Leadership and Management in Higher Education comes with a set of responsibilities that staff may not have directly been prepared for as part of their disciplinary training and expertise.
As a Lecturer (Teaching), you may be acting as a module leader, supporting and supervising other members of staff such as Assistant Lecturers, or playing a more active part in course management, quality monitoring, and enhancement processes. Developing your understanding of responsibilities, systems and processes at the institution will enable you to understand how they impact your students- and your colleagues!
Essential background
- As a Lecturer (Teaching), your role may include module leadership. Information on the role of the Module Leader, including roles and responsibilities is available on the AEPD website
- The Induction for teaching staff webpages– and the associated workshop- are an ideal starting point for colleagues who are starting out in teaching roles at the Coventry University Group. Refer to the course booking system for dates of future sessions.
- Familiarise yourself with the academic year (see Academic Calendar) and how this links to your role, including lifecycles of the courses/modules that you are involved in delivering. Talk to your line manager to understand how they relate to your role.
- You also need to understand institutional conventions for organising its courses and modules (see Registry Services web page) along with the associated platforms (e.g. Kuali, Solar, Sonic) and documentation (e.g. Module Descriptor- or “MID”- available via the Module Information Directory). This is especially important if you are planning a new module. Reach out to the Curriculum Development team for further support.
- Leadership of Apprenticeship courses requires additional duties depending on your role. For a Lecturer (Teaching), this may include liaising with employers, collating active scheme of work, safeguarding duties or preparing documents for Ofsted inspections. Connect with your Apprenticeship Cluster Lead for further details.
Getting Started
- Understanding the processes and cycles involved in assessment and feedback at Coventry University Group is important for Lecturers (Teaching). Refer to the Assessment & Feedback section of the AEPD website for further details.
- Your school is likely to have an organisational diagram or matrix for the different course teams. It can be useful to keep this to hand in case of queries. Your line manager should be able to provide this, or you can look on the People Hub (Coventry log-in required).
- The Course Quality Enhancement & Monitoring process is an essential mechanism underpinning the development of a course-focused approach for the student experience. Download our full guidance document from the webpage. You are very likely to be asked to respond to some of the data as part of module or course leader duties, or to action specific points of feedback as part of the ‘You Said, We Did’ process.
- If your course is monitored by Ofsted (such as initial Teacher Training or an Apprenticeship) explore Registry’s Ofsted Pages (login required)
Take it further
- You can gain insights into Quality Assurance in the Higher Education sector via the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) and through the Office for Students.
- If you teach on an apprenticeship course, explore the external accountability framework and key performance indicators on the Government’s apprenticeships site.
- Explore support to develop your leadership and management skills from Organisational Development at the Leadership and Management Hub.
- Understanding the data in the CEQM dashboard can help inform policy and process decisions. Refer to the course booking system for dates of future CEQM training sessions.
Try it out!
- Enrol on the Academic Induction on the course booking system
- Identify your modules on CEQM- are there any elements or issues you’d like more information on?
- Do you know who your CEQM Student Reps are? What feedback do they have?