Welcome to Leeds Beckett University
We would like to welcome you to the Leeds Beckett community and wish you every
success in teaching on or supporting delivery of an award of Leeds Beckett. We are
committed to ensuring you have the necessary support, access and information to
undertake your role, and to enhancing the overall student experience.
Our University
Based in the thriving city of Leeds, our University is one of the most popular in the
United Kingdom. With over 27,000 students and 2,900 staff, we are a people
business and our contribution to the region and beyond is significant. We value our
students' dreams and goals; and are committed to preparing them for the world of
work in the best possible way.
Our University's Corporate Management Team is responsible for the running of our
University, under the leadership of our Vice Chancellor, Professor Susan Price. Our
University has four faculties: Arts, Environment & Technology, Business & Law,
Carnegie, Health and Social Sciences. Academic staff members usually divide their
time between teaching and learning activities and research and enterprise, which is
one of our key growth areas.
Support staff members who work closely with both students and academic
colleagues (such as within course administration) also work within faculties and play
a key role in enhancing the student experience.
Our University is supported by a range of Corporate Services including Financial
Services, Estates Services, Marketing & Communications, Information Media and
Technology Services, Human Resources, Libraries and Information, International
Office and Quality Assurance Services.
Our Students
 We have 27,000 students in total.
 International students come to us from over 100 different countries around the
globe.
 Over 9,000 part time students enjoy flexible study opportunities with us.
 Over 3,000 students are currently on Leeds Beckett University programmes
abroad.
 We have 3,100 post graduate students.
-1-
Our Vision and Values
Our Vision is “to be acknowledged for our commitment to student success, our
innovation and enterprise, our global reach and strong local impact”. To enable
us to achieve our Vision, we have five key strategic themes that define what is
important to us:





Theme 1: Putting students at the centre of our activities and providing a
flexible and relevant curriculum with excellent teaching and learning.
Theme 2: Providing a supportive, inclusive and welcoming environment and
preparing students for employment and lifelong learning.
Theme 3: Being a catalyst for social and economic progress in and for our
region, nationally and internationally, through research and enterprise.
Theme 4: Engaging, valuing and developing our diverse community of
colleagues.
Theme 5: Ensuring financial and environmental sustainability and a high
quality estate.
To find out more please read the full Strategic Plan.
To ensure we go the right way about achieving our Vision, we have worked with staff
members to define what is important to us and what our core values are. We believe
that to continue to achieve, grow and develop as a University competing in regional,
national and international markets, we need to be:




Inspiring: We share our values and ideas with passion, energy and
commitment, supporting all to achieve their potential.
Creative: We stimulate innovation, imagination and discovery, generating
challenging and original ideas.
Professional: We expect and uphold high standards, leading by example
with integrity and responsibility.
Respectful: We are inclusive, supportive and ethical in our behaviours and
actions, actively valuing diversity.
Collaborations and Partnerships Strategy
Our University seeks to work with organisations whose values align to those of the
University and who enable the achievement of the objectives of the Partnerships
Strategy: to review and consolidate our current portfolio of UK and overseas
partners; to establish articulation agreements that allow students to study directly
with us in Leeds and to develop a clear and sustainable financial model for home
and overseas collaborations.
Associate Staff
As a member of staff approved to teach on an award of Leeds Beckett, you are
eligible to apply for Associate staff status.
Associate staff status will give you access to the University’s Virtual Learning
Environment (VLE), which contains a wide range of online resources to support
delivery of a course. Once you have been granted Associate staff status, you will be
-2-
attached to the relevant module(s) Access to teaching and learning materials is
integral to the delivery/support of your module/course.
In order to obtain Associate staff access, you will need to complete a short
application form. Once completed please submit to your University academic link,
who will ensure the application is processed. You will receive a login to the VLE; this
will most likely be emailed to you or your institution. Should you not receive a login
within 10 workings days of submission of the form, please contact the University as
access to the VLE is critical to the successful delivery of a programme.
Library Online
As an Associate staff member you will also have access to the Library Online, which
contains a wealth of resources and materials to support teaching, learning and
research activity. In addition the Discover tool facilitates effective searching of online
materials.
Developing Academic Practice
The University’s Centre for Learning and Teaching will make available to partner
staff, registered as an Associate staff member, the Developing Excellent Academic
Practice (DEAP) module. The DEAP module, which is housed on the VLE aims to
support, enhance and share academic practice across the University’s academic
community. For collaborative partners, it provides useful context to understanding
both UK higher education expectations and good practice identified by Leeds
Met. Features include: an e-handbook, dedicated areas for course leaders, module
leaders and tutors and links to research and practice in relation to assessment,
feedback to students, academic integrity, peer observation, and more.
As a partner of the University, staff development opportunities will be made available
to you by your own institution, however the University is committed to providing
supplementary support to enhance your experience teaching on a collaborative
course validated by Leeds Beckett. There is a dedicated area for partner institutions
within DEAP, but you will also have full access to the whole resource and we
encourage you to contribute to any on-going discussions and resource development
within the module.
Student Experience
Our University is committed to ensuring students have the opportunity to engage
with quality assurance processes and to shape their educational experience.
Student engagement encompasses a wide range of areas and may include student
representation, feedback, focus groups, module evaluation and Student Union or
equivalent activity. The University expects at least one student representative per
level per course, this individual will be responsible for collating student views and
feeding these back both informally and formally. Student representatives will also
play a part in the annual monitoring and review process.
-3-
Collaborations and Partnerships
Quality Assurance Services has a remit to ensure compliance with the University’s
Academic Principles and Regulations, across all collaborative partners. Students
will receive information about the University’s regulations during induction and from
information contained within the Course Handbook. Particular areas of interest
within the regulations to both staff and students are assessment including mitigation
and unfair practice and academic appeals. These can be found in Section C of the
regulations.
To support a shared understanding of the requirements of the University’s regulatory
framework, QAS will deliver either face-face or via virtual means a series of
development sessions covering the following topics: Student induction and
representation; Annual Monitoring and Review; Board of Examiners; Mitigation;
Unfair Practice and Academic Appeals.
Presentation slides, guidance
documentation and exercises will be made available on the QAS webpages.
Should you have any queries about the regulatory framework or would like to request
a staff development session please email: collaborations@leedsbeckett.ac.uk
Communication
You will be provided with a composite list of University contacts at the start of each
cycle, if you have not received this and have any queries please email:
collaborations@leedsbeckett.ac.uk or contact 0044 113 812 1819
We wish you every success in supporting delivery of a collaborative course and
would like to welcome you to Leeds Beckett.
-4-