QUT has started 2018 with an international teaching milestone, after Associate Professor Christy Collis became the university’s 500th staff member to be recognised as a HEA fellow.
The Higher Education Academy (HEA) is based in the United Kingdom and awards fellowships internationally to candidates who meet its benchmarks for evidence effective teaching and learning support practices.
Professor Abby Cathcart, the head of QUT’s Academy of Learning and Teaching, said the 500th fellow was an important milestone.
“This milestone indicates the widespread focus on the value of teaching quality at QUT, the value we place on staff who support learning, and the deep commitment to the Academy shown by the many staff members who have helped build QALT by playing roles as mentors, reviewers and champions,” she said.
QUT’s HEA Fellows range from early-career academics and PhD students, to experienced academics and professional staff in learning support roles.
Associate Professor Collis achieved recognition as a Senior Fellow of the HEA at the end of December.
She is a lecturer and researcher with QUT’s Creative Industries Faculty, who designed and founded the university’s successful Bachelor of Entertainment Industries course. She is also currently the faculty’s Director of Research Quality.
She said the process of achieving her HEA Senior Fellowship had helped her articulate her core teaching philosophy and assemble evidence of her teaching quality.
“HEA is a valuable means of formally recognising teaching excellence at an international level and it’s a valuable community to be involved with,” she said.
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