Establishing and operating HEA accredited provision policy

Transcription

1 Page 1 of 13 Establishing and operating HEA accredited provision policy 1. Introduction The Higher Education Academy (HEA) accredits initial and continuing professional development provision delivered by higher education providers (including higher education (HE) delivered in further education (FE) colleges and private providers). HEA accreditation provides external confirmation that institutional CPD provision is aligned with the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) which outlines the characteristics and qualities that evidence shows are desirable in those involved in teaching and supporting learning in higher education. The UKPSF forms the basis of the concept of professional recognition, a process by which individuals can be awarded one of four categories of Fellowship of the HEA in acknowledgement that their practice evidences successful engagement with the dimensions of the UKPSF and the requirements of the category. Accreditation is a process through which the HEA confirms that the provisions offered by an institution generate the necessary evidence for Fellowships to be awarded. The HEA can accredit any type of provision that provides developmental opportunities for those involved in teaching or supporting learning within higher education. Common examples of accredited provision include Postgraduate Certificates, CPD frameworks and individual modules. The aim of this policy is to provide a clear position relating to the requirements of HEA accreditation. The policy and procedure is reviewed on an annual basis to reflect and promote good practice from within the sector. 2. Terms and conditions Accreditation is only available to HEA subscribing institutions, other than affiliate college subscribers (see below), as part of their subscription entitlement. These institutions can make one free accreditation submission in a three year period. This three year period is later referred to as an accreditation cycle. Within the one accreditation submission, up to five lines of provision can be included. Additional lines of provision are subject to an additional fee (please see Tariff of Charges available on HEA website). For further guidance on what constitutes a line of provision please refer to the HEA supporting guidance available on the website. For full terms and conditions see Appendix Accreditation start and end dates Accreditation commences on 1 September and runs for a period of three years. Historically, the HEA allowed opportunity for institutions to backdate their accreditation to the beginning of the academic year, regardless of the point in that academic year at which they submitted. This is no longer the case and no backdating will be allowed from onwards. In order to allow institutions some opportunity to adapt to this revision in policy the following measures are in place:

2 Page 2 of 13 for submissions received in the academic year it will be possible for the start date of accredited provision to be back-dated to 1 September 2014 providing the submission was received by the December 2014 submission deadline; for submissions received in the academic year and beyond there will be no backdating of accreditation start dates meaning that accreditation will need to have been confirmed prior to the September in which the provision is planned to start. The implication of this is that institutions should have made their submission before the final deadline of 31 May prior to the September in which they wish the accreditation to commence. Institutions may present one accreditation submission every three years as part of their subscription entitlement. Any additional submission within three years will incur an additional charge. For example; If the previous submission was made in the academic year with the resulting provision accredited from 1 September 2013 to 31 August 2016, the next opportunity to submit within the subscriber entitlement will be in the academic year for provision planned to start and/or continue on 1 September Note - Affiliate college subscribers are not entitled to access accreditation services as part of their subscription package. There will be an additional charge in line with the subscription tariff. 2.2 Remit of accredited status As a subscription entitlement, accredited provision can be offered from any campus of the subscribing institution either in the UK or overseas and including collaborative partners, but intent to use the provision in this manner must be made explicit at the point of accreditation. A collaborative partner is defined as an additional institution with which collaborative provision is delivered. Collaborative provision denotes educational provision leading to an award, or to specific credit toward an award, of an awarding institution delivered and/or supported and/or assessed through an arrangement with a partner organisation (Quality Assurance Agency, 2011) B10.pdf. Please also see Appendix 1 of this policy for further information relating to employment status. Wherever offered accredited provision must operate as explicitly accredited and be supported, assessed and quality assured by employees of the subscribing institution who have appropriate knowledge and understanding of the UKPSF. Appropriate external expertise must also be embedded as detailed within this policy. Accreditation does not cover provision that is developed for commercial sale, i.e. to generate revenue for the accredited provider. The HEA offers a separate approvals service for provision of this nature. Accreditation is only valid while an institution continues to subscribe to the HEA. Accreditation will be withdrawn if a provider ceases to subscribe.

