ATLAS creates an opportunity for you to explore the relationship between your individual teaching experience and practice, the Lancaster University institutional and/or partnership context in which you are situated, and the PSF 2023. Your reflections on the relationship between these things will provide the framework for evidencing how you engage in effective educational practice appropriate to the category of Fellowship you are applying for.

At the heart of ATLAS lies the principle that engaging in critical reflection and discussion about learning and teaching is an important way of developing your practice and identity as an HE educator. It emphasises that continuously developing your individual practice is fundamental to the role of a professional educator and makes a significant contribution to the culture of teaching and learning excellence in the University and the educational communities that it connects to.

Your ATLAS submission or claim will include a range of reflections on examples and evidence drawn from your practice. Your claim will be underpinned by supporting statements from colleagues who can authenticate and validate your claim.

Your claim will be peer reviewed against the criteria articulated in the PSF 2023. This means you need to evidence your engagement with the Dimensions of the PSF 2023 relevant to your context and the Descriptor for which you are seeking professional recognition.

In doing so you must show:

• How your professional values underpin your educational practice.
• The application of core knowledge related to your educational practice.
• Evidence of effective and inclusive educational practice in relevant areas of activity.

Your ATLAS claim is considered by an internal peer review panel made up of experienced Lancaster University colleagues who have achieved Fellowship, Senior Fellowship or Principal Fellowship. The reviewers undergo annual training in how to review claims. Submissions are subject to the scrutiny of an external moderator who is an experienced UK HE professional. All claims are uploaded to Turnitin, and reports scrutinised by the ATLAS Lead.

Achieving a Fellowship status affords several personal and professional benefits. These include:

• Portable career asset, understood and recognised throughout the UK HE sector, and increasingly being adopted in other parts of the world.
• Gain national recognition for your role as a teacher and/supporter of learning within the HE context.
• Can relate your practice and experiences to university and department educational priorities, underpinned by globally recognised standards for HE teaching;
• Opportunity to reflect and celebrate a body of experiences related to your educational practice.
• The chance to systematically plan your professional development to deepen your understanding of a range of educational topics.
• Offer leadership opportunities and support to those coming through the Scheme as mentors, critical friends and peer reviewers.

ATLAS is a semi-structure experienced-based pathway for staff that have substantial existing experience of teaching in Higher Education. The programme has three pathways accredited by Advance HE – to Associate Fellowship, Fellow, and Senior Fellowship status. Pathways have no academic credit associated to them and do not contribute to a taught award. The programme offers the framework, guidance and recommended professional development activities that support individuals as they work towards professional recognition. However, it also requires participants to exercise a high level of self-directed planning, development and personal commitment to effective and inclusive teaching.

PGCEP is a Level 7, credit-bearing Postgraduate taught award designed to provide structured support for staff who are new to teaching in Higher Education. At Lancaster, this programme is accredited by Advance HE (AHE) against Descriptor 2 of the PSF 2023, meaning that successful completion confers Fellowship status. It provides a structured syllabus, timetable and significantly greater opportunity for peer and collaborative learning within the cohort.

For more detail about the most appropriate route to Fellowship, refer to the Routes to Advance HE Recognition Table

In early 2023, and following a sector level review and consultation, Advance HE published a revised version of the Professional Standards Framework for Teaching and Supporting Learning in Higher Education (PSF 2023). Concurrently, it began the process of phasing out the previous version of the UKPSF 2011.

Lancaster University has adopted the PSF 2023 in its accredited professional development programmes. The introduction of the new framework does not affect colleagues’ existing Fellowship status. However, in any situation where someone is now targeting a new category of Fellowship, they must now evidence their practice against the 2023 version.

In practice, this means that anyone who has previously started ATLAS, but had not submitted their claim for peer review by the May 2023 submission point, will need to restart their ATLAS Pathway on the latest version of the programme. This is to ensure they gain the necessary familiarity with the changes contained in the PSF 2023.

The previous version of ATLAS is no longer available.

Familiarity with PSF 2023 is essential as you assemble your claim for recognition. You will be introduced to PSF 2023 in the Orientation Workshop.

