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Provost Michael Arthur gains UCL Arena Principal Fellowship

9 December 2015

Provost Michael Arthur

UCL President and Provost Professor Michael Arthur has become the first active Russell Group Vice-Chancellor to receive Principal Fellowshipof the Higher Education Academy. The award, gained through the UCL Arena scheme, recognises successful strategic leadership of teaching and learning in higher education; a great achievement as there are only 474 Principal Fellows.


The UCL Arena team is delighted that the Provost has taken the time to make this application for Principal Fellowship. It is a powerful endorsement of the value of UCL Arena, a programme of professional development where UCL staff can gain recognition of their teaching from the Higher Education Academy. The application is around 6,000 words and includes four analytical case studies and a ‘Record of Educational Impact’.  The outstanding sustained strategic leadership role is the most significant aspect of the award.

Professor Arthur said: 'I am very proud to be awarded a UCL Arena Principal Fellowship for my strategic contribution to teaching and learning over the course of my career. It means a great deal to me to see my life's work across three different Russell Group Universities (Southampton, Leeds and UCL) on promoting and fostering a close relationship between research and education, recognised in this way.  I have long been an advocate of adopting a research-based pedagogy to really inspire students and enhance their learning experience and their creativity and critical independent-thinking and problem-solving skills. I will be very proud to use the post nominal of PFHEA (Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy) and I hope it helps to send a clear signal to our university community about the importance that we attach to students and their education at UCL.'

The assessors commended Professor Arthur for his profound engagement with developing research-based education and improving the learning experience of students. Professor Arthur has made a real difference to higher education through his leadership of the National Student Survey (NSS) (2006-2009) and as Chair of the Russell Group (2009-2012). He has also revolutionised our understanding of the relationship between research and teaching, promoting students' early involvement in learning through doing research. The UCL community of students and staff is benefiting enormously from Professor Arthur's strong support of the Connected Curriculum and ChangeMakers as well as UCL Arena.

Professor Stephanie Marshall, Chief Executive of Higher Education Academy (HEA) said: 'I would like to congratulate Professor Arthur on his Principal Fellowship. This is a fantastic  achievement which also reflects on the high standards of UCL’s HEA-accredited Arena initiative to share approaches to teaching and learning in a research-intensive university.

Fellowship of the HEA is a nationally recognised award for teaching excellence with Principal Fellowship recognising that Professor Arthur has made a significant strategic impact in teaching and learning within the Higher Education sector.'

Professor Arthur was far from the only UCL Arena applicant to gain recognition. We also congratulate 6 Associate Fellows, 7 Fellows and 2 Senior Fellows. These new Fellows bring the number of successful applicants since the launch of UCL Arena in April 2014 to over 260. Many applicants comment on their appreciation for the opportunity to review their educational work and find the experience self-affirming.

UCL Arena offers any staff member who teaches, supervises, assesses or supports students’ learning at UCL, in any context, the opportunity to gain nationally recognised awards for teaching expertise. It is also meeting place where colleagues share approaches to teaching and learning through a variety of events. If you are interested in joining the UCL Arena community, visit the website below.

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