3 Page 3 of Accreditation criteria and minimum requirements 3.1 Accreditation criteria The final confirmation of accreditation is the result of a professional judgement reached by a group of three peer accreditors, who constitute a panel and apply the following accreditation criteria in their decision-making: Criterion 1: there is evidence of the institution s developing commitment to embedding the UKPSF as a vehicle for promoting the professional development and on-going good standing of all staff who teach and support learning; Criterion 2: the provision is fully aligned with the relevant Descriptor of the UKPSF; Criterion 3: participants fully engage with the appropriate dimensions of the UKPSF and the relevant Descriptor and evidence this engagement; Criterion 4: recognition decisions which result in HEA Fellowship are rigorous, robust and based upon appropriate evidence of successful engagement with the dimensions of the UKPSF and the relevant Descriptor. 3.2 Key principles and minimum requirements To help ensure consistency across the sector and comparability of the recognition decisions made across institutions, the following section of the policy sets out the minimum requirements for provision presented to the HEA for accreditation. The general requirements are as follows: the institution must provide opportunities for the CPD of staff who teach or support learning beyond the point of recognition; the institution must facilitate development in relation to the UKPSF and professional recognition for all involved with supporting and/or assessing on accredited provision. The development needs to be provided, both initially and on an on-going basis, to ensure internal expertise around making internal recognition decisions is built and maintained; the format of the recognition artefact, and/or the processes through which recognition decisions are made may differ, but the assessment requirements must demonstrate equivalence in terms of sufficiency, quality and evidence-based approach to those required in direct submission to the HEA for each category of Fellowship (details are available on the HEA website ; the recognition decision process must be free of any conflict of interest. It is expected that teams managing institutional schemes will be closely involved in the delivery of provision and

4 Page 4 of 13 in providing wider support for participants but mentors /coaches (whether internal or external to the organisation) should not be involved in making recognition decisions for the individuals they have supported. Reviewers/ assessors involved in making recognition decisions: The minimum number of appropriate reviewers who assess applications for Fellowship within internal institutional schemes / assess assignment work on taught accredited programmes to make recognition decisions is as follows for each category of Fellowship: the award of Associate Fellow and Fellow of the HEA (AFHEA/FHEA) must be based on the recognition decision reached by a minimum of two suitably trained and experienced reviewers, one of whom should be recognised as FHEA. This applies to all accredited provision including taught academic programmes; the award of Senior Fellow of the HEA (SFHEA) must be based on the recognition decision reached by a minimum of three suitably trained and experienced reviewers, one of whom should be recognised as a SFHEA. It is strongly recommended that if the award of SFHEA is new to the institution, an external reviewer should be one of the three reviewers who make recognition decisions until institutional capacity and expertise is established. The HEA Accreditation Panel reserve the right to make this a condition of accreditation; the award of Principal Fellow of the HEA (PFHEA) must be based on the recognition decision reached by a minimum of three suitably trained and experienced reviewers, one of whom must be external to the institution and one of whom should normally be PFHEA (with a minimum requirement that there is one SFHEA). Requirement for references: For CPD provision, it is a requirement for references to be provided to verify that the practice of the applicant meets the requirements of the relevant Descriptor (D1-3) and that the evidence provided is accurate. A minimum of two references are required to verify claims made for AFHEA, FHEA and SFHEA. Claims for PFHEA require at least three advocate statements, with a minimum of one advocate statement being from an individual external to the institution and one advocate who has achieved a category of HEA Fellowship. For this category, one of the advocates should be able to comment on how the applicant has influenced their practice. The role of the advocate, through knowledge and understanding of the applicant s work, is to support and recommend the applicant for the award of Principal Fellow. Where taught programmes contain methods to verify teaching practice, additional references are not needed. Where this is not the case, references should be included as above.

5 Page 5 of External appointments It is an HEA requirement that externality is embedded within quality assurance processes (as opposed to recognition decision making) within all lines of accredited provision and for all categories of Fellowship. External reviewers/ assessors are also required for D3/ D4 recognition decisions within CPD schemes (see 3.2). The appointment of appropriate external reviewers/ internal panel members should be based on appropriate knowledge and understanding of, and experience in working with, the UKPSF. External reviewers will independently assess applications for Fellowship and reach recognition decisions through discussion with internal reviewers. This will ensure that assessment criteria are consistently applied and that a benchmark for internal standards is clearly defined which operates in line with the wider sector and direct application to the HEA. If the same provision is accredited to be delivered at different sites or with different collaborative partners (see Appendix 1), external scrutiny will confirm that the provision operates as explicitly accredited and that institutional standards are consistently applied. External reports relating to CPD schemes will be summarised in the Annual Report to the HEA and institutional visits will allow time for the HEA team to review all external reports relating to accredited provision. Please see the further guidance about external appointments in the HEA accreditation supporting guidance and refer to Chapter B7 of the QAA Quality Code which may be usefully applied to the role of externals within the context of professional recognition ( 4. Preparing the accreditation submission 4.1 Developmental review Subscribing institutions are entitled to one day of UKPSF consultancy delivery each year without further charge. It is strongly recommended that institutions use this entitlement to ensure their accreditation submission undergoes a developmental review prior to formal submission. This support can be arranged by contacting the HEA Accreditation Consultancy team (Consultancy.Enquiries@heacademy.ac.uk). Additional support may also be purchased to support developments related to accreditation as required ( If institutions have engaged in developmental review they will confirm this at the point of formal submission within the final declaration.

