York St John University