AUAS: Professor Didi Griffioen accepted as Principal Fellow

Didi Griffioen, professor of Higher Education, Research and Innovation at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences, is the first Dutch academic to be accepted into the small international group of Principal Fellows of the Higher Education Academy (HEA).

First in The Netherlands

Via this acceptance, the HEA confirms Griffioens’ international strategic position in improving students' learning experience. HEA Fellowships are awarded by Advance HE; a British organisation dedicated to improving the quality of higher education worldwide. To achieve this, Advance HE works with government bodies, ministries, universities and individual academics.

Collaborations with individual academics are formalised as Fellowships. A Fellowship title indicates  that the academic exhibits personal and institutional strategic leadership in learning and teaching in higher education. Of the four Fellowship categories, Principal Fellowship is the highest strategic level attainable. Professor Didi Griffioen is the first Dutch adacemic to be entitled to place the letters PFHEA behind her name (identifying a Principal Fellow).

Intensive procedure 

To be accepted as a Principal Fellow, academics have to go through an intensive procedure centred around writing a reflection, which includes an explanation of one's personal contributions to teaching and learning in higher education. The highest level of Fellowship is granted only when a sustained record of local, national and international strategic impact on teaching and student learning has been sufficiently demonstrated. 

Karen Hustler (Assistant Director, Recognition and Networks, Advance HE): "We are delighted to have awarded the first HEA Principal Fellowship in the Netherlands. The award recognises Professor Griffioen's record and commitment to strategic leadership in teaching and learning; we welcome her to the international community of Fellows which aims to share best practice and to promote great teaching in higher education providers worldwide."

A worldwide contribution to improving student learning 

With the acceptance of Griffioen as Principal Fellow, there are now 30 HEA Fellows within The Netherlands, but only one at the highest strategic level. Worldwide, the HEA has approximately 1,000 Principal Fellows who collectively contribute to the global improvement of student learning in higher education.