RAPPORT
The International Journal for
Recording Achievement,
Planning and Portfolios
Issue 5 (August 2020)
Editorial
Rob Ward joined the first incarnation of the Centre for Recording Achievement – the
Recording Achievement and Higher Education Project – at its inception in 1991. He is
now Director Emeritus of the CRA.
Email: [email protected]
Janet Strivens took up the role of Senior Associate Director in 2004 after some years of
acting as the CRA representative of the University of Liverpool. She is now an Honorary
Senior Fellow in the Institute of Population Health at the University of Liverpool.
Email: [email protected]
In its twenty-seven year life the Centre for
Recording Achievement became closely
associated with the processes of planning
and review that underpin Personal
Development Planning as well as many
related activities. At the same time, we
were keen to stress that part of self – and
career – management required individuals
to make the most of opportunities which
presented themselves ‘in the moment’.
And it’s fair to say that this Special Edition
of RAPPORT owes more to the latter
perspective than the former. For its
origins lie not in a plan to write for
publication, but rather in an initiative
concerned to support and improve
practice in the field of Personal Tutoring
and Academic Advising.
The majority of contributions featured
here centre upon work undertaken by
colleagues across a diverse range of UK
HEIs who undertook the national
Professional Development Award in
Personal Tutoring and Academic Advising,
an award designed by the CRA in
accordance with the relevant Staff and
Educational Development Association
(SEDA) rubric, accredited by SEDA,
mapped to the UK Professional
Standards Framework (UKPSF), and
finally delivered by the CRA, running over
three differing cohorts. This explicitly
sought to offer an inclusive award
centred upon the processes that exist to
support student engagement and
development.
Our thinking in developing this initiative
was timely. The increase in tuition fees
and Government interest in placing
‘Students at the Heart of the System’
(BIS, 2011) ensured a renewed emphasis
on the nature of the ‘offer’ made by
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