On 10th November 2010 the Board of the HEA agreed a revised, narrower focus for the HEA’s work, which will concentrate on activity that supports institutions and their staff in improving teaching in higher education. This will be built around three aspects of the student learning experience – teacher excellence, developing academic practice, and institutional strategy. The HEA will continue to work with institutional leaders and with academics in their disciplines.
The future of the HEA’s work at the discipline level has been clarified; Subject Centres will be phased out by summer 2012. From 2012 work at discipline level will be led and coordinated centrally (from a restructured York office and smaller offices in Cardiff, Edinburgh and possibly, Northern Ireland), and delivered with the support of a network of associates, including subject experts, drawn from academic staff based in or linked to a wide range of higher education institutions.
Subject Centres including the UK Centre for Bioscience will be funded for the remainder of the current academic year (to July 2011) and we are committed to completing all projects or activities already announced for 2010/2011. From 1 August 2011 reduced funding will be provided for several months to support the involvement of Subject Centres in the development and delivery of services and projects for the Academy, and the transition to the new structure.
From 2011-12, the subject-level support from the Higher Education Academy will include support for new academic staff and graduate teaching assistants, teaching development grants, specialist CPD workshops and the provision of subject-specific resources.
During the last 10 years the UK Centre for Bioscience has worked closely with colleagues throughout the UK in the development of a strong, vibrant and supportive bioscience learning and teaching community, committed to meeting the needs, and enhancing the learning experience, of bioscience students around the UK. We believe that nationally, bioscience teaching and learning has benefited considerably from the close collaboration between colleagues in Departments and Schools and the Centre and we hope collaborations will continue once the new structures are in place.
We will provide further information and updates as plans emerge. In the meantime, please direct any questions or comments to heabioscience@leeds.ac.uk
We would like to thank members of the UK bioscience learning and teaching community for their involvement and encouragement over the years and for recent messages of appreciation and support. We welcome any suggestions or help you can offer us as we look to a different future.
Regards,
The UK Centre for Bioscience Team
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