UHI appoints new Head of Academic Standards and Enhancement 

The University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) is pleased to announce the appointment of Anna-Wendy Stevenson SFHEA as the new Head of Academic Standards and Enhancement. Anna-Wendy began her new role in July 2024, bringing with her 18 years of experience in curriculum leadership, award-winning teaching, and programme design and delivery in music at UHI North, West and Hebrides.  

Anna-Wendy's career at UHI began in 2008 at Lews Castle College (now UHI North, West and Hebrides), where she taught on the Further Education (FE) and Higher National Certificate (HNC) music programmes. She shared her wealth of expertise as a Scottish fiddler, with international experience in both performing and teaching. 

Her efforts played a significant role in raising the profile of the Outer Hebrides as a destination for the study of traditional music, with many alumni now well-known names in the industry. 

In 2012, Anna-Wendy took on the leadership of the BA Applied Music, the first practical, networked, multi-genre music degree in the UK delivered through blended learning. This highly innovative degree incorporated online technologies and residencies and focussed on building networks, both professional and within local and international communities, through partnership development, creative project work, cultural exchange and interdisciplinary activity.  

With students located in communities across the Highlands, the model tested the purpose of the new university and enabled access to those students who would otherwise have had to leave their communities to study.  

The BA Applied Music programme received international approval in 2020 and achieved 100% satisfaction in the National Student Survey from 2018 to 2022. In recognition of their work, the programme team was awarded the Collaborative Award for Teaching Excellence (CATE) by Advance HE in 2021.  

The success of this programme not only led to the development of the highly regarded MA Music and the Environment, recently achieving a 100% satisfaction rate in the Postgraduate Taught Experience Survey, but also informed the development and delivery of other degrees across the Higher Education sector. 

Anna-Wendy’s contributions have been recognised with many awards, including HISA’s Most Engaging Video Conference Lecturer in 2016 and Most Inspiring Lecturer in 2021. In 2018, she won Music Tutor of the Year at the MG Alba Scottish Traditional Music Awards. She was also nominated for the National Teaching Fellowship Award in 2024, and in the same year, she was named one of 12 women recognised for their contribution to music and culture in Scotland.  

Commenting on her new role, Anna-Wendy said:

“Taking up the role of Head of Academic Standards and Enhancement feels like a natural and obvious progression. I am passionate about education, academic standards, and supporting a high-quality student experience.” 

“I have had a wonderful experience working with a team across of talented academics and practitioners located across the UHI network to deliver the BA (Hons) Applied Music and MA Music and the Environment and I know they will continue to flourish as inspirational and supportive communities of practice.” 

“Quality and enhancement have been fundamental to my own professional journey, and I am very excited and honoured to be working with the Learning and Teaching Academy, leading the deeply committed academic standards and enhancement team as we enter a new phase in quality assurance in tertiary education, with QAA Scotland’s forthcoming Tertiary Quality Enhancement Framework.”