Getting Started
Boarding
This section will run you through the initial steps that you need to take to get started with the APEX programme, including registration guidance and the required compulsory elements that are needed to release your boarding pass that gives access to mentor support on either the written route or professional conversation.
Step 1: Download your APEX Pre-Flight Checklist
Whether following the written route or professional conversaton, it is really important to start by thinking about the timeframe of journey, and working towards a sensible and attainable date for submission.
You are advised to start by downloading the APEX Pre-Flight Checklist as this outlines the key steps that you need to take as you start your journey to Fellowship. The checklist is interactive so download and click on the links to access the relevant information and guidance whether you are following the written route or professional conversation.
Start your journey by downloading your APEX checklist
APEX - CHECKLIST [2022].pdfStep 2: Attend an APEX Orientation Event
Once you registered on the APEX programme, you are required to attend an orientation event which provides an introduction to the UKPSF and details the requirements of the written and professional conversation routes to Fellowship. The orientation event forms the first compulsory element of APEX.
Read more about orientation events and book your place
Step 3: Formally Register on the APEX Programme
*APEX - REGISTRATION FORM V4.docxWhen you have decided which Fellowship pathway (written or professional conversation) is most appropriate to your level of professional practice you need to formally register on the APEX programme. Complete the registration form and email directly to apex@port.ac.uk. Registrations are kindly managed by Claire Byatt in DCQE who is the font of all knowledge re: APEX!
Please ensure that you have gained approval from your line manager and clearly indicated which category of Fellowship your are applying for.
Please ensure that you download the form to your PC and complete using Microsoft Word.
Step 4: Attend a Micro-Clinic
Having attended an orientation event and registered, you are reqired to book onto a micro-clinic as soon as possible as this helps maintain the momentum with your claim. Micro-clinics focus specifically on the type of content and evidence required to showcase Areas of Activity for [D1] Associate Fellow, [D2] Fellow and [D3] Senior Fellow submissions. Micro-clinics run every month and are either delivered online or face-to-face. The micro-clinics provide a foundation for both the written and professional conversation routes.
Attendance at a micro-clinic forms the second compulsory element of APEX. Please note that you need to attend a micro-clinic with 12 months of attending the orientation event. If you do not attend a micro-clinic within that 12 month period, you will be required to re-attend an orientation event.
Read more about micro-clinics and book your place
Step 5: Activate your Boarding Pass
Written Route
Use the ‘Developing Your Claim’ resources to help you shape your claim and submit your first draft via apex@port.ac.uk
Work with your mentor to develop your submission
Professional Conversation
Join a professional conversation cohort and engage in preparatory workshops with your peers to develop the confidence to talk articulately about how you meet the required standard commensurate with the category of Fellowship you are claiming for. Full details will be provided once you have registered for the professional conversation route.
Use the ‘Developing Your Claim’ resources to help you shape the presentation element of your Professional Conversation.
Bolster Your CPD Record
Continuing Professional Development Record
To help you develop your professional practice, we run a wide range of interesting and challenging workshops where you will meet and work alongside colleagues from all disciplines. Our events calendar currently extends to over a hundred workshops each academic year, details of which can all be accessed through our Academic Events Calendar. When you book on a workshop this becomes part of the your University CPDR record which is recorded in itrent. Each event is also mapped against the dimensions of the UKPSF.
We work hard to ensure that events are current but if there is a specific area of staff development that you would like to see included please let us know - alternatively let use know if you would be interested in running a session with us! In addition to the CPD courses offered by DCQE also be aware of the courses offered by the Learning Development in HR. In particular, colleagues might find the Delivering Excellence project of interest as it relates directly to enhancing the quality of the student experience.
Whichever category of Fellowship you are seeking, you will need to identify your personal professional development needs in relation to developing your teaching and supporting learning practice. You will then need to attend relevant workshops, training events or online self-study modules and record these on your Continuing Professional Development Record (CPDR) as evidence of engagement in continuing professional development in teaching and support of student learning. You will need to submit your CPDR form with your final fellowship application.
Your CPDR can include significant and relevant development activities that were undertaken a year or two prior to registration onto APEX. For example, you may have attended learning and teaching conferences or away days in your department, or attended disciplinary learning and teaching events organised by AdvanceHE or organisations / HEIs. Where possible, try to link the events you attended with the literature and with the teaching and supporting learning that you reflect on in your case studies.