Media release
23 February 2017
Ako Aotearoa director joins new Australasian Strategic Advisory Board
The director of New Zealand’s National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence, Dr Stanley Frielick, was recently confirmed to a new board that is working with the UK’s Higher Education Academy (HEA) to enhance teaching practice in tertiary institutions across Australasia.
The newly established Australasian Strategic Advisory Board (ASAB) is a joint venture between the HEA and higher
education institutions across Australia and New Zealand to provide oversight of the HEA’s plans and activities in
support of teaching in higher education in the region.
The HEA supports institutions in developing their teaching strategies and to tackle common challenges such as
employability, retention, and assessment & feedback, by sharing evidence-based approaches to teaching. And it helps individual teaching staff to develop their
practice at every stage of their career through HEA Fellowship.
Dr Frielick said, “I’m delighted to join the new Australasian Strategic Advisory Board. Ako Aotearoa has co-funded one
of the first initiatives in New Zealand to support staff with HEA Fellowship applications at Auckland University of
Technology (AUT), with the invaluable assistance of the Australian National University. AUT also developed a unique
bi-cultural model of the UK Professional Standards Framework, which demonstrates commitment to the Treaty of Waitangi
and provides a framework for possible further development at a national level.
“I am looking forward to working with the HEA and Australasian colleagues on the Advisory Board, to build on the good
work already done in this part of the world and provide all tertiary teachers in New Zealand with the opportunity to
gain professional recognition with international accreditation.”
The inaugural meeting took place earlier this month in Canberra. The Institutions and organisations joining HEA at the
ASAB meeting included nine from Australia (Queensland University of Technology; University of Tasmania; Murdoch
University; Australian National University; University of Queensland; University of Sydney; University of Adelaide;
Higher Education Research and Development Society of Australia (HERDSA) and Council of Australian Directors of Academic
Development (CADAD)) with Ako Aotearoa (New Zealand National Centre for Tertiary Teaching Excellence), Massey University
and Auckland University of Technology from New Zealand.
The HEA has its head office in the UK, and is a global organisation working in over 25 countries across the world, to
develop and promote great teaching that improves student outcomes. There are now over 84,000 HEA Fellows worldwide.
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