The Keele Institute for Innovation and Teaching Excellence is delighted to announce the appointment of six new KIITE Fellows.

The six Fellows consist of three Curriculum Fellows, and three Access and Participation Plan (APP) Fellows. Working with colleagues from KIITE and across the University, the six Fellows will lead on sustained programmes of scholarship over the next two years, supporting strategically significant projects.

The three Curriculum Fellows are:

• Dr Gordon Dent, Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology, Director of Admissions (Undergraduate Medicine)
• Karen Gunnell, Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice (Pharmacy)
• Dr Steven Rogers, Lecturer in Geology, Student Voice Champion, Director of Education (GGE)

The three APP Fellows are:

• Dr Heather Ingram, Lead Midwife for Education, Quality Lead for Nursing and Midwifery, Director of Education (Nursing & Midwifery)
• Dr Nicola Ralph, Lecturer in Psychology, Disability Liaison Officer (Psychology)
• Dr Katie Szkornik, Senior Lecturer in Physical Geography, Dean of Education (Faculty of Natural Sciences)

Dr Rafe Hallett, Director of KIITE comments:

“KIITE draws together educational experts from across our University to design educational delivery in partnership with programme leaders, students and employers. We’re delighted to have recruited six outstanding academics to work closely with us to support our ambitious targets for education at Keele University.

“The Fellows will have the opportunity to develop programmes of scholarship, supported by KIITE through mentorship, project funding and a community of practice. This work will be institution-wide and will have an impact that is strategically significant to Keele. They will also get involved in the nitty-gritty of curriculum design, contributing to our Curriculum Design Framework resources and workshops.”

KIITE APP Fellow Dr Katie Szkornik, Dean of Education for the Faculty of Natural Sciences, comments:

"I'm delighted to be appointed as one of three APP KIITE Fellows, helping to drive forward work within the context of Keele's Access and Participation Plan. As an institution, we have already identified many areas of good practice, and our ambitious APP plan identifies further areas for enhancement in order to support the achievement of positive outcomes for all students. As KIITE APP Fellows, we will be drawing on existing practice at Keele, alongside conducting research on what is happening elsewhere within the sector, to develop flexible approaches to teaching, learning and assessment, and provide support to Schools to develop their own educational action plans."

Curriculum Fellows

Three of the Fellows will focus on the Curriculum at Keele, working closely with the Academic and Curriculum Development team within KIITE.

Curriculum Fellow Karen Gunnell, Lecturer in Pharmacy Practice comments:

“I am looking forward to working further with KIITE. I have a passion for teaching, education and developing others so I am hoping to get the opportunity to work with more staff across the university, especially those who are beginning their journey into education. I have an interest in employability skills, and resilience and wellbeing in the curriculum, so I am hoping to share this further and to work across faculties and schools.”

The Curriculum Fellows will:

• Work in partnership with KIITE’s curriculum experts on a range of sector-leading educational enhancement activities;
• Contribute to strategic educational interventions through KIITE’s Curriculum Design Framework and consultancy offer, and conduct research on national and international sector practice to inform decision making;
• Broker effective relationships between KIITE, academic Schools and other key stakeholders;
• Champion the Education and Scholarship track across the institution and facilitate the sharing of good practice;
• Contribute to KIITE-led programmes including the MA-HEP, HEA CPD route and the new KIITE Educational Research Ethics Committee.

APP Fellows

Three of the Fellows will focus on Keele’s Access and Participation Plan (APP), working closely with the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Sub Committee (TExSO) to lead programmes of scholarship to support our ongoing commitment to improving equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups to access, succeed in, and progress from higher education.

Professor Helen O’Sullivan, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Education) and Chair of the TExSO Committee comments:

“Access and participation is at the heart of all that we do at Keele, and we are very proud of the work we have undertaken to date to improve rates of access, progression and success for students from disadvantaged groups. However, in order to ensure that we meet the challenging targets that we have set ourselves, we recognise that targeted interventions are needed for some groups, and our new APP Fellows will be working with us to develop and evaluate interventions which support these target groups.”

The APP Fellows will:

• Develop sector-leading expertise in the access, progression and success of APP target groups;
• Work with the Planning and Analysis Team to further analyse the available quantitative data to ensure that we have a full understanding of the issues at institutional, School and Programme level;
• Provide TExSO with the latest thinking and evidence from the sector on the interventions that have an impact on the access, progression and success of these target groups;
• Lead on the design of interventions involving KIITE, Student Services, the Planning and Analysis Team and others;
• Design and carry out evaluations of the interventions and/or funding that we put in place to support these target groups.

Find out more about Keele University’s Access and Participation Plan.