Senate Presentation 25 May 2022
All members of staff are warmly invited to the presentation and discussion section of Senate on the Enhancement-led Institutional Review and Research Excellence Framework 2021.
The meeting will open with updates from the Convener of Senate, Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Peter Mathieson. This will be followed by a presentation and discussion session with an update on the Enhancement-led Institutional Review and Research Excellence Framework 2021.
Update on Enhancement-led Institutional Review (ELIR)
Last academic year, the Quality Assurance Agency Scotland (QAAS) conducted an Enhancement-led Institutional Review (ELIR) of the University. ELIR is the main method used by QAAS to assess the effectiveness of higher education institutions’ approaches to securing academic standards and the quality of the student experience. While the overall outcome of the review was positive, the report from the review panel made a number of recommendations for improvement. We are required to provide a follow-up report on progress towards these recommendations by 16 July 2022, one year after the review outcome. This presentation provides an update on our approach to responding to ELIR and on the progress we have made in addressing the recommendations, focusing specifically on the two priority recommendations identified (student support and assessment & feedback). Senate members will have an opportunity to comment on the progress to date and feed into ongoing actions.
Speakers and topics will include:
Introduction and overview of ELIR response Professor Tina Harrison, Assistant Principal Academic Standards and Quality Assurance
Update on approach to student support Professor Colm Harmon, Vice-Principal Students; Lisa Dawson, Deputy Secretary Students (interim); Dr Chris Mowat, Director of Teaching, School of Chemistry
Update on approach to assessment and feedback Dr Sabine Rolle, Dean for Undergraduate Studies, College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Professor Tina Harrison, Assistant Principal Academic Standards and Quality Assurance
Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021
The results of the 2021 REF will be announced on 12 May 2022. The REF is a crucial exercise for the University, guiding resource allocation through the Research Excellence Grant. The rankings produced by REF – which assess the quality of our research outputs, impact, and research environment – are also important for the University’s reputation and thus its attractiveness to students, staff and funders. The University adopted an inclusive approach to the REF, submitting over 2,500 staff across 28 Units of Assessment. The submission involved substantial work across all Colleges, Units, Institutes and Centres of the University, supported by a large team of professional staff.
This session is an opportunity to find out about how the University performed in the REF, including its quality profiles and rankings across the 28 Units. Just as importantly, it is a chance to explore what participation in the REF contributes to our research. The REF exercise galvanises a range of improvements: helping us refine and articulate our research strategy; generating measures to improve the quality of our research; and encouraging us to reflect on and improve our research environment. We will explore some of these implications, through hearing perspectives from different parts of the University involved in the submission. Speakers and topics include:
Introduction and Overview of Results Prof Christina Boswell, Dean of Research for CAHSS and incoming Vice-Principal for Research and Enterprise
Funding and the Research Excellence Grant Ms Pauline Manchester, Deputy Director of Planning and Policy
Perspective from Physics Prof Ken Rice, Unit of Assessment Coordinator, Physics
Perspective from Art & Design Dr Kamini Vellodi, Director of Research Excellence, Edinburgh College of Art
The audience will have opportunities to provide feedback and ask questions following the presentations.
Meeting details
The session will take place on Wednesday 25 May at 2.00pm. This is an in-person meeting and it will not be possible for attendees to join the meeting virtually. The meeting will be recorded, and made available to staff on request.
Places for this in-person event can be booked through MyEd
In order to allow time for the meeting set-up, please note registration will close at 5pm on Monday 23 May 2022.
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