What is the HERDSA Fellowship Recognition and Development Scheme (HERDSA Fellowship)?
The HERDSA Fellowship is a unique professional development opportunity designed to recognise higher education teaching and the support of learning. There are two distinct parts to the Scheme:
- Gaining a Fellowship
- Renewing your Fellowship
It then builds on that recognition through advanced professional development activities designed to ensure that the standards are maintained and built upon. When you meet the standards of the Scheme, you are awarded a HERDSA Fellowship (FHERDSA).
1. Gaining a Fellowship: the recognition process
In order to gain a HERDSA Fellowship, you need to do three things:
- be a financial member of HERDSA
- pay a fee of $250, which includes an initial $50 registration fee and $200 assessment fee on submission of your portfolio
- prepare a three part portfolio of your practice that demonstrates you have met the required standards. The portfolio consists of:
- A Philosophy of Teaching Statement
- Statements and evidence addressing the seven Fellowship criteria
- A Reflective Statement
HERDSA supports you in the process by providing a Mentor (usually another Fellow). When your portfolio is complete, it is assessed by two HERDSA Fellows according to a set of criteria and standards.
To learn more about gaining a HERDSA Fellowship, download the Registrants’ Handbook.
2. Renewing your Fellowship: the development process
In order to retain your status as a HERDSA Fellow, you will need to:
- continue to be a financial member of HERDSA
- participate in professional development
- complete an annual Professional Development Schedule
- pay the ongoing fee
HERDSA supports Fellows by through provision of Triad of peers. To read more about the renewal process, download the Handbook for Fellowship Renewal. You can also view the current list of HERDSA Fellows.
From time to time, HERDSA Fellows will be invited to act as Mentors and to be Assessors of portfolios. When you are contacted to take on that responsibility, the HERDSA Office will send you the appropriate documentation to support you.
The purposes of the Scheme are to:
- improve the quality of educational practice across the higher education sector and thereby to improve the quality of student learning and academic development outcomes;
- enhance the professionalism of teachers and managers;
- provide a way for universities to recognise and reward those who facilitate high quality learning;
- give individuals a means for making statements about the quality of their professional practice;
- provide opportunities for further professional development in cross-institutional groups;
- enable HERDSA to recognise and reward good educational practice through the process of peer review;
- provide a process for critical reflection into educational practice and the learning process;
- provide a forum for peer evaluation and dialogue; and
- provide a forum for discussion and dissemination of research and scholarship of teaching.
Educational practice is used to refer to a wide range of activities in higher education which encourage and support teaching and learning: conventional higher education courses, on-line and distance education as well as academic development activities, learning support and leadership.
The Scheme is based upon four fundamental values of HERDSA
- HERDSA places an emphasis on the development and improvement of higher education teaching, leadership, learning and practice. While the Fellowship Scheme recognises standards of quality teaching in higher education, it is first and foremost a professional developmental scheme.
- HERDSA is a scholarly society. Scholarly teaching and the encouragement of scholarship in teaching are fundamental values on which the Fellowship Scheme is based.
- HERDSA is a society founded on the concept of peer interaction. Peer review is a fundamental element of the Fellowship Scheme.
- The Fellowship scheme is voluntary. It is by application and is open to all individuals working in Higher Education worldwide.
For further information, contact the HERDSA Office on +61 (2) 9771 3911 or email: office@herdsa.org.au
