The Teachers Academy must be ‘of and for faculty. This would be a pool of outstanding teachers, who are highly respected and recognized for their contributions to teaching and learning in higher education, and thus, would be able to inspire and mentor other faculty members in developing excellence in teaching.

No, being a HEA Fellow is not a mandatory criteria to become a member of AKU Teachers’ Academy. However, you are highly encouraged to apply for the membership as it is one of the desirable criteria and your experience of writing an application for HEA fellowship will be an advantage to prepare your application for the member of the Teachers Academy.

TA Chairs will lead four different committees, namely,  Membership, Awards & Recognition, SoTL and Innovation in Education. Chairs are expected to work closely with the Associate Director, Network of Teaching and Learning to ensure synergy between TL activities and TA. They will be appointed for 3 years and decision to renew (for another year) or conclude their tenure will be taken after their re-assessment by the membership committee. 

The AKU Provost has appointed the Teachers Academy Advisory Body (TAAB) to guide the implementation of the AKU Teachers Academy in its first 5 years.  The members include Deans  and their designated member across 9 AKU campuses, as well as, experienced leaders who have worked extensively in establishing teaching academies in higher education institutions. Dr. Haile Debas, pro tem Chairman, AKU Board of Trustees is the Chair of this Advisory Body. He established the first-ever Teaching Academy in 2000 and is known as The Haile T. Debas Academy of Medical Educator's (Academy or AME). The list of TAAB members can be accessed from here. 

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) is more of an outcome of membership than a criteria for membership. The members of the Academy will be expected to review SoTL grants, promote SoTL related activities at AKU (such as research, publication and conferences).

It is expected that only 5-10% of active faculty members will become Teachers’ Academy members at AKU. This expectation has been set based on the studies conducted by Loeser (2016) and Searle et al (2012).

Membership will be renewed after 3 years of service by reassessment by the membership committee. Renewal will be based on a demonstration of the mentoring role played during membership to enhance teaching quality and the contribution made to TL Network activities.