The Eden Fellows HEA scheme

The Eden Fellows HEA scheme is a supported route to Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA). HEA Fellowship is awarded by AdvanceHE, a UK national teaching and learning sector organisation, which oversees and manages the UK Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education (UKPSF), through which individuals can benchmark their experience and expertise in higher education teaching and learning support.

HEA Fellowship offers the following benefits:

  • Consolidates personal development and evidence of professional practice in your higher education career;
  • Provides a valuable measure of success, and is increasingly sought by employers across the education sector as a condition of appointment and promotion. It is also increasingly recognised by international institutions;
  • Demonstrates commitment to teaching, learning and the student experience, through engagement in a practical process that encourages research, reflection and development;
  • For individuals, to identify their expertise with the entitlement to use post-nominal letters (AFHEA, FHEA, SFHEA, PFHEA)

The Eden Fellows HEA scheme supports you in the process of reviewing your experience in teaching and supporting learning, and to plan further professional development. It provides support for the following categories of fellowship:

Descriptor 1                Associate Fellow

Descriptor 2                Fellow

Descriptor 3                Senior Fellow

Senior staff interested in Principal Fellowship will be supported to apply through the HEA’s direct application route.

Eligibility

Associate Fellow 

Associate Fellowship is principally aimed at Professional Services staff who have at least one year’s experience and who play a role in supporting students or who indirectly support student learning, such as by contributing to the development of learning activities or materials or aspects of student support.  

Fellow 

Fellowship is appropriate for experienced Academic staff who may have taught at other institutions but do not hold Fellowship. It is also appropriate for Professional Services staff who have three years’ experience in a role which involves directly or indirectly supporting students and student learning. Applicants for Fellowship should also be able to demonstrate a research-informed approach to their practice.  

Senior Fellow 

Senior Fellowship is aimed primarily at experienced Academic staff who have a track record over at least three to five years of excellence in teaching and/or pedagogical innovation. They should also be able to demonstrate a research informed and evidence-based (scholarship) approach to their practice. A key facet of Senior Fellowship is the emphasis placed on the development of the professional practice of their colleagues involved in teaching and supporting learning through formal and informal mentoring and support, supervision and the contribution to teaching approaches at Departmental level. 

Senior Fellow is also appropriate for experienced Professional Services staff who can demonstrate a scholarly and evidence-based approach to their practice, as well as a positive impact on their colleagues through mentoring, support and co-ordination. 

Briefings and enrolment

Briefings

The Eden Fellowship HEA scheme has one cohort a year, in September, for staff interested in AFHEA and FHEA and two cohorts a year, in September and January for those wishing to gain SFHEA. Accordingly, briefing sessions will be held in early September and January each academic year, and it is recommended that you attend one of these sessions before registering.

The briefings for September 2022 were held on Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 28 September. You can still register if you did not attend these briefings, but you may wish to get in touch with us if you have any preliminary questions (see Further support, below).

Enrolment

You can find out more through the Eden Fellowship HEA Scheme Moodle site  

Enrolment for 2022/23 is now open. Please email us via eden@lse.ac.uk to express an interest. You will then be invited to the cohort induction and allocated a mentor. 

If you are registering for Fellowship or Senior Fellowship, you will be asked to identify your experience in relation to the key criteria for that category. 

Further support

If you have enquiries about the programme, please get in touch with Dr Claire Gordon (c.e.gordon@lse.ac.uk).

For any technical support, please contact us on eden@lse.ac.uk.