 I guess first apologies, I'm very new to this project and definitely just start as a project manager. So I'm really just coming up to speed, you're probably aware that there was delay in the project in terms of recruiting people to undertake the project. So I guess the first part of my slide is really about sharing my interpretation and internalising what the project actually means. And perhaps a little bit of background about myself and why I've actually chosen to undertake the project. So for the past five years I've actually been abroad. 2011 I guess in the recession and slightly more gloomy times I decided that I needed some professional development myself. And I moved to the Middle East and got involved with a startup with a new polytechnic there. And I guess what I'd like to do before I get into the details of the project is perhaps share some of the experiences from that international experience I guess. In terms of comparing it to where we are here in Ireland and why I've chosen effectively to get involved in this project. So when I moved to the Middle East, one of the first requirements that was made by the management team for recruiting staff was essentially that they should be triply qualified. It was the term that they were using and that meant that they obviously had to have their academic qualifications in their case a master's in their discipline or preferably a PhD. Secondly, that they would have to have a qualification in teaching and learning and also a qualification in teaching the second language. But thirdly, that they had to be professionally qualified in their own discipline. So if they were an engineer they were expected to be either a chartered engineer or recognised in some way as part of the profession or for the accounting of the chartered accountants and so on. So what struck me most about the emphasis on establishing that institution was the centrality really of teaching and learning to the business. There was an entire directorate established for teaching and learning. And I'll share with you shortly one of my colleagues recently was appointed in New Zealand as a deputy CEO or vice president for teaching and learning. So the strategic emphasis on teaching and learning is something that really struck a chord with me and in terms of where we are in Ireland, I think it's great to see the strategic investment in teaching and learning and the establishment of the national forum. The project itself, I guess, I'm an engineer by background and you're probably aware that we have three institutes of technology in Dublin. So we have the DIT, we have the Institute of Technology in Blankestown and we have the Institute of Technology in Tallah. At some stage over the next few years those three colleges are expected to merge and possibly become a technological university. There's a massive strategic change underway and I think there's going to have to be a huge emphasis on professional development essentially as a lever for enabling that to happen as the institutions essentially transform from being local and regional colleges to being an international university. So big changes ahead. With that in mind, what we're really looking at here is primarily our engineering staff, though we probably will look to broaden it out to the STEM disciplines, other technology disciplines like IT and so on, to look at what is needed in terms of teaching and learning competencies for those staff to perform in their jobs. And once we recognize what those competencies are, essentially to put in place opportunities for development based on the gaps that exist at the moment. One of the interesting scenarios that certainly happened over the last five or six years was with the downturn. There was a downsizing of capacity, for example, to deliver to trades and that left a considerable number of trade lectures at a point where they actually needed to re-establish their professional identity in some other discipline and acquire new qualifications and skills. And I would say from talking with colleagues that's been personally very challenging for a lot of them. A lot of them have moved into completely new disciplines and had to invest significantly in terms of time and I guess money in terms of acquiring new skills. So it's not as if this is unprecedented and I think as we become a new institution expectations in terms of what we are in terms of our identity as professional academics is going to change as well. I think the key thing here is and I'm glad to see it's very much part of the national framework is that it's as much about an individual driven process as it is about departments and schools and colleges managing that process. So as you know essentially as higher education institutions we sell expertise, we sell qualifications or badges and it's very important for our staff to be professionally current in all aspects of teaching and learning but also in their disciplines. I think most of you are probably aware that you know in the public sector in Ireland we've had a performance management system that has been I guess a challenge for a number of reasons. And again I'll share with you a recent publication as to how essentially that system has probably failed to a large degree and really we need to look to alternative models to encourage our staff to see the benefit of professional development both for their careers and personally as opposed to perhaps a slightly more industrial relations led model that there has been there in the past. And I think again the key aspect of this is you know what sort of strategic priority does professional development actually get in a new institution. How do we recognise the progress that let's say individual schools or departments have made in investing in their academic staff is going to be very very important. I think there's going to be have to be some sort of incentivisation around and strategy led incentivisation I guess around encouraging departments to proactively manage the professional development of their staff. And I guess the key thing with this is whatever framework we put in place it has to be valued by all stakeholders from the engineering staff themselves to the middle management or departmental managers right up to the academic leadership in the college. So again just to share my personal spectrums as I said this someone actually just sent me this today and it's not about her but what's interesting about it is she has been appointed as a VP of teaching and learning in a Otago Polytechnic in New Zealand which is a relatively small provincial institute of technology in New Zealand but it does emphasise again the centrality and the strategic importance that many colleges are placing on teaching and learning now. In I suppose slight contrast to that one of the things that we did when I was involved in the setup of the Polytechnic in the Middle East was we engaged with the Higher Education Academy in the UK and I think what to me stands out that's probably slightly different about the approaches is we also need to recognise that profession development isn't solely about teaching and learning competencies. As an academic and as an engineer I guess I need to be professionally current in my profession as an engineer as much as professionally current as an academic. And there are a whole diverse range of activities that educators I guess are expected to be involved in as they progress through their career that's not purely focused on teaching though teaching and learning itself is obviously an essential competency for that. So as part of this project we have just begun talks with