Reward and Recognition

Reward and Recognition of Teaching in Teams

Snapshot from Oxford Brookes University

RARE: Where we started…

RARE: What changes are happening

Our changes are informed by our own enquiry and the literature, eg …o use rewards for teaching that academics understand and value. Promotions and

confirmation of appointment are the most important aspects of reward;o put in place definitions of good teaching;o recognise university teaching as a profession in its own right. Make a university

teaching qualification, or appropriate experience, a prerequisite for tenure and promotions;

o embed the evaluation of teaching in everyday academic work;o strengthen leadership for good teaching. Good leadership at every level should be

exercised to support the reward and recognition of teaching activities;o treat good teaching as a collective as well as an individual responsibility;o use quality management levers to speed up progress. Coherence between a

university’s mission, its quality management process, and its strategies for recognising and rewarding good teaching are not always apparent.

o Formal monitoring of reward and recognition for good teaching practice via an institution’s quality assurance process is essential

HEA/GENIE (2009) Reward and recognition in higher education: Institutional policies and their implementation

Promotion and professionalisation

Pre-existing:• Teaching route to

Professor• Promotion criteria

emphasise team-working• Fellowship of HEA

New in 2011-12• Promotion to PL(SE) as

‘Reader’ equivalent as a stepping-stone

For 2013:• Review match

between role criteria and job description

• Propose change to job title from PL(SE) to Associate Professor

• Senior and Principal Fellowship of HEA

Change academy: changing Brookes Teaching Fellowships to what?

Since 2003 :• Self-nomination• Focus on individual

excellence• One scheme, two types of

award• Offers a 2-year project &

stipend

For 2013:• Self-nomination and

identification/nomination by others

• R&R in teaching and support of learning for teams

• Range of awards• Programme of the Year• Fellowship Team Award• Module or programme recognition

• Rewards revised

What kinds of rewards – reputational, financial, opportunity-giving• providing colleagues with a route to, and evidence for, promotion &

accreditation• public reporting, certification and announcements• ‘draw-down’ fund to support further development of the teaching

team, including conferences and away days• invitations to share their expertise and excellence in other

Faculties/Departments• opportunities to work/advise on initiatives across University• study trips to investigate and bring back into the university in

seminars in each Faculty• writing support• bespoke staff development • Etc

What is our ‘theory of change’

Desired outcomes

• match between espoused value of teams and our processes, descriptions, rules and criteria

• visibility of (programme) teams heightened

• criteria for benchmarking effective programme teams

• being a team member is seen as a benefit (a la total reward)

• HR policies reflect and encourage this team-working

• new awards available

• formal recognition for expanded course teams

• more innovative, risk-taking curriculum design can be encouraged and made sustainable, and more widely understood

• PETAL is seen/used a lever to bring teams together for better student learning outcomes

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