Picture: BRITTANY DENTON
UNIVERSITY of South Australia nursing lecturer Doctor Julie Reis has received international recognition from the prestigious Higher Education Academy (HEA) in England.
The HEA promotes teaching excellence in higher education, awarding senior fellowships to academics who have demonstrated significant contribution to student learning through their leadership, management and mentoring.
Dr Reis and UniSA City East lecturer Scott Polley were the first two academics at UniSA to receive a senior fellowship.
“I received an email out of the blue to say I had been nominated, asking if I would like to participate,” Dr Reis said.
“I was pretty honoured just to be nominated and it is really special to be one of the first two across the entire university to receive senior fellowship
“This is the first time the university has participated – the fellowship program is well established in the UK and Europe and is now an international benchmark.”
Dr Reis has taught at Mount Gambier’s UniSA campus since its nursing school opened over a decade ago.
She tutors students at the Mount Gambier campus, as well as students based in Whyalla via video conferencing.
“I stepped into a program director role this year and gave up some of the courses I used to teach,” Dr Reis said.
“To coordinate from a distance and successfully implement the program when your teaching team is mostly in Adelaide is a challenge, but I have been managing the distance for awhile.
“I do my teaching to Whyalla at the same time as I teach my Mount Gambier class via a video link.
“It is easier to concentrate solely on the students in the classroom here so you need to make sure the group on screen are engaged as well.
“Tutorials involve critical thinking and activities that enable deeper learning, so it is quite fascinating planning those tutorials when you will not be in the same room as the students.”
Dr Reis said seven UniSA academics were selected to participate in the program.
“The application process was very involved and it was at the wrong time of the teaching period,” she laughed.
“I was coordinating this big course and I had to send in a draft for senior fellowship between 6000 and 7000 words long.
“An in-depth reflection on your teaching practice and what you have contributed – including two case studies – is not easy to write.
“I was a little stressed out.”
A letter in the mail a few weeks later informed her she had been awarded the prestigious title.
“I was surprised there was no feedback, just a letter to say my application was successful,” Dr Reis said.
“Essentially I will now have post nominal initials, not that it thrills me that much.
“It is just really nice to be recognised – especially as this is an international accreditation of your teaching standard.”