6 Page 6 of 13 It should be noted that while the developmental review is conducted by a highly experienced professional, the final decision is made by a panel of independent peer accreditors recruited from across the sector and therefore the outcome of the Accreditation Panel cannot be guaranteed. Undergoing the process of developmental review should allow institutions to identify areas for development early in the process. Past experience indicates that developmental review is likely to substantially reduce the number of conditions set and the number of provisions returned by the Accreditation Panel for further development. 4.2 Events and accreditation master-classes In addition to support through UKPSF consultancy, the HEA offers several events and workshops to support the accreditation cycle and individual recognition. For further information please see the HEA website. 5. HEA accreditation application procedure 5.1 Mode of application Application for HEA accreditation is made via a documentary submission. This submission can be made via one of the two options: an electronic submission (via to accreditation@heacademy.ac.uk) of a written narrative plus selected supporting documentation; the completion of an online portfolio (this has been developed and is being piloted with a small group of institutions in the academic year). Submissions for accreditation are reviewed at HEA Accreditation Panels which are held monthly. Institutions are allocated to panels on a first come first served basis. The HEA website publishes an annual list of the dates for submission. Allocation of institutional submissions to HEA Accreditation Panels takes place each month after these deadlines. ( Only complete submissions will be allocated to a panel. Incomplete submissions will be returned to the institution, which may result in the submission being reviewed by a later panel which may have implications for accreditation start dates. 5.2 Complete submissions A complete submission must include; the completed HEA accreditation cover sheet, which clearly lists the full details of all provision submitted for accreditation and includes confirmation of a developmental review. Please note that this cover sheet must be endorsed by the Institutional Contact; the completed HEA accreditation self-assessment proforma; a review of the previous accreditation cycle (if previous accredited provision exists); a list of contents;

7 Page 7 of 13 the narrative and supporting documents as stated in the list of contents. Full guidance in relation to these requirements can be found in the Making the case for HEA accreditation document. 6. HEA accreditation panel composition and process 6.1 HEA Accreditors HEA Accreditation Panels meet on a monthly basis. Panels are chaired by an academic member of HEA staff from within the Accreditation, Recognition and Reward team. However, all accreditation decisions are made by the panel of accreditors, not by employees of the HEA. The accreditors are highly experienced peers from across the sector that have been specifically recruited and selected for their expertise surrounding the UKPSF, professional recognition and supporting both the initial and continuing development of staff in relation to teaching and supporting learning in higher education. These individuals must hold either Senior or Principal Fellowship of the HEA and receive both initial training and on-going professional development to ensure that they remain in good standing in relation to their role. 6.2 HEA Accreditation Panels Each Accreditation Panel will normally consist of three accreditors plus the Chair and will normally consider a maximum of three institutional submissions. Each accreditor is allocated to lead the panel discussions on one of the three institutions under consideration. However, all accreditors review and prepare commentary on all the institutional submissions prior to the panel meeting which ensures that a robust final panel decision is made on the day. The role of the Chair is to ensure that the panel operates in line with this policy. Following the discussions the panel is asked to commend the strengths and areas of good practice evident in the submission in addition to confirming those areas of the submission which require development or clarification. The outcome is communicated to the institution as set out in section 7 below.

