What are SLTAs?
Student-Led Teaching Awards (SLTAs) allow students to have their say on what good teaching looks like and to reward members of staff that have gone the extra mile. Students nominate staff working in the education environment across categories set by the student body. Nominations are then assessed against the student-set criteria and the winners celebrated in each institution.
The NUS and Higher Education Academy SLTA Project 2011-12
This year, NUS and the Higher Education Academy are running an exciting project to support students’ unions across the country to create or develop their SLTA schemes.
The deadline to join the scheme as a union creating SLTAs has now passed for this year, but we hope that you will check out our main SLTA website for all the latest news and information on the project: www.studentledteachingawards.org.uk
If you already have SLTAs, be it for the first time this year or if you’ve had them for a long time, share your good practice with us and find out ways to make your schemes even better. Get in touch with us for more details.
Why get involved?
SLTAs are a really positive way to build good relationships between the student body and your institution, to find out what students think good teaching looks like and to bring staff and students together to celebrate success. For student officers, they are a good way to gather data on what students think is good learning and teaching practice. This data can support your education campaigns, help to spread good practice and showcase the great teaching that goes on at your institution to the wider education community.
Students’ unions can tailor and develop them to reflect the experiences of their own students. Because of this, equally successful SLTAs could look completely different.
How to get involved
Whether you are from a union with a great awards scheme already, one that is just getting started or from a union that wants to establish SLTAs, we really want you to get involved this year.
If you’re a union with no current SLTA scheme
Unfortunately the deadline has now passed to join the SLTA pilot scheme for unions with no current SLTAs in place. However, this need not be the end of your SLTA aspriation.
Firstly, take a look at www.studentledteachingawards.org.uk as it contains all the information you need to create and develop your own awards. We'll be adding more information to this throughout the year, so do keep checking back.
Secondly, please do contact us to let us know how you are getting on and to ask any questions.
If your union already has some kind of SLTA scheme
We’d really like to hear from you. We’ll keep you posted about events happening throughout the year to support you to make your awards even better.
Check out the SLTA website- we’ll be adding more resources and information to it throughout the year.
www.studentledteachingawards.org.uk
FAQs
Q. My union already has an SLTA scheme in place. Can we still be involved in the project?
Yes, you can. We have been working with unions across the UK who currently have SLTAs to help them improve their awards and use their results. If you are running SLTAs this year, please get in touch with Oliver Williams at NUS, as he is looking for more examples of practice across the sector.
Q. Who else is doing SLTAs?
Over the past two years, NUS Scotland, in partnership with HEA in Scotland, has been helping student associations to develop SLTAs across Scotland. In England and Wales, more and more unions are recognising the value of award schemes, but we estimate that only around 50 unions are currently running such awards. This means that unions developing their schemes this year would really stand out in the field of student engagement.
Q. How do I get my institution excited about SLTAs?
The best SLTA schemes are those that work in partnership with their institutions, so winning their support is really important. Luckily, SLTAs are a very positive thing for both unions and institutions. From an institutional perspective, SLTAs create the opportunity to identify and share best teaching practice to raise professional standards and inform wider education strategies. Take a look at the winning support for your awards page on our SLTA website for more information on this.
Q. My institution already has its own teaching awards. Should I still run SLTAs?
Yes, but we suggest working with your institution so the two schemes run in partnership, not in competition.
Q. Can I use SLTAs to recognise and reward support staff as well?
Yes. SLTAs can be used to acknowledge anyone who works in the learning and teaching environment. To this end, NUS have worked with the Association of University Administrators to develop a template award to sit alongside your teaching awards. Download the briefing here.