Majan College is an Access Partner with Advance HE, the UK-based umbrella organization that includes the Higher Education Academy (HEA). HEA is the body that for the last twenty years has promoted excellence in learning and teaching practices in universities in Britain, and has in recent times extended its activities worldwide.

The College signed an agreement with HEA in September 2017 – see press report here 

Since then, almost twenty Majan lecturers have submitted applications to become Associate Fellows, Fellows or Senior Fellows of the HEA, with twelve additional applications expected in July 2020. Successful applications involve lecturers in reflecting on their professional practices as teachers and, where relevant, as managers, course/programme designers, and mentors. Their written accounts, supported by appropriate references to scholarly and professional literature, are examined by independent and anonymous assessors in the UK. The College can boast of a very high success rate in its applications, and the process of applying helps lecturers to become more consciously aware of what they do and why they do it, as well as helping them to see more clearly how they can continue to grow and improve. HEA celebrated the award of its 100,000th fellowship in 2018, and the fellowships programme is gaining ground internationally. For instance, significant numbers of lecturers at the University of Tasmania (Australia) and Massey University (New Zealand) are now HEA Fellows. In our own region, the University of Bahrain now has more than one hundred academics with HEA fellowship status. Hence, holding an HEA fellowship certificate, in whatever category, is increasingly recognized as being valuable to academic staff in their future careers.

As the Dean of Majan University College, Dr Maha Kobeil, rightly says: “Our partnership with the HEA is evidence of the College’s continuing commitment to the professional development of teaching staff so that students enjoy the best possible learning experience with us.”

HEA website: https://www.heacademy.ac.uk/