Linda Riches

Linda Riches has been an Academic Skills Adviser with the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) since 2020. She has worked within learning development since 2008, encouraging students at all levels to achieve their academic goals. Linda enjoys the variety of her role at UWS which includes one-to-one appointments and working collaboratively across the university to integrate academic skills within key modules.

As an academic skills adviser I am always telling students to take time to reflect but, like many of us, I rarely seem to have time to practise what I preach.

Having successfully achieved Senior Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy some years ago, applying for Certified Practitioner status with ALDinHE seemed an obvious step, but it was also a challenge. I was nervous – could I reflect on my role, was my daily work ‘good enough’? Did my engagement with students really demonstrate good practice?

Linda Riches

My first step was to attend one of the ALDinHE online workshops where we discussed the requirements of the submission, and this was helpful as it gave me some ideas of how my work as an adviser linked with CeP status. That friendly support was invaluable, and it was good to know I wasn’t the only one unsure if my practice met the requirements.

I do work better with deadlines, so my second step was to make myself accountable by adding achieving CeP status to my annual professional development goals. This meant I had to give the application time and attention as I would have to explain myself if I didn’t get round to it.

My third step was to set aside time for writing. Unusually I am not that great at working alongside others (too tempted to chat), but I do like protected time to write without distractions. For me that meant blocking out time in my diary and setting myself the goal of Easter 2024 to get the submission completed.

I enjoyed the process of truly thinking about my daily work – in particular thinking about my own learning philosophy, why it is important and how I demonstrate that in the work I do. Having been an adviser for more years than I care to admit, it was a timely reminder of why I moved into the role in the first place.

After the submission I waited and then had feedback asking me to add more reflection in a couple of areas. I will admit I sulked for a full day and then worried that my submission simply wasn’t good enough. However, after following my own advice (give feedback a day or so before you look at it) I realised that the reviewers just wanted to know more.

Thinking about the ‘why’ rather than the ‘what’ of my role was crucial to the submission. Having those reflections acknowledged by ALDinHE helped me understand more where I fit into the university community and how valuable that role is in an ever changing Higher Education landscape.

So, if you are wondering ‘should I apply’ I would encourage you to go for it. A great antidote to imposter syndrome and a valuable exercise in practising what you preach.

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