TLN Staff Fellowships

The U21 Teaching and Learning Network (U21 TLN) is a cross-network partnership, open to all interested members of Universitas 21.

Recognising that there are particular challenges and opportunities relating to teaching and learning in research-intensive universities, we believe there is genuine scope for collaboration to identify and share good practice in a number of areas.

In particular, the TLN seeks to:

• catalogue and link existing work undertaken across the U21 network with respect to best practice
• promote opportunities throughout the network to learn from the experience of others and build links between individuals with shared interests
• encourage the development of position papers and thought-provoking articles relating to U21 TLN initiatives
• develop and support a practitioner community
• evaluate and capitalise on opportunities for greater shared/multi-partner delivery.

With these goals in mind, the U21 TLN has established a U21 TLN Staff Fellowship Programme to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and skills within the U21 TLN and to encourage the sharing of best practice. The Programme is designed to provide support to a range of academic and support staff (including Directors of Teaching and Learning and Chairs of Department Teaching Committees) to travel to and undertake research at another U21 member university in another country in order to respond to the Grand Challenges and begin to develop strategies in these areas. The focus of the visits should be on new educational methods, pedagogy and technologies. Staff will also have the opportunity to investigate and discuss administrative practices, including policy, systems and procedures in a U21 member university.

There is great value in this approach as a way of responding the Grand Challenges identified by the Steering Committee:

• Leadership of educational change
• Curricular and pedagogical reform
• The teaching-research nexus
• Student engagement
• Broadening the educational experience
• Internationalisation

The Programme will offer leaders the opportunity to explore state of the art methodologies and practices in teaching. Under the terms of this scheme, the U21 TLN seeks to:

1. support research and other collaborations as outlined in the U21 “Vision and Aims” 
2. ensure that collaborations have global focus and perspective
3. further collaborative and cooperative working with clear outcomes
4. add value at an institutional and individual level
5. facilitate research and related links with member universities from outside the country where the applicant is working.

Fellowships will be awarded where there is the clear support of both home and host university. Applications must briefly demonstrate how the award will further staff development and recipients will be required to write a report upon their return to the home institution for shared learning. The report will be shared with others in the TLN.

There are five fellowships available of up to US$1,000 each.

Extended opportunity at University College Dublin

University College Dublin (UCD) has an active Fellowship in Teaching and Academic Development scheme in existence since 2007. These UCD Fellows have been working on individual and group projects whose themes are closely related to the Grand Challenges identified by the U21 TLN Steering Committee.  Details on the Fellows and their work can be found at http://www.ucd.ie/teaching/fellowships/

UCD welcomes expressions of interest and queries from applicants for a U21 TLN Fellowship whose interests are in broadly similar areas to the UCD Fellows.  UCD will offer subsidised on-campus accommodation for a successful U21 TLN Fellow for a study visit to UCD. A structured visiting programme will be also designed in consultation with a successful U21 Fellow, offering opportunities to work and share best practice with our own Fellows. For initial queries, please email Professor Bairbre Redmond, Dean of Undergraduate Students & Deputy Registrar Teaching & Learning bairbre.redmond@ucd.ie, with a copy to Judith.archbold@ucd.ie

Lavinia Winegar Gott is the U21 TLN co-ordinator. Please contact Lavinia at law6x@virginia.edu for further details about the main staff fellowships.