The UTS Educational Fellowship Program offers a supported pathway towards international recognition of professional, effective and inclusive teaching. The program is available to all UTS academic and professional staff involved in the teaching and support of high quality learning.
The program is made possible with support from our growing UTS Fellowship community, including current Fellows who mentor candidates and review applications. Mentors understand the application genre, recognise what reviewers value, and assist mentees in interpreting the Professional Standards Framework (PSF2023). They are supported by ongoing professional development opportunities, with flexibility to engage with the Fellowship program in different ways – acting as a reviewer during one intake, for example, and a mentor in another.
We heard stories earlier this year from those in the UTS community who have been through the Fellowship process, including Amanda Lizier, Helena Robinson, Yvonne Davila, and Keith Heggart. We have also heard Daniela Spanjaard (UTS Business School) reflecting on the experience of being a mentor in the Fellowship Program. In this blog, Senior Fellow Dr Guien Miao continues this theme with her own reflections and advice after being a reviewer and mentor for Fellowship applicants since 2020.
Q1. How did you become involved in mentoring/reviewing for Fellowships?
After I received my Fellowship at The University of Sydney in 2018, I started informally by encouraging my teaching teams and colleagues to apply because I could see they were doing amazing things and would benefit from formal recognition. In 2020, I joined the Fellowship program there as a reviewer and mentor. I really enjoyed being part of the community and being able to support others, so I jumped at the opportunity when I joined UTS and saw that there was a program starting up here!
Q2. What value do you get from being a mentor, personally and/or professionally?
Personally, I love to meet others in the education space – mentoring others and also reviewing on a panel together is great for this. The University of Sydney deliberately put together panels from quite diverse backgrounds, so I met some amazing people in the process of being a reviewer. I got a lot of support from my mentors and referees, so I also see it as paying it forward.
Professionally, it helps me widen my perspective on what I can do in my own work. I’m also relatively new to UTS as an academic, so it’s been great to meet others at UTS through being a mentor, including other mentors, mentees, and the program leads, Alisa Percy and Jo McKenzie.
Q3. What common challenges do you see in different Fellowship applications, and what advice do you give your mentees?
Something that both my mentees and I share is the “ick” factor around talking about achievements. In a university, we all do a lot of collaborative work, whether teaching in teams or co-designing with students, academics, and professional staff – so it can be difficult to talk about personal contributions to achievements that wouldn’t be possible without our amazing collaborators. I tell my mentees to concentrate on what they’ve done and achieved because the fellowship is about their teaching practice. I also remind them that no one they’ve worked with will complain about being casually mentioned as a collaborator, co-lead, etc. and would love to see them get the recognition they deserve!
Another challenge is finding time to write in a busy schedule. It always feels like there’s something else more urgent on the radar, so something like a Fellowship application can end up on the back burner. On this front, I tell my mentees to read through the Professional Standards Framework (PSF2023) to know what’s needed and start with identifying strong examples – this means that I can give early advice on direction and they can get on with the writing with greater confidence. Also, I always found the writing sessions helpful because it meant I had set aside some time to do the writing. My other suggestion is to find a friend. I did my writing with a friend, which kept me accountable to someone and I ended up finishing well before the deadline. An added bonus was that we found it easier to help the other with highlighting achievements!
Q4. What would you say to any current Fellows who are considering becoming Fellowship mentors themselves?
Just go for it – you don’t need to work in a similar context or role to mentor someone! There’s lots of support for mentors and a really great community of mentors at UTS.
Join the UTS Fellowship Community!
Whether you’re considering applying for Fellowship, or already a Fellow and keen to contribute as a mentor or reviewer, we’d love to hear from you. The UTS Educational Fellowship Program Sharepoint site has updated information, applicant handbooks, and key dates for applications.
If you’re ready for the next level of detail, use the Advance HE Fellowship Category Tool to identify the closest match for your current practice, then explore our Fellowship Readiness Grid for Associate Fellow (AFHEA), Fellow (FHEA) or Senior Fellow (SFHEA).
If you have questions about Fellowship, you can contact us via uts-efp@uts.edu.au. Keep an eye on Sharepoint for updates throughout the year – we can’t wait to welcome you to the UTS Educational Fellowship community!