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Continuing Professional Development
The University is committed to the development of all its staff and to helping all staff to achieve success in their personal, career and professional aspirations.The development of a culture of continuing professional development is an essential part of this commitment.
What is Continuing Professional Development (CPD)?
CPD refers to the process where individuals seek to increase their level of knowledge, refine or learn new skills, and apply these in the workplace. CPD provides an opportunity to reflect on your work, identify areas for development, celebrate achievements and plan for lifelong learning.
Continuing professional development is therefore:
- ongoing, self-directed learning
- a process which forms a normal part of how you plan and manage your whole working life
- continuing because learning never ceases, regardless of age or level
- professional because it is focused on enabling you to marry your personal abilities and strengths to your professional role.
Perhaps the most important message with CPD is that one size doesn’t fit all.Wherever you are in your career now, and whatever you want to achieve, your CPD should be exactly that: yours.
What should I do now?
You can start your own CPD portfolio by downloading the CPD portfolio guidance, which includes instructions and sample porfolio information.
Download the CPD portfolio document pdf file, 680k
The templates in this document are also available as word documents so you can fill them in on your computer.
Frequently asked questions about CPD
- How does MMU approach CPD for its staff?
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Our approach to CPD for MMU staff involves:
- CPD being applicable for all members of staff
- emphasis on learning from a wide range of activities and approaches.Examples might include taking part in mentoring or coaching (either as a learner or coach), work shadowing and on-the-job learning
- the integration of learning and work – the concept of work as a learning experience
- an emphasis on outcomes – answering the questions ‘What did you learn?’ and ‘How do you intend to apply this learning?’
- the ownership of CPD by the individual
- What is a CPD portfolio?
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A CPD portfolio is your record of what you have achieved and learned and supports your personal and professional development.
A CPD portfolio can be used for a number of purposes:
To plan for your career by
- recording your career history
- collecting evidence of your current achievements
- showing skills and/or improvement in areas such as working together, motivating people and self-confidence
- reflecting on your progress and learning through your career
To provide evidence for
- a job interview
- a possible accreditation of learning
- your PDR
To plan your learning and development by
- reflecting on your work and learning
- analysing your strengths with your manager, a colleague, mentor or coach
- identifying and targeting learning and development opportunities
- planning for qualifications
- How should I organise my CPD portfolio?
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Once you have decided what you want from your CPD portfolio, this will help you to determine the layout and style of the document.Organise it in a way which suits you and is easy to use.For example, you may choose to store it in a folder on your PC, in a ring-binder, in hanging files or using specialist portfolio development and management software.
If you are required to maintain a CPD portfolio for a professional body that you belong to, the professional body may provide further guidance for you, or provide a format/process which you need to adopt.
On this page, you will find the University example portfolio, which breaks down some possible sections and templates which you may choose to use.You should not feel restricted to using the templates in this portfolio – if you have other templates which work for you or a portfolio which you are happy with then feel free to continue to use this.
Your CPD portfolio should work for you and not the other way round, so feel free to select just the sections which are relevant to you or invent new approaches most appropriate to your own needs.
- Who should I share my portfolio with?
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Your CPD portfolio is your document.You make decisions about who you want to share this with.You might find it useful and helpful to share this with your manager, supervisor or mentor if you are looking for support or guidance.You can also contact the Development and Training Team if you have questions or queries about CPD portfolios.
- Will someone be checking up on whether I have a CPD portfolio?
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Your CPD portfolio is a tool for you, and no-one from within the University will be ‘checking’ or ‘monitoring’ CPD portfolios.Though very much encouraged as best practice, portfolios are not compulsory for staff from MMU’s perspective but, if you belong to a professional body, there might be a requirement to maintain a portfolio.
- What CPD opportunities are there?
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MMU offers a variety of ways for you to continue your professional development. The opportunities which are appropriate for you will depend upon your learning style and approach, your development plans and your role in the institution. CPD opportunities might include:
- Observation and evaluative feedback
- Sharing good practice
- Chairing a meeting/other activities which you have not carried out before
- Short courses/workshops through central training providers at MMU e.g. Organisation Development and Training or IT
- Short courses/workshops through your local department or professional body
- Support from a mentor and mentoring
- Long/extended courses
- Reading publications/journals (e.g. through library services at MMU)
- Paired teaching/planning
- Team teaching with peers
- Coaching
- Research activities
- Attendance at conferences and networking events
- Moderation activities/sharing work
- Work shadowing
- E-learning
- Visits to other universities/other areas to share practices
- Taking on an ‘acting’ role
- Leading the learning of other colleagues
- Collaborative projects/project work
- Contributing to online communities (e.g. CeLT’s communities of practice)
- 360 degree feedback
Whatever the opportunity, the key thing is how you will reflect on and apply your learning.
- I want to find out more about how to become an academic. Where can I go for information?
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As well as having conversations with academic staff who you come across at MMU, to find out about the route that they took, the following website provides some useful information and advice:
http://www.academiccareer.manchester.ac.uk
Continuing Professional Development - resources and info for staff groups
- Academic Staff
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Appointment of Professors, Professorial Research Fellows, Readers, Senior Research Fellows & Senior Enterprise Fellows
Each year, the University�s Professoriate Committee advise the Vice-Chancellor on a round of appointments of Professors, Professorial Research Fellows, Readers, Senior Research Fellows & Senior Enterprise Fellows.
There is an application which an individual completes for this.
The procedure is intended to recognise Research, Learning and Teaching and Academic Enterprise.
The detailed scheme and criteria are available on the web at http://www.mmu.ac.uk/about/governance/deputy-vice-chancellor/
The Professoriate Committee will consider all applications. The process is based upon independent peer evaluation and judgement, contribution to the strategic aims of the University and Faculty and affordability.
- Research Staff
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Further information for early career researchers is provided in MMU’s guide Research Staff – Your Career at MMU and Beyond.
- Professional Services Staff
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The Association of University Administrators (AUA) has developed a new framework to support the continuous professional development of all professional services staff working in the sector.
You will find details of the framework, together with a set of professional behaviours and a CPD resource pack at the following link:
http://www.aua.ac.uk/LGM/
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‘I wish I had been encouraged to develop and maintain some form of CPD log or portfolio as I was starting my career in academia as a lot of what I have done seems, in hindsight, to have been a bit unplanned and without any structure so it would have been useful to have had something which I could have logged thoughts and activities in at the time so that I could go back and say “ah that’s why that happened”.’
Neil Ringan, Principal Lecturer in Learning Technologies (Centre for Learning and Teaching)‘You never know what skills you have and sometimes other people highlight them when you haven’t really noticed them yourself.’
Valerie Edwards-Jones, Acting Director of Research, Enterprise and Development
‘My career path to date has been more concerned with taking up opportunities than any clear planning. I am much more focussed now on where I want to go with my career than I have ever been in the past.’
Mary Meldrum, Head of Postgraduate Programmes and Quality Enhancement (MMUBS) |
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