You may already have achieved Fellowship Status (PSF Descriptor 2) by completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice (PGCAP) at Lancaster or similar qualification at another institution. You may wish to explore working towards Senior Fellowship (PSF Descriptor 3). In the first instance, you are recommended to explore the ATLAS pathway to assess if you have sufficient evidence to support a Senior Fellowship claim. A claim for Senior Fellowship needs to evidence a 3-5 year sustained record of leading or influencing the practice of those who teach and/or support high quality learning. You are recommended to use the Advance HE Fellowship Category Tool, which gives an indication of a suitable category of Fellowship for you in your current role. You should also continue to access other continue professional opportunities to build up the necessary evidence for a Senior Fellow submission.

If you are not recognised as Fellow of Advance HE, but have completed a postgraduate teaching qualification, then you are eligible to apply for ATLAS so long as you have 3 years of teaching experience.

If you have achieved professional recognition through a Curriculum and Education Development Academy (CEDA) [formerly Educational Development] programme with Lancaster University, your recognition status will appear in PeopleXD. Otherwise, if are unsure as to your current Fellowship status, you need to contact Advance HE directly to find out. If you have moved institutions you need to update your employer record through your own My Academy account on the Advance HE website for this recognition status to be affiliated to Lancaster University. HR in Lancaster can only view Fellowship records for colleagues who have Lancaster University identified as their employing institution on the Advance HE database.

ATLAS submissions are reviewed against the PSF 2023 Descriptor you are applying for, with outcomes and feedback provided to claimants within 8 weeks of submission. When your submission is successful the CEDA team lets Advance know HE and you will be formally awarded your professional recognition status. You will receive an email to your work email address confirming when your certificate is ready to download.

On completion, you are also considered an ATLAS Associate Fellow/Fellow/Senior Fellow and are expected to remain within the ATLAS community, accessing relevant development as appropriate, and supporting other colleagues who are also working towards professional recognition, including reviewing roles for the scheme. As a Fellow you are expected to abide by the Advance HE Fellowship Code of Practice.

Yes. In some instances, people have a preference to engage with the structure and collegial environment of a taught programme. For example, colleagues new to the university (and/or the UK HE system) may value the opportunity to meet others and belong to a more fully formed learning community.

There is no fee for Lancaster University staff seeking professional recognition through the ATLAS programme. This is covered by the University’s status as a subscribing institution of Advance HE, and the programme’s accreditation status. This fee waiver only applies whilst staff are current employees of Lancaster University. As such, all participants must be able to make a submission within the life of their contract of employment.

For staff teaching Lancaster Awards at one of Lancaster’s international teaching partnerships, the fee conditions vary depending on the partner institution status. Contact ATLAS for guidance.

For all other affiliates teaching Lancaster awards who are not contracted employees of Lancaster University, special conditions apply and both a course fee and application fee are applicable.

The existence of ATLAS does not preclude the option of you making an application directly to Advance HE. However, this does incur a fee, at the subscribing institution rate. Any costs associated to direct application would need to be met by the individual or department. Fees are set by Advance HE.

Although not compulsory to have a teaching mentor for ATLAS, an effective teaching mentor can be a key support when assembling your claim for Fellowship. You may be allocated a teaching mentor by your Head of Department, or you may find one yourself.

The role of a mentor is to provide support and guidance as you assemble your claim for Fellowship. It is therefore important that they are willing to engage with the PSF 2023 through the resources CEDA will share with them. Mentors can be from the same department as you, providing support about teaching within your discipline. It helps if they are enthusiastic about teaching and your teaching development and success.

Your mentor can be one of your colleagues who provides a supporting statement as part of your claim. The purpose of the supporting statement is to authenticate and amplify what you state in your Development Index and Reflective Account of Practice. When you select your mentor, you may wish to ask in advance if they are willing to provide a supporting statement as part of their role as mentor.

If you decide to have a mentor, please notify ATLAS so we can send guidance to them. We also need to know who your mentor is because this person cannot be one of the peer reviewers when you have submitted your claim because it would be a potential conflict of interest.

Please contact us if you want a mentor but are having difficulties finding one.

If you have other questions or queries about this scheme, please email ATLAS.