NADP Chair's Update - June 2009
The NADP Executive Board wants to keep members better informed, so after each Board meeting I will provide a 'chairs update'. Other updates will appear via the 'announcements' system from the admin office.
The NADP Strategic Plan is progressed by a series of sub groups and a brief report from each one is provided below, in order to give members an idea of the action that has taken place since the March update. The board held its annual strategic planning meeting at the end of April and we made good progress on the action plan through a great deal of hard work.
The Board are all volunteers - we have day jobs, just like you - and happily we have some nominations from the membership for new board members. Elections will be announced at the Annual General Meeting [AGM] which is held during our annual conference so please be sure to vote (and you can vote by post if you are unable to attend in person). You don't have to attend the rest of the conference to attend the AGM, it is open to all members. Members wishing to attend the AGM but not conference should notify the Administration Office of their intention to attend.
Those who attend the AGM will get a fuller picture of the way the strategic plan is developing and have the opportunity to ask questions face to face. We'll put the documents on the website too, so you can see them if you wish.
If you are coming to the AGM, why not stay on for the conference dinner too? NADP is ten years old this year and the conference dinner will be our members' celebration so everyone get out your glamorous gear for this event, which will be graced by an after dinner speaker, Comedian Liz Carr . If you would like to, this is an opportunity to dress up - (black tie and cocktail dresses are optional) but no one needs to feel obliged to do so.
Sub group reports
Publications
The first edition of The Journal of Inclusive Practice in Further and Higher Education was published in November and you can order a copy of this and other publications from the office. Copies are free to members. The first in the 'Template' series was also published in November (focussing on inclusive practice when working with students who have Asperger syndrome). The second edition is under development and focuses more generically on inclusion.
The University of Cambridge are funding research, supervised by Dr. Simon Baron-Cohen, to trial the first template as part of a one year project which interrogates the efficacy of services for students who have Asperger syndrome at Cambridge.
David Pollak is guest editing the next journal, which is on the theme of Neurodiversity. The articles are currently with referees. David has recently edited a book on this theme which contains contributions from NADP members and is being reviewed by SKILL. (Pollak, D. (2008) Neurodiversity in Higher Education. Positive Responses to Specific Learning Differences. Wiley -Blackwell).
Judith Waterfield from the University of Plymouth has recently joined our editorial board.
Conferences
The Annual Conference (July 2nd - 3rd) is now fully booked.
It's your annual opportunity to catch up on your networking, update yourself on what the equipment suppliers can provide and enjoy the great leisure facilities of the Belfry Hotel in Nottingham (remember to bring your swimming costume!) - and of course to attend a wide range of conference sessions.
Evaluations from our recent conferences have been very positive, and plans are already underway for two one day conferences featuring the multi-disciplinary team in the Autumn.
I am pleased to say the conference subcommittee are continuing to plan carefully with an eye on what other conferences in the sector are offering, so that we avoid either duplication of effort or clashes of dates. We are all very firm in our resolve to work in collaboration with others, towards a very student focussed agenda, with NADP's slant on this being about assisting the workforce to develop their skills to achieve best practice.
Professional Development Sub-committee
A huge amount of effort has been put in by this committee working with Professor Alan Hurst to make progress with the members wish to develop an accreditation scheme. Great strides have been made and members will note that there is a proposal at this year's AGM to take this scheme into a pilot year. More details on these developments will emerge at Conference where we hope to receive much welcomed constructive feedback on the whole scheme. This is a fantastic opportunity to extend yet further the growing recognition of the professional work our members produce in very challenging circumstances.
Marketing and Publicity
The admin office has been writing, on our behalf, to a range of other organisations who may share some of our goals. We are keen to establish working relationships with other organisations and in future we may offer joint conferences and other activities.
We are planning a complete review of the NADP website in the next few months. We will be asking your views through a survey and re-organising the documents section for better access to the wide range of documents we've placed there.
Collaboration with other agencies
A close working relationship with the SLC is clearly critical to the sector and your NADP Board continue to work towards joined up communication. The list has been lively on the theme of two quotes for non medical help. It is possible for the Board to co-ordinate the list responses but also please don't forget that the SLC has invited stakeholders to contact them directly. I'm sure we will be having lively discussions about the NMH issue at conference. Chris Dunlop will be present for the whole event.
As members are aware, NADP have been very clear about wishing to work in close collaboration with other agencies in order to achieve the best outcomes for disabled students. Other organisations within the sector have progressed discussions with NADP board members on this theme, and the Board is aware that some members are eagerly waiting for details of future developments having heard something on the grapevine. Please respect the processes which have to be adhered to in order for the sector to move forward together strategically. Members will be updated as soon as possible. This is likely to be the end of next week.
And finally...
I was invited to The House of Commons yesterday for a meeting on The All Parliamentary Group on Autism. Transition to further and higher education got a mention and responses by Disability Advisors were also noted in The National Audit Office report. Some of you will remember contributing to the consultation on the list.