Teaching & Scholarship (T&S) staff might consider applying for promotion based on excellence in teaching combined with excellence in research and innovation, or promotion based solely on exceptional performance in teaching. The term ‘excellent’ is used in the University’s promotions documents to describe the level of achievement required across two or more areas which merit promotion (e.g. teaching and research). ‘Exceptional’ is used to describe the level of achievement required if promotion is being sought on the basis of performance in only one area (e.g. teaching).

In this context, teaching includes activities that contribute to student learning and the student experience, including: design and delivery of courses, pastoral support, management and leadership, student recruitment, widening participation, professional development, and maintaining awareness and understanding of recent advances in knowledge of your discipline.

Undertaking management and leadership roles within your section, School or Faculty offers an excellent opportunity to build valuable experience which can be used as the basis for a promotion application. Significant T&S related roles include Degree Programme Director, Deputy Degree Programme Director, Section Head, Director or Excellence in Learning and Teaching, Senior Tutor, Faculty Programme Liaison Officer, and even membership of Faculty/University Working Groups.

In applying for promotion, you need to present a narrative that shows your particular achievements, and the passion and enthusiasm that underpin your approach to teaching. Making your case for promotion gives you the opportunity to say what you do and why, and to demonstrate how this impacts the student experience.

There are three stages to building a case:

• collating evidence of your achievements (to use as a basis for evaluating your profile with your Head of Academic Unit);
• selecting and summarising the evidence to be used in the application;
• preparing your application effectively, and in the required format for the Promotions Committee.

The University has produced an informative guidance document which details what kinds of evidence an applicant could use in an application based on excellent or exceptional teaching, as well as how you can present such evidence in support of your case. This is helpfully organised according to academic role.

The University’s Learning and Teaching Development Service (LTDS) is an excellent resource for developing and enhancing your teaching and networking with like-minded colleagues from across the University. LTDS offers a series of workshops and professional development opportunities to support colleagues at all stages of their careers, and across a wide range of teaching and learning areas. (include website link)

The programmes on offer include:

• standalone workshops and webinars on a wide range of subjects (more than 60 are currently available), including curriculum and assessment design, internal quality assurance processes, staff administrative roles, learning technologies, and teaching enhancement and student support;
• teaching development programmes such as the Introduction to Learning and Teaching in Higher Education, the Newcastle Teaching Award, and the Certificate in Advanced Standards in Academic Practice;
• support for staff seeking to gain Higher Education Academy recognition.

The term ‘scholarship’ is widely used in the context of Higher Education today, yet attempts to offer a precise definition for this multifaceted concept have proven challenging. Part of this is because scholarship itself entails a wide variety of activities, and therefore it cannot be defined by any single, narrow definition. At its most basic, scholarship is recognised as an essential pre-requisite for high quality teaching and basic research and can be defined as serious, formal activity to ensure that an individual remains up-to-date with their particular specialism. All academic staff are expected to maintain a close and professional understanding of current developments in scholarship in their subjects. Their teaching should reflect, in a careful, conscious and intellectually demanding manner, the latest development in the subject of study. An important aspect of scholarship is being able to position one’s own discipline in the context of other relevant disciplines.

The University recognises that scholarship can be demonstrated in a number of ways. Scholarship should:

• Involve reflection, whether on subject matter, pedagogy, professional practice, strategy or policy;
• Involve dissemination, with the term being very broadly defined to cover a wide range of ways of sharing ideas (e.g. articles, books, blogs, seminars and workshops, conference presentations)
• Involve sharing practice and influencing others (e.g. through mentoring and training, developing internal procedures and policies).

In addition, there are a number of contexts in which scholarship can be demonstrated. These include:

• The subject matter of the discipline - keeping up to date with research and/or professional practice in the discipline; textbooks; professional publishing;
• The scholarship of teaching - keeping up to date with pedagogy generally and in the subject; pedagogical publication and dissemination; gaining internal and external funding for learning and teaching projects; gaining Senior/Principal Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) or National Teaching Fellowship (NTF) status; pedagogical projects; major curriculum development; co-production with students;
• Engagement - working with professional bodies or associations; policy work; fostering employability; work for Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), Quality Assurance Association (QAA), Higher Education Academy (HEA); educational spin-out companies; work on the secondary curriculum; impact case studies;
• Leadership - in relation to supporting staff; curriculum development; learning and teaching strategy; university policy development; support for students.

Please note that the University does not expect those successful at scholarship to show success in all the above areas as context and opportunities for these clearly differ depending upon School and Faculty.

Academic Staff Career Pathways
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/academic_career_pathways_rjcb_290513_rev_121115_typed_171016.pdf

Academic Promotions
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/pay/academic-promotions/index.php

Academic Job Summary Guidance
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/academic-job-summary-aug-2017.pdf

Teaching and Scholarship Role Profiles (For Teaching Assistant, Teaching Fellow, and Lecturer G)
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/teaching-and-scholarship-role-profiles.pdf

Defining Scholarship
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/Definingscholarship-HaSS.pdf

Academic Promotions Timetable (2017/2018)
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/Timetable201718.1.pdf

Progression for Research and Teaching Staff
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/pay/academic-promotions/research-and-teaching.php

Guidance and Support Document for Promotion on the Basis of Excellent or Exceptional Teaching
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/pdr-evidence-base-2016.pdf

Case Studies of Good Teaching Practice
http://teaching.ncl.ac.uk/casestudies/

Professional Development Opportunities - Learning and Teaching Development Service (LTDS)
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/ltds/professional/index.htm

Learning and Teaching Development Programme (Workshops and Development Opportunities)
https://blogs.ncl.ac.uk/ltdprog/

Case Studies of T&S Academic Staff Promoted on the Basis of Excellent or Exceptional Teaching
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/ltds/professional/reward/casestudies/

Useful Internal Resources for Making a Promotion Application
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/ltds/professional/reward/support/

Guidelines for Research and Teaching Promotion
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/2017-teaching-and-research-promotions-jh.pdf

Notes of Guidance on the Curriculum Vitae
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/guidance-cv-common.pdf

Guidance Note on Candidate’s Statement of Application for Promotion
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/Academic-profile-ap-guidance-notes-JS2510.pdf

Applying for Accelerated and Discretionary Increments
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/pay/academic-promotions/academic-pay-review.php

Academic Pay Review Form
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/academic-pay-review-form-2017_GC.docx

Academic Profile - Guidance Notes
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/academic-profile-guidance1718.pdf

Academic Profile Document
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/academic-profileJS1909v2.docx

Checklist - Early Promotion from Lecturer F to Lecturer G
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/2017-checklist-lecturer-g.pdf

Checklist - Promotion to Senior Lecturer
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/2017-checklist-senior-lecturer_000.docx

Checklist for Application to a Personal Chair or Readership
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/ChairandReaderchecklist.pdf

Guidelines for Early Promotion from Lecturer F to Lecturer G
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/2017-early-promotion-f-to-g-guidelines.pdf

Guidelines for Promotion from Lecturer G to Senior Lecturer
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/2016-criteria-senior-lecturer.pdf

Guidelines for the Composition of Submissions for the Promotion to Personal Chair
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/promotions-guide-chair.pdf

Procedure and Criteria for Promotion to Reader
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/2017-procedure-and-criteria-for-personal-readership.pdf

Academic Promotions Criteria (Summary)
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/academic-promotions-summary.pdf

Academic Promotion Briefings
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/pay/academic-promotions/briefings.php

Teaching Role Profiles
https://www.ncl.ac.uk/hr/assets/documents/teaching-role-profiles-2017-JSJE.pdf