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Until recently in the UK, as probably throughout the world, it was considered
that academics became ‘qualified’ to supervise PhD students
merely by virtue of having achieved their own PhDs. This is changing,
as academics and institutions alike are having to survive in an increasingly
judgemental and cost-conscious environment. Initially the focus for change
was at the level of undergraduate teaching—with, for example, the
onset of staff appraisal and quality assurance. Students became fee-paying
‘customers’ who generally had no option but to accumulate
debts. Then, when going on to postgraduate work and, in consequence, entering
into even more debt, they became acutely vocal about receiving value for
money. The Quality Assurance Agency produced a code of practice1
for institutions offering PhD programmes, and academics new to PhD supervision
began demanding training as their right. Whispers started circulating
about postgraduates taking legal action over poor supervision and institutions
having to settle out of court because they were unable to claim that they
had given their academics appropriate training to do their jobs properly2
.
Moves towards training supervisors have been evolving for some time
in the UK. Nowadays, most institutions minimally run half-day induction
programmes on supervision. National groups3
to support research supervision have emerged, and a variety of print and
media-based support materials have come onto the market4
. Of particular significance are the moves to professionalise PhD supervision,
i.e. to provide training such that academics can become formally accredited
as research degree supervisors. Three schemes are currently in operation
in the UK. Two are run face-to-face on a part-time basis, primarily for
the supervisors of the institutions concerned. The oldest, which has been
in operation for five years, leads to the Advanced Professional Diploma
in Research Awards Supervision of Leeds Metropolitan University5
. The other, which is currently coming to the end of its first year, is
the Postgraduate Certificate in Research Degree Supervision
run by Edge Hill College of Higher Education and validated by Lancaster
University. Other schemes are under development, and still more are set
in the wider framework of accrediting academics as higher education teachers6
.
The third supervisor accreditation scheme, Training and Accreditation
for Postgraduate Supervisors (TAPPS), has enormous potential for embracing
supervisors in widely separated institutions and for local customisation
worldwide. The accrediting body is one of the UK research councils, the
Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC),
and the accreditation is on the basis of a portfolio that must show evidence
of: (1) the attainment of professional standards in specified areas of
supervision, and (2) an underpinning of practice with specified professional
principles or values7 . The portfolio can,
in theory, be assembled without training, solely from experience. In practice,
though, the assembling process serves to highlight any areas of weakness
where participating supervisors may feel deficient and thus demand training.
BBSRC has now formally endorsed its scheme for use in all its research
institutes (although a positive decision to participate must be made by
each individual research institute), and accreditation of the first cohort
from one such institute is currently approaching completion. Furthermore,
the scheme is set to enter into the regular university sector via the
Faculty of Biological Sciences at the University of Manchester. Support
is being provided by BBSRC to develop web-based training materials to
ease the introduction of the scheme with supervisors in biological sciences
elsewhere.
Supervisor accreditation by portfolio looks poised to take off in a
big way, not least because of its flexibility. Because the accreditation
is awarded for evidence of the necessary standards and values, irrespective
of the nature of any associated training, it can therefore be supported
by any provider of training. Furthermore, because the standards and values
can be customised to suit the needs and requirements of individual disciplines
and institutions, professional bodies and universities can adapt the scheme
so that they can themselves act as accrediting bodies, either in association
with BBSRC, or in their own right.
References
- Quality Assurance Agency. Code of Practice for the
Assurance of Academic Quality and Standards in Higher Education: Postgraduate
Research Programmes. Gloucester: QAA, 1999. See http://www.qaa.ac.uk.
- Based on anecdotal evidence in a range of institutions
across the UK.
- Such as the SRHE Postgraduate Issues Network (http://www.cryer.freeserve.co.uk)
and workshops run by the UK Council for Graduate Education (http://www.wlv.ac.uk/ukcge/info/info1.htm).
- See for example, the SRHE/THES series of Guides (http://www.cryer.freeserve.co.uk/guides.htm).
The ‘further reading’ sections provide extensive reading
lists.
- See http://www.lmu.ac.uk.
- See the various accreditation schemes of the Staff
and Educational Development Association (http://www.seda.demon.co.uk)
and the recently formed Institute for Learning and Teaching (http://www.ilt.ac.uk).
- See http://www.iah.bbsrc.ac.uk/TAPPS.
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