Massey academic NZ's only senior fellow at UK academy

Associate Professor Lisa Emerson has been appointed a senior fellow of the prestigious Higher Education Academy in the United Kingdom.

Dr Emerson, from the School of English and Media Studies, is the only current senior fellow at the organisation working for a New Zealand university.

Higher Education Academy champions excellence in learning and teaching in higher education, and brings together people and resources to research, reward and share best practice internationally.

Dr Emerson, who in 2008 won the supreme award at the Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awards, applied to be a senior fellow as she felt it was important to continue to develop her teaching skills and to have an international context to measure herself against as a teacher.

“Developing the senior fellow portfolio for the Higher Education Academy required me to reflect on my teaching in new ways, which will, I hope, lead to a better learning experience for my students,” Dr Emerson says.

“I am confident that this appointment will help emphasise, in an international context, Massey University's commitment to excellence in teaching. Becoming a senior fellow will give me the opportunity to develop links with an international community of academics who are committed to excellence in teaching - and to share new ideas about teaching with this wider teaching community.”