculum to BME
student retention and success in higher education. The
synthesised outcomes were presented at a two-day residential
event in April 2012 to be interrogated by practitioners, students,
senior institutional managers and national policy makers.
A report of the recommendations of the summit providing a
set of guiding principles will be published in the Autumn. One
of the recommendations led to the establishment of the HEA’s
Strategic Development Grants, offering almost £70,000 in
funding for eight projects that are designed to improve the
attainment of BME students within higher education. The
Social Work and Social Policy discipline has funded work on
the retention of BME students in Social Policy this year.
UK higher education has a worldwide reputation for
excellence in teaching quality and universities across the
sector are increasingly working in an international context,
recruiting internationally and developing their global presence.
This year the HEA has been developing an international
strategy through which it aims to work in partnership with
UK and international institutions to deliver services to higher
education organisations, governments and sector agencies
overseas. In 2012, the HEA engaged with universities and
government ministries in South East Asia, Australasia, Africa,
Europe and the Middle East.
In response to an increasing demand for bespoke support, the
HEA has launched a consultancy service, providing tailored
interventions that meet the specific needs of institutions and
providers. In 2012, more than 50 universities engaged with
this service, and interest continues to grow across the UK
and overseas.
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