In partnership with the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies at the University of London, UCFL is pleased to support a Heads of Languages Special Interest Group, which works to bring together leaders of university Languages Schools and Departments across the country.
Terms of Reference
The SIG will bring together Heads and Directors of Schools/Departments of Languages to liaise on challenges and opportunities for the sector, to exchange best practice, and to discuss strategy. The SIG will report to the UCFL Steering Group and Executive Committee, and the SIG co-chairs will be a member of the Exec Committee.
- Membership of the SIG will be extended to heads of departments and schools of languages (broadly defined) across the four nations of the UK.
- The SIG will work collaboratively with the joint UCFL-AULC SIG for academic directors of language provision, whose membership partially overlaps with the Heads of Languages SIG.
- The remit of the SIG will include the following (non-exhaustive list):
(i) advocacy for languages within HE, both within individual HEIs and nationally;
(ii) development of schools outreach activities and consolidation of the pipeline from the secondary sector to HE, having regard to changes in the GCSE curriculum and other relevant factors;
(iii) promoting the exchange of innovative ideas and other learning between HEIs and across the four nations of the UK, with an emphasis on the dissemination and co-ordination of best practice;
(iv) development of an inclusive leadership pipeline for Languages in HE, having regard to EDI principles and perspectives from the different language sub-disciplines.
The co-chairs in 2023-24 are Prof. Helen Abbott (University of Birmingham) and Prof. David Cowling (Durham University).
The SIG will work in partnership with the Institute of Languages, Cultures and Societies (School of Advanced Study, University of London).