Role
Frans role as Academic Quality Manager was introduced to support and oversee the three Academic Quality Teams, Quality Management, Academic Quality Systems and Data, and, Collaborations and Partnerships.
Fran's responsibilities include:
- Supporting the institution to revise and maintain a quality framework that reflects NTU values and priorities whilst aligning to sector requirements (notably those of the OfS’ B conditions);
- Bridging the gap between NTU’s academic policies and School operations;
- Leading the quality management and data and systems teams to grow the impact and scope of their advisory and technical outputs, including but not limited to course design, periodic review, curriculum management and student feedback mechanisms.
In addition to supporting the Head of Quality to develop NTU’s quality function, Fran continues to seek new connections for the team across the institution and in the sector.
Career overview
Since 2016, Fran has worked in various learning and teaching enhancement roles across four Midlands universities. Fran describes her specialism as policy analysis having left a faculty administrative post in 2018 to complete an MSc in Education (Higher Education) at the University of Oxford. She has since managed teams responsible for student insight collection, strategic evaluation and most recently academic policy.
Fran's interest in supporting course teams and institutional leadership to navigate the shifting sands of the sector has encouraged her to upskill in various areas of institutional change management, coaching and communication and effective governance.
Alongside published research Fran enjoys exploring the identity and dynamics of a growing HE workforce and unpicking professional development topics, particularly for early to mid- level professionals working in universities and/or policy.
Research areas
Frans research interests are broadly related to the challenge and consequences of metricisation (both research and teaching) and regulatory competition for quality and collaboration within the sector. This has specifically extended to the changing face and requirements of the ‘non-academic’ workforce and the associated challenges of this shifting need. She is personally and professionally committed to exploring how to democratise policy and regulatory information for colleagues in HE to enable rather than restrict creative teaching and learning enhancement.
Publications
Most recent publications and conference papers include:
Françoise McKay & James Robson (2023) ‘Structured agency’, normalising power, and third space workers: higher education professional services staff as regulatory policy actors, Journal of Further and Higher Education, 47:5, 633-646.
McKay. F. (2023) NTU’s Periodic Review, QAA Quality Insights Conference [online]. January 2023.
McKay, F. (2022), "Higher Education Professional Services Staff as Regulatory Policy Actors: an English Case Study", Sengupta, E., Blessinger, P. and Nezaami, N. (Ed.) Governance and Management in Higher Education (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 43), Emerald Publishing Limited, Bingley, pp. 71-88.
McKay F., Morataya Gatica. E., Inclusive Curricula: a phenomenological study, Advance HE EDI Conference 2022. Manchester. March 2022.
McKay F. (2021) Exploring the impact of regulatory change on staff Wonkhe Exploring the impact of regulatory change on staff | Wonkhe