Dr Gustavo Espinoza-Ramos, Lecturer in Management and Marketing, has written an article for Advance HE in which he shares his main five tips he picked up when completing his application for a Senior Fellowship through the Professional Recognition and Enhancement Scheme for Teaching (PRESTige) at the University of Westminster.
In the article, Dr Espinoza-Ramos reflects on his own experience of obtaining a Senior Fellowship through PRESTige, a scheme for professional recognition at the University of Westminster which offers teaching staff the chance to recognise and record their talents against the national benchmark of the UK Professional Standards Framework (UKPSF) to gain Associate Fellowship, Fellowship or Senior Fellowship of Advance HE’s Higher Education Academy (HEA).
Dr Espinoza-Ramos’ top tips for completing an application include understanding that a Senior Fellowship is not about seniority but level of influence; the importance of talking to other colleagues who hold a Senior or Principal Fellowship to help build confidence; organising the structure of an application before you start writing; the importance of being patient when working on your application; and the importance of being creative when providing evidence to demonstrate leadership skills.
Speaking about how the Senior Fellowship is not about seniority but influence, Dr Espinoza-Ramos said: “When I applied for Senior Fellowship, I was a lecturer and not a senior one, but I reflected on my leadership role as module leader, and my informal leadership role of influencing my colleagues at university level when using technical tools during online learning.”
On the importance of speaking to colleagues who have gone through the process, he said: “This will help to build your confidence and get some input for the application. Moreover, it is important to engage in training provided by your HE institution. For example, PRESTige provided past applications that helped me in identifying a structure and artefacts. My internal adviser gave me valuable feedback to tailor my application and for career development.”
Read the full article on Advance HE’s website.
Find out more about PRESTige on the Centre for Education and Teaching Innovation (CETI)’s website.
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