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Professional development for Lecturers on probation.
If you are a Lecturer or Associate Lecturer on probation, and need to gain a teaching qualification in order to complete your probationary requirements, UCL Arena for Lecturers on Probation [ALP] is for you. ALP was formerly known as Arena Two.
The course aims to prepare you to teach confidently and effectively at UCL, to enable you to develop in your teaching-related role and to help you make a successful application for application for AdvanceHE Fellowship (FHEA).
It also welcomes you into a community of colleagues interested in exploring the relationships between student education and research and asking questions such as:
- How can I create meaningful assessments that challenge students?
- How can I provide helpful feedback to students?
- What does it mean to be a good personal tutor?
- Who do I contact if I have concerns about a student's well-being?
- What is ChangeMakers and what does a student-staff partnership approach entail?
Course format and how to sign up for ALP
There are five ALP cohorts for the 2024-25 academic year. All cohorts are in-person only:
ALP Cohort A, Term 1, Mondays 2 to 4pm, from 7 October to 2 December 2024, 16 hours over 8 sessions (no session during Reading Week)
Book your place on Cohort A here
ALP Cohort B, Term 1, Tuesdays 10am to 12pm, from 8 October to 3 December 2024, 16 hours over 8 sessions (no session during Reading Week)
Book your place on Cohort B here
ALP Cohort C, Term 2, Mondays 11am to 1pm, from 20 January to 17 March 2025, 16 hours over 8 sessions (no session during Reading Week)
Book your place on Cohort C here
ALP Cohort D, Term 2, Tuesdays 10am to 12pm, from 21 January to 18 March 2025, 16 hours over 8 sessions (no session during Reading Week)
Book your place on Cohort D here
ALP Cohort E, Term 3, Tuesdays (10am to 12pm) and Fridays (11am to 1pm), from 29 April to 23 May 2025, 16 hours over 8 sessions
Book your place on Cohort E here
We will set new cohorts and dates for the 2025-26 academic year in Summer 2025
Join the Arena Microsoft Teams page for updates on newly released workshops or courses.
If you have any questions or have any issues signing-up please email arenacentre.probation@ucl.ac.uk
Exemptions from ALP
Staff with three years full time teaching experience and who have undertaken relevant professional development activities may be entitled to exemption from attending the ALP course. You can also find out more about exemption here UCL Induction and Probation Procedures.
If you are in this situation, you may instead be able to apply for HEA Fellowship directly through Arena Fellowship.
If you already have a HEA Fellowship you are also able to apply for exemption from attending the course.
- To apply for an exemption from ALP, complete this Microsoft Form (you must have a UCL login to access this) and we will review your request.
If your exemption is approved, we invite you to join a small cohort of experienced educators who are new to their current role at UCL. This consists of up to 20 people on probation sharing their experiences together and with Arena tutors during three 2-hour sessions in Arena. There is no set curriculum for this but we will invite speakers to present on topics that you are particularly interested in (topics from last year include: ungrading, students as partners and eugenics).
Along the way you will also be introduced to Senior Fellowship (SFHEA) and how to apply for it at UCL.
We are currently planning one cohort for this new pathway, but this is subject to change depending on numbers:
Book your place on Arena for Experienced Educators on Probation 2024-25 [in-person] here
Thursdays, 23 January (10am to 12pm), 27 February (2 to 4pm) and 27 March 2025 (10am to 12pm)