The Future of the NTFS

I learned over the weekend from Professor Lesley-Jane Reynolds (Chair of ANTF, a member of HE Academy Council and Board) that HEFCE and the HE Academy will be meeting within the next couple of t weeks to discuss the future of the National Teaching Fellowship Scheme. She understands that the intention may be to not continue the NTFS project strand beyond the next round.

Lesley-Jane is drafting a letter on behalf of the Association of NTFs to the HE Academy in support of the NTFS scheme, highlighting the importance of this to researching teaching and learning in HE and the more general benefits to the student learning experience.

I don’t really want the Forum to become pre-occupied with the NTFS, but I wonder what the impact on Researching HE would be if the NTF Scheme (Fellows and projects) was to be scrapped? Lesley-Jane identifies the impact of the Scheme as:

• productive partnerships of fellows that would not otherwise be formed, which haver resulted in CETLs, FDTL projects amongst others
• promotion of teaching, learning and researching teaching and learning within the sector, giving credibility to these activities
• the promotion of outward looking learning and teaching activities where institutions can learn from each other
• institutional teaching fellow and other L & T or scholarship of L & T activities are promoted
• the NTFS Projects have provided a funding source for researching HE, a subject of research that doesn’t have a great deal of funding source.

What do you think? Will this have an impact on your future activities? Does this prompt us to think more creatively about what we might get from any activities that come about as a result of the Forum? Indeed, what funding sources could collaborations arising from the Forum seek?

I would be interested in any thoughts.

Kenny