Key responsibilities and challenges
Your key responsibility is to take ownership of developing and delivering the high-level strategy for education and aligning it with the overarching University Strategy, with a robust risk-management approach and with particular reference to the following:
- Embedding strategies to ensure that the teaching modes and curriculum enable Lancaster’s educational experience to be transformational.
- Lead on Lancaster’s educational performance with respect to all key metrics, including the NSS, Graduate Outcomes, continuation, progression, completion and attainment (and all education-focused Office for Students conditions of registration) both at our main campus and where relevant at our partners.
- Drive changes in academic disciplines and programmes where needed to ensure that Lancaster has strong educational outcomes across the whole University that contribute to strong league-table position and strong compliance.
- Institutional lead on the TEF, ensuring a strong performance for Lancaster, and institutional lead on educational quality aspects of compliance.
- Ensuring that our education at all levels is research informed.
- Support, enable and encourage the reimagining the use of campus space in students’ learning experience and for innovative, flexible teaching.
- Being seen as sector leading in internationalising the student experience.
- Ensure Equality, Diversity and Inclusion are embedded across all aspects of the University’s educational systems, policies and practices, in line with the Equality Act 2010. Champion an educational environment that advances sustainable development goals while upholding statutory duties relating to freedom of speech and academic freedom, ensuring these are delivered in a way that is lawful, proportionate and inclusive.
- Become institutional authority on implications of sector-level quality processes and benchmarks such as national surveys, reviews, quality exercises, interactions with relevant sector bodies (e.g. National Student Survey, Teaching Excellence Framework, Office for Students, etc). Provide leadership and responsibility for ensuring continuous enhancement of the academic student experience and outcomes.
- Work closely with the Students’ Union, student elected representatives, student groups, staff groups and the campus trade unions to ensure that the student and staff voice is heard and influential in connection to education matters.
- Facilitate and deliver transformational change in education culture and practice - for example, through leadership and delivery of major strategic initiatives.
- Develop further the broader concept of the education experience and the engagement of the students with the University, building on the Lancaster Award.
- Develop a clear framework for the management of educational performance of Lancaster to ensure our performance in this area is as expected for a world class university.
- Collaboration with the PVC Student Experience and Colleges on the wider non-academic student experience.
- Implement effective strategies for developing curricular opportunities for digital, AI, enterprise, skills, entrepreneurship and employability.
- Take a considered and holistic view of education at Lancaster from undergraduate through to postgraduate research.
- Lead on policy formulation concerning teaching, learning and assessment.
- Lead applications in consultation with colleagues concerning new funding streams for education.
- Ensure, in association with the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Global (Digital, International and Sustainability) the needs of our overseas teaching partnerships are properly and sensitively considered and integrated, as well as maximising the opportunities they provide in internationalising Lancaster’s curriculum.
- Work to develop and consolidate the relationships with others in the sector e.g. UUK, Wesley Group, to ensure Lancaster’s future educational offerings are informed by new market forces.
Specific duties (in addition to defined ex-officio membership e.g. Senate)
- Membership of the University’s executive team and Universities Planning and Resources Group (UPRG).
- University Leadership Group and leadership of relevant sub-groups.
- Education Committee (Chair), Student Experience Committee, Classification and Assessment Review Board.
- Take lead on drafting consultations by external bodies concerning education.
- Various promotions and professorial pay committees.
- Appropriate approvals as delegated by Senate or the Vice-Chancellor.
In addition, the post will represent the University at external groupings concerning education and at external events. As a Pro-Vice-Chancellor the position will also be expected to take on other roles needed for the good management and benefit of the University as determined by the Vice-Chancellor.
General Duties
As duties and responsibilities change, this job description will be reviewed and amended in consultation with the post-holder. The post-holder will carry out any other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the job as requested by the line manager.
Please ensure you have seen the full job description in application portal.
.jpg)
