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Academic Professional Development

St Mary’s University promotes and supports high quality teaching and support for learning. To maintain our reputation as an institution focused on teaching excellence, all academic staff are required to engage with our Academic Development Framework (ADF), which is accredited by the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

The ADF provides a coherent structure for academic CPD and includes two distinct routes to achieving Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA):

Initial Professional Development Route (IPDR)

The PG Cert Academic Practice (Higher Education) is accredited by the HEA and is appropriate for colleagues with less than two years’ experience of teaching in Higher Education.

Continuing Professional Development Route (CPDR)

An experiential route to HEA Fellowship, appropriate for colleagues with more than two years’ experience, and who do not already have a qualification for teaching in HE. Colleagues can apply for Associate Fellowship, Fellowship or Senior Fellowship of the HEA.

Newly appointed staff will be guided towards the route that is most appropriate to their level of experience, teaching role and responsibilities.