full report - Higher Education Academy

Foreword by Professor Sir Robert Burgess
In the previous reporting period, financial and policy challenges dominated the agenda within
the higher education sector. Despite these ongoing pressures, in this reporting period it is
very encouraging, and wholly appropriate, that an emerging policy thread, common across
the United Kingdom, puts the emphasis on putting students first.
This is where our focus should be. The Scottish Government
paper, Putting Learners at the Centre, emphasises widening access
and the learner journey; in Northern Ireland, in Graduating to
Success, the Executive references four guiding principles to meet
student needs – responsiveness, quality, accessibility and flexibility;
in Wales, the Further and Higher Education (Wales) Bill (July 2012)
focuses on the importance of the student voice and quality
enhancement; and in England, the sentiment is explicit in the
White Paper title, Students at the Heart of the System.
This thread is entirely consistent with the Higher Education
Academy’s (HEA) mission: “To use our expertise and resources
to support individuals, disciplinary and interdisciplinary teams
and higher education communities and institutions in general to
enhance the quality and impact of learning and teaching.”
This year, much has been done at the HEA to realise this mission
in what I believe has been a hugely successful period. The sector,
and specifically the HEA’s subscribers, are seeing clear benefits
of the HEA’s work to support individual academics, departments
and institutions, and to influence policy in learning and teaching.
The HEA’s successes and its impact this year, which are evident
throughout this annual report, have their foundation in the HEA’s
new strategy, its new structure, and its renewed vigour. It is our
aim to endeavour to support and improve the quality in teaching
in higher education, and so to enhance the experience of students
across the United Kingdom.
The new structure is underpinned by a new brand and a real
commitment to a set of robust values, represented and reflected
in a restyled and refreshed visual identity for the organisation.
Within this structure, the HEA’s new partnership team is playing
a key role in working very closely with institutions to understand
their needs and show and share where the HEA can offer help
and support. Support at the subject level remains at the heart of
our work. The Academic Practice area, with 28 subject disciplines
in four clusters, has quickly found its feet and is proving to be an
agile, flexible and, above all, a proactive way of providing support
for academics and institutions in their particular subject areas.
The attendance and feedback from the four cluster conferences
this year was testimony to the quality of engagement and the
value of these groupings.
In November, the HEA launched the revised UK Professional
Standards Framework (UKPSF) on behalf of the sector. This
was, and remains, very significant work in developing teaching
excellence and is thus making a direct impact on the student
experience. It is encouraging to note the progress in the UKPSF
8