8 Page 8 of HEA Accreditation Panel outcomes The panel process will lead to one of three accreditation decisions being made for each line of provision. 1. Accredit this means that no further action is required and the provision is accredited. Feedback will be provided to identify good practice and include any appropriate recommendations for further development (if applicable). 2. Accredit subject to conditions this means that the provision could be accredited subject to some minor clarifications and/or additions. Within the feedback, areas of good practice will be identified and an accreditation action plan with explanatory guidance will be provided. The institution will need to provide evidence that the conditions within the action plan have been met before accreditation is awarded. The deadline for the resubmission of this evidence will normally be one month, at which point the revised submission will be considered by the original panel. Should the resubmission not provide sufficient and appropriate evidence to fully address the conditions set in the action plan, there will be one final opportunity for additional evidence to be considered. Again the deadline for this will usually be a further month. If at this point accreditation still cannot be confirmed as conditions are judged not to be fully addressed, institutions will be advised that a new full submission will be required and there will be an additional charge for consideration of this. 3. Returned for further development this means the panel felt the nature of amendment required to meet the accreditation criteria was too significant for this to be achieved within the one month and therefore the submission is returned to the institution accompanied by an accreditation action plan with explanatory guidance. The deadline for a resubmission of this nature will normally be set at three months. Once resubmitted, it will be allocated to the next available HEA Accreditation Panel. This resubmission will undergo the same process of full panel scrutiny as a first submission. If the second panel cycle does not result in a successful outcome, any further submissions will be charged at the full additional submission rate (please see Tariff of Charges available on HEA website). In all cases, the feedback letter together with any accreditation action plan will be sent electronically to the Institutional Contact and named programme managers normally within ten working days of the Accreditation Panel.

9 Page 9 of Appeals and complaints Appeals and complaints in relation to the HEA accreditation service can be made in accordance with the HEA Accreditation, Recognition and Reward Appeals policy. 9. Annual review of accredited provision 9.1 Purpose of annual review To ensure that institutional CPD schemes remain in good standing, the HEA requires that by 1 July each year institutions with this kind of provision provide a brief Annual Report on the operation of their accredited scheme. An HEA template is provided for this report which can be submitted by 1 July in one of two ways: submission of the completed annual review template to the HEA accreditation mailbox at accreditation@heacademy.ac.uk; the completion of the designated section of the online e-portfolio (see section 5.1). These annual reports serve several purposes. They: provide a platform for celebrating the positive impact that developmental opportunities offered through accredited provision have made within the organisation; encourage institutions to evaluate the strengths and areas for further development of their accredited provision to lead to future improvements in the next accreditation cycle; will allow institutions to identify, and inform the HEA of, any areas in which a minor or major change to the accredited provision within the 3 year accreditation cycle is required; will be used to inform the opportunities for support and guidance material provided by the HEA; will inform the annual visit planning of the HEA as part of sector wide quality enhancement initiatives; will help the HEA to identify good practice which the HEA may then be able to disseminate with the wider sector with the permission of the institution concerned. 9.2 Programme of annual visits Annually the HEA will visit a number of institutions to observe their internal recognition decision making processes. Institutions will be contacted by 1 October if they are to be visited in the coming academic year at any time, although the HEA reserves the right to request access to the operation of any accredited provision.

10 Page 10 of 13 The HEA team will visit a variety of institutions, spread across the UK, with schemes that are already in operation including a mix of those in year one, two and three of the accreditation cycle. These visits will provide the sampled institution with constructive developmental feedback on the operations observed and will inform the opportunities for support and guidance material provided by the HEA. If concerns arise as a result of an institutional visit the HEA will be able to work with the institution in a proactive, developmental manner to ensure that provision operates as explicitly accredited. 10. Making minor and/or major changes to accredited provision Institutions wishing to request that any major change is made to accredited provision for the coming academic year must do so before 1 July each year. For CPD provision, this may be approached through the annual review process (section 9) but changes may also be requested to the accreditation of taught provision, which is currently not subject to HEA annual review. Any request for change to accredited provision should be made directly to the HEA via the accreditation mailbox (accreditation@heacademy.ac.uk) before the 1 July deadline. It is highly recommended that institutions discuss any proposed change to accredited provision at the earliest opportunity with a member of academic staff from the HEA Accreditation, Recognition and Reward team and well in advance of the annual deadline. The HEA staff member will be able to help identify whether the proposed change is likely to be major or minor. Minor changes are alterations to the existing accredited provisions that do not materially alter the provision or the pathways to recognition within them. These are changes that do not significantly alter the design of the provision, the participant engagement with the UKPSF or importantly the evidence on which recognition decisions are made and how these decisions are reached or by who. There are no fees associated with minor changes. Minor changes may be made throughout the year but these should be reported as part of the annual review process for quality and audit purposes. A major change, which will be discussed and may be approved by a dedicated HEA Major Change to Accreditation Panel, will incur an additional fee for each line of provision affected (please see Tariff of Charges available on the HEA website). The HEA Major Change to Accreditation Panel will meet by the end of July in each academic year. This panel will consist of one member of HEA academic staff from the Accreditation, Recognition and Reward team plus two accreditors. The request for major change(s) to be approved will be formally presented to the panel, along with any appropriate supporting evidence provided. The panel will apply the accreditation criteria and either approve or reject the request. If the request is rejected, institutions can choose whether to continue to operate the provision as originally accredited or to make a new accreditation submission outside the three year accreditation cycle (with associated charge). By way of an example, a major change could include: an addition of a new line of provision or pathway;

