Celebrating Excellence: NSS Teaching Leadership Stars Shine at the University of Salford

On Wednesday 11 December, Many programme leaders, subject leads and Associate Deans from across the university gathered to celebrate our NSS Teaching Leadership Stars. In all 37 out of 77 subject areas achieved in excess of 85% in the NSS Teaching category. This is more than double the number of courses two years ago, when 17 subject areas achieved this. This is a fantastic achievement, and the NSS Stars event provided an opportunity to celebrate at the Salford Museum and Art Gallery café, were we brought together the programme leaders from the highest scoring subjects areas in each department.

Upon arrival, colleagues were treated to a networking icebreaker, which allowed colleagues from across the university to get to know each other. This was followed by introductions from Prof Jess Power and Prof Vish Maheshwari, where they highlighted the important work which is done across the institution and how far we have come in the past two years.

Following on from this, colleagues were treated to afternoon tea as a token of appreciation. This also provided an opportunity for sharing best practice so tables, facilitated by individual members of the Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre, reflected on their Learning and Teaching approach's, and how they make learning accessible and engaging. Through these discussions, a number of themes emerged, which are central to teaching across the university: relevance of content beyond the classroom and for employability; ensuring that material is student focused; providing an authentic learning experience; appropriate delivery for content and cohort; and offering pastoral support.

Debra Prinselaar, Director of Creative Technology, Film and Broadcast Media (SAMCT) commented... “Programme Leaders work incredibly hard to ensure their students get the best teaching and learning experience during their time at Salford. Students don’t always recognise that hard work and dedication. But when they do, and the NSS results reflect that appreciation, we all know how great that feels! And when the University celebrates that success and recognises the effort, the reward feels even better. The Stars event offered a fantastic opportunity to meet and greet colleagues across the schools and to – yes – bathe in a little bit of glory too.”

“Its really important to celebrate the achievement of staff who have worked so hard throughout the year to make the student experience such an important and accessible experience and to learn from different approaches, much of the best practice gathered will be fed into LTEC's podcast series, practice exchange and Monthly spotlights showcasing the excellence in teaching at The University of Salford. Prof Jess Power, APVC Learning and Teaching Enhancement.

For further information visit: Learning and Teaching Enhancement Centre - LTEC