AB | Academic Board - The Academic Board advises the Vice-Chancellor on the University’s academic and other activities. In particular it considers and advises on matters relating to awarding taught and research degrees. |
Academic Standards Team |
The Academic Standards Team develops and implements policy which enables the University to assure itself about the quality and standards of programmes leading to its awards. It has two areas: Academic Assessment and Programme Approvals and Monitoring |
Academic Collaboration Team |
The Academic Collaboration Team provides academic quality processes and support for Partnership provision: Collaborative Provision, Articulation Arrangements, Apprenticeships, Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Body (PSRB) links |
AdvanceHE | AdvanceHE is the agency for equality and diversity, learning and teaching, and leadership and governance in higher education. It was formed in March 2018 by the merger of the Equality Challenge Unit, the Higher Education Academy and the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. The HEA is the professional body for teachers in Higher Education and has a professional recognition scheme (PSF), which Manchester Met is accredited to offer. This is free of charge to Manchester Met staff. |
AL | Associate Lecturer – Hourly paid teaching staff, sometimes known as sessional staff. |
AiP | Approval in Principle is the mechanism used by the University to ensure that any proposed or existing provision leading to an award of the University meets requirements for relevance and viability. |
UTA | University Teaching Academy (formerly the Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching/CELT) - department which supports all aspects of learning and teaching development at Manchester Met, including student experience, course development and the scholarship of learning and teaching. And CPD, of course! |
CIP | The Course Improvement Plan is the document which programme teams produce as part of the annual monitoring exercise. It reviews actions from the previous year and summarises planned actions for the coming year. It forms part of the Continuous Monitoring and Improvement process. |
EARs | Education Annual Reviews scrutinise the performance of programmes holding faculties and departments to account for improvements in provision. |
Education Committee | The Education Committee is responsible for advising Academic Board on issues relating to student education, including strategy and policy in relation to learning, teaching and assessment in connection with all taught award and credit bearing provision. |
FAQSC | Faculty Academic Quality and Standards Committee addresses quality issues at faculty level and reports to Education Committee |
FEC | Faculty Education Committee addresses issues relating to learning and teaching and at faculty level disseminating information from Education Committee and reporting back |
FEG | Faculty Executive Group – composed of the Dean, Heads of Department and other senior members of the Faculty, this group takes decisions about strategy and resources, including whether or not to plan new programme |
FHEQ | Framework for Higher Education Qualifications (2014) – UK framework for describing, in very broad terms, expectations for awards from level 4 (first year undergraduate) to level 8 (doctoral level). Part of the national qualification framework. |
Graduate Outcomes |
Graduate Outcomes is an annual survey which records what graduates are doing 15 months after the end of their course |
HESA | The Higher Education Statistics Agency collects statistics on activity in UK universities. There is a lot of useful publicly available information on their website |
Office For Students | Part of the Department of Education, acts as the regulator and competition authority for the higher education sector in England. |
PEAR | Programme Enhancement and Approval Review. The Education Management intranet page has links to information about all aspects of the process and includes copies of all the necessary forms. |
PLP | Personal Learning Plan A student's PLP will make recommendations for reasonable adjustments in relation to their teaching, assessment and learning. Support Available to Disabled Students intranet page |
Programme Specification Form | Programme Specification form – the definitive source of information about a programme. All approved specifications at MMU, organised by faculty. |
PSRB | Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies - these are organisations which may validate or monitor certain professionally linked programmes: eg the Solicitors’ Regulatory Authority, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists, AdvanceHE (for teachers in HE) the Nursing and Midwifery Council and many more with which Manchester Metropolitan works to ensure appropriate professional standards. |
QAA | The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education exists to "safeguard and help to improve the academic standards and quality of higher education in the UK. ". It provides guidance on QE matters and inspects and reports on provision. It also collects and supports subject benchmark statements. |
QLS | The student records system used at MMU. It is coordinated by the Student Data Management Team |
SCC | Student Centred Curriculum The SCC Project will deliver a University-wide development in the structure and delivery of our undergraduate programmes over the next few years |
SET | Student Experience Tutors are based in departments or faculties. They have different roles depending on the needs of the students and staff they are working with. |
SSLC | Staff-Student Liaison Committee An SSLC is an informal forum for staff and students to discuss programme related matters in an informal setting. All students are entitled to attend. |
TEF | Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework Through the TEF, Universities are assessed against three criteria; teaching quality, learning outcomes and student outcomes and gains. |
TELA | Technology Enhanced Learning Advisor Your Faculty TELA will support you to effectively integrate technologies into your learning, teaching and assessment practice. |
TRSN |
The name of the form used to request the appointment of an associate lecturer (AL). |
You may also find the Acronym and Jargon Buster on the intranet useful for working out which departments and buildings are being referred to.