11 Page 11 of 13 a proposed new site/campus of delivery and/or participant group; change to the mode of delivery and/or support for participants to engage with the UKPSF; revision of the evidence on which recognition decisions are made or the recognition decision making processes; revision to programme/module outcomes that necessitates a concomitant change to the programme s structure and/or content to maintain UKPSF alignment.

12 Page 12 of 13 Appendix I Accreditation and professional recognition terms and conditions Accreditation of institutional provision for professional recognition Subscribing institutions are entitled to make one accreditation submission every three years as part of their subscription entitlement. The accreditation submission allows up to five lines of provision, (which may include programmes, modules or schemes) to be presented for accreditation against the UKPSF without charge. Additional lines of provision can be presented for accreditation at any point within the three year cycle but this will be subject to an additional charge. Further information can be provided by the institution s nominated HEA Partnership Manager. Accreditation is only available to subscribing institutions and accredited status is only valid while the institution s HEA subscription is maintained. Accreditation will be valid for a period of three years, after which a further full submission for accreditation must be presented. During the accreditation cycle, institutions are also required to provide the HEA with a short annual report, on a designated template, which presents key information related to the operation of accredited CPD provision. Accredited provision can be offered in any campus of the subscribing institution either in the UK or overseas and including partners with whom the subscribing institution delivers collaborative provision, but this must be explicit and fully detailed at the point of accreditation. Wherever offered, accredited provision must be supported, assessed and quality assured by employees from the subscribing institution by individuals who have appropriate knowledge and understanding of the UKPSF. Outside of these arrangements accreditation does not cover provision that is developed for commercial sale. For monitoring purposes, accreditation is deemed to have taken place on award of accredited status. Professional recognition Individuals can apply to the HEA for professional recognition either on successful completion of provision accredited by the HEA within an HE provider, or by direct application through the HEA s experience route. Employees of subscribing institutions can apply for recognition on completion of an accredited provision free of charge, or can apply via the direct HEA experience route for a discounted fee. The HEA will charge a fee for individuals who started their course after 1 August 2013 and who are applying for professional recognition via accredited provision if they are not employed by a subscribing institution. This fee for recognition applies to all participants on accredited institutional provision, whether a CPD scheme or a taught programme, who are not employed by the institution

13 Page 13 of 13 or another institution which subscribes to the HEA at the point of recognition. The additional fee charged by the HEA for professional recognition will be dependent on the category of recognition sought. Eligibility for professional recognition in relation to national credit transfer systems Institutions must ensure that all participants are reflecting on teaching/support of learning at: Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF) Level 4 or above in England, Wales or Northern Ireland; Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Higher Education Level 7 or above in Scotland. Definition of employment for professional recognition purposes Employment status at an institution is based on the Higher Education Statistical Agency (HESA) definition of employment. An individual who is returned in the HESA return is deemed to be employed. Staff with zero hours contracts, such as Associate Lecturers, are eligible to apply for HEA Fellowship if their employment contract is with a subscribing institution. The only exception to these regulations relates to postgraduates who teach as Associate Lecturers or as part of their PhD studentship/bursary. These individuals are deemed to be employed by the institution as they are contracted to deliver teaching but may not necessarily be paid for their work. Work place educators, who teach or support the learning of HE students (and are eligible for recognition as set out above) but whose primary employer is not an HE Provider, are eligible to gain HEA Fellowship but will be liable for an additional fee to the HEA at the point of recognition. For example, an NHS Consultant supporting medical students at X University completes a Postgraduate Certificate in Health Care Education and meets the requirements for recognition at D2. At the point of recognition, the individual will be contacted by the HEA to request the additional fee. On payment of the fee Fellowship will be awarded. If you are unsure about the employment status of any staff/participants on HEA accredited provision within your institution, the HEA recommends that that the HR Department at your institution should be consulted in line with the definitions provided above.