Engineers Ireland to see how they can actually offer us a platform for our engineering academics to become professionally qualified or to re-engage in their professional development. I think in the past there's been very much a view that as let's say a person has moved from an industrial background into the academia that the focus has changed and perhaps that emphasis on being professionally current as an engineer has got lost. So we're engaging with Engineers Ireland really to see what they can offer us as a pathway to ensure that our academic staff can become chartered engineers or professionally qualified engineers. The other aspect that I mentioned briefly was this idea of performance management at the public sector and there's been a recent publication approved by financial accountancy and management that looked at really I guess the challenges that the public sector has had here in making performance management work. And what was really striking about the actual article was you know one of the big challenges we have in Ireland is it's still a relatively small homogenous society where no who probably matters a lot more than performance or you know positivistic measures I guess. And that's something I think we still have to take account that unless staff can see the connection between performance and professional development and opportunities for career development promotion we have to overcome that challenge I guess and it will be a key aspect of the project. Finally just again on my personal perspective I've mentioned this idea of the three institutions essentially merging in the next few years. I'd say the Blancestown and IT Tallah are two relatively small colleges in comparison to Dublin Institute of Technology but the overall staff numbers in engineering are still relatively manageable I guess in terms of engaging with them personally. So I think there will be a key aspect of this project will be really sitting down with the actual staff themselves either in focus groups or individual interviews and finding out what it is they actually would like to see in terms of opportunities for professional development. And also I think engaging with the management and looking at well how are expectations going to change. One of the tensions I guess that Jen Harvey in Dublin Institute of Technology mentioned to me recently was the balance between time allocated to research versus time allocated to teaching and learning. Right now there is a mandatory requirement for all new academic staff in DIT to take a teaching and learning qualification in their first year. But there is I guess pressure on that because of the other aspects and performative aspects that are expected as a role as an academic in a new institution like a technological university. So I guess the first thing what I'd like to achieve out of it is this notion of being as I called triply qualified I suppose it's a little bit of a jargon but you know that we recognise that you know the professional identity of an engineering lecturer is multifaceted. It's been about being a professional engineer, it's about being a professional educator and it's also making sure that they have the best possible academic qualifications as well. And how do those academic staff actually maintain their professional currency? As a professional engineer one of the ways they can do that is to obviously engage in research and consultancy and that has to be managed into workload planning, professional development and so on. If those staff which traditionally would have had a strong industry mandate if they are actually going to maintain their currency. Obviously this is the framework itself. I would agree with the last panel in terms of trying to interpret the framework. It comes across as I guess a little bit philosophical, possibly a little bit jargonistic but that's good as well and I think that it actually allows flexible implementation and allows us to interpret how best to make use of this framework. One of the things that I possibly will look to add in terms of applying it to engineers is how do you develop professional behaviours. Competencies are obviously one aspect of knowledge skills which is mentioned and values are obviously mentioned but they often culminate in explicit behavioural norms and that's something I would very much like to try and develop a chart for first so people understand and expect what it means to behave as a professional engineering academic I guess. So I guess really what I'd like to say about the project is for me it's very much going to be a two fold approach. There's going to be the emphasis on teaching and learning and secondly there's going to be the emphasis on engineering as the profession and what skills they require for each. So in terms of the leadership aspect of it I think it's important that there are processes put in place that are easy to follow that are possibly not necessarily associated with the baggage of industry relations in the past and people can sit down with their line managers and discuss where their careers are going. That to me is particularly important that there's a process for ongoing dialogue between staff and their managers and that there's a process there as well to look holistically at a departmental and school level and say well what actual skills does the school need, where do we need expertise and to work out how best fit the training and development opportunities for staff into those needs. Sorry I just move on here very quickly just in terms of where the project is now so essentially I think the last time Jenna Harvey updated you on the project we were really waiting to appoint a project manager. A steering group has been put in place and it largely consists of people from HR, teaching and learning and engineering across the three colleges. I have literally been appointed into the role to look after the project over the next 12 to 18 months and currently working on the detailed breakdown of the work plan. For the summer months the next focus is to appoint a research assistant. We have just advertised that post internally within the three colleges and we hope to have someone hired prior to the summer breakup so that that person can essentially hit the ground running in the new academic year. As I said the detailed work plan has just started and I guess the next stage over the summer months is we'll be very much focusing on what I called the desktop research was looking at what's already out there. Both in terms of academic papers but also in terms of policy documentation, operational plans and so on. The focus for September to December really is for me about engaging with the different stakeholders. So that's engaging with the staff themselves, the engineering staff themselves, the management of the three colleges. That's both the disciplinary management so let's say the heads of department and the heads of schools and the colleges and also want as part of this framework. The idea I guess is that by the end of this year we will have a defined set of teaching and learning competencies. I would hope that it is stage based depending on your point in your career. So what it means, what sort of skills you need is a new entrant academic versus what you need as a senior academic. And finally for the latter part of the year we're into the development phase of the project where we actually develop the framework. I guess that's really what I've got to report at this stage. Again apologies I'm literally just started on the project but I would welcome feedback as I get to grips with what's required over the next few months.