SFHEA

[dundunder]

I haven't checked but think it may be compulsory for promotion where I am.

The issue is that I have seen the forms, and can see that it's not that hard, just a giant bore. But I'm feeling massively resistant to having to do it.

I can't see that it will actually improve my teaching. It just looks like a ruse to give our assessment practices a thin veneer of credibility because it's yet another qualification (because the several we all already have aren't enough). I've done a lot of teaching and a lot of short courses for teaching - I don't feel unqualified.

If I were to leave academia, it would surely be better to skip off before having to do this extra piece of pointless garbage.

If anyone has got a lot out of their qualification, please let me know what I'm just not seeing.

In the same position here, so interested to hear views. I don't think it's intended to improve your teaching, though? My sense is that it's more about capturing and validating what you've already done. They seem pretty upfront about that at my place.

yup it is a whole lot of boring paperwork. I filled in the bare minimum and still passed. others seemed to put in twice as much work but got the same outcome.

if you need it for promotion, just get it done in the simplest way possible.

It helps a lot to hear that I'm not the only one.

I'm working somewhere where my colleagues are good at knuckling down and doing these things, apparently enthusiastically. Where are my eyerolling allies?!

I've been avoiding this for years - hoping I can make it to retirement.

I did it about 10 years ago but I'm academic related staff so it didn't help me with promotion - it was just something we were expected to do. I'm not sure it has helped much other than as an indicator that my teaching practise has been seen to have achieved a certain level.

If you have to do it for promotion I'd just do it and get it out of the way.

Exactly the same for me! At our place it's required prior to requesting any permanency/promotion or any extra increments. Luckily I'm as far as I'm ever going to get promotion wise so I can swerve it till retirement

I did it as a tick box for promotion. It's one of those things where you write up your existing experience against codes you need to tick off. It's boring but only takes a few days. I did resent every second though as it delayed a publication by about a year because it took up my one free week I had during a very busy term (mid covid)

Thank you @Towelrail - I'm glad to hear other people also battle with the resentment!

It sounds so juvenile of me but I just don't believe in it - which is making me feel like a stroppy teenager!

I needed to gain FHEA as part of completing probation. Hated every pointless second I had to spend on it. Really hoping that I don’t need to go for SFHEA. I was promoted to SL last year so evidently didn’t need it for that, but can’t rule out that it’ll appear as a requirement at some stage…

I got it a while ago. Honestly, although I really didn't love completing it, it's been a useful recognition of what I've achieved and meant I could skip the obligatory training when moving institution. Since it's vanishingly unlikely I'll ever need to apply for principal fellow for any reason, I feel disproportionately happy that I'll never have to 'prove' I can teach ever again (I can, for the avoidance of doubt!). Unless they disband Advance HE (formerly the HEA) and decide another method to assess us. God help us then.

If you're going to have to do it anyway, see if there's anything else you can use it for. It's not compulsory (yet) where I am but colleagues who've done it have used the same material for teaching awards and articles about teaching in professional publications.

It's total bullshit. The way to manage this in my view is: do it, don't let on to anyone that you think it's bullshit, and do the absolute minimum in terms of time to produce something that looks enthusiastic but can be you just writing whatever, really quickly. I did my portfolio in about a day, and just basically theorised what i normally practice. I'm in the humanities so i can theorise anything, including my teaching. This, i stress, doens't mean much reading. Just describe what you do and be really granular, and think (v briefly) about the motivations and logic behind it. That's all that's needed. Don't bother trying to push back or not do it -- it's totally stupid and meaningless but also necessary as a box ticking exercise.

On that note, though, do check that it IS necessary for promotion -- I had to do that as it was either that or a PGCHE, which is a huge time suck and doesn't just involve writing something in a day. Doing this certification was a way to avoid the pgche time suck.

just whiz it through, and the assessors will come back with some brief points to address, you address them, also really quickly, job done. It's worth checking if your uni has 'fellowship in a day' type programs -- mine did and that was a real streamliner, but honestly you can do the paperwork for the portfolio yourself. just do it quickly, and remember there's NOTHING riding on it (unlike other things you write!)

Has anyone who has done it got any advice about pros and cons of the written vs. dialogic routes?

i seem to remember doing the 15 minute presentation for the fellow level. that was a time saver!

There’s a Facebook group called HEA Fellowship Support Group, not very big or busy but it has some examples of successful applications up there if you hunt a bit.

Thank you all - I'm convinced! If I could knock it on the head in a couple of days it wouldn't be too bad at all.

Chatgpt is probably your friend here. Write a few paragraphs and then copy and paste the indicators you need to demonstrate and get it to do it for you.

I am working on mine. It’s a R&R. Apparently, panels are being super strict lately. My experience level is close to PFHEA, I thought I was a shoe in. I wasn’t. I have hated the whole process and can’t wait to hand it in soon.

I am amazed at the thought of knocking it out in a couple of days. It’s been a much longer, drawn-out process for almost everyone I know who got it

R&R. How lovely to import the most annoying part of our research lives into the most annoying part of our teaching lives (where a Pass/Fail system would really help us out).

Panels are pretty rigorous. Knocking it out in a couple of days isn’t that realistic. I’d say the equivalent of 7 full days, working pretty full on, as a minimum. For SF level it isn’t just evidencing what you’ve done, but demonstrating you’ve disseminated it to others so that it’s had a cascade effect. The two case studies need to be robust and detailed. Weaker applications can and do get knocked back, so if you’re going to do it then it is worth committing to putting the time in.

I'll make sure to report back if I end up believing in the value of it, and realise that the profession/institution/students/society/I have benefited from the commitment of 7 days 'full on' on this rather than research, actually teaching or (God forbid) taking my full leave entitlement.

As the timestamp will indicate, it's long days at the moment - but perhaps completing SFHEA will teach me how to work smarter.

When I say a few days, it is 4-5. But the experts on hea at my institution were trying to make it an entire process with meetings and writing retreats for weeks on end, friendly reviews etc. ultimately it's an application form. It's also very similar to any other professional accreditation form where you have to hit indicators and demonstrate breadth and depth across different examples. If you've done a few of those before then it's pretty straight forward. I'd also take an r&r on ila rushed version than agonize over it for weeks. At least you know what to change then.

Thank you!

I wonder if my students feel like this about my assessments. I really believe in them, and that doing well will help them get good professional jobs. Maybe the HEA people can really see the benefits, just as I can really see the benefits of my assessments.

So - why the disconnect? Perhaps I'll do my reflection on that, and what the solution to the Great Disengagement might be.

(I said 'I wonder', but of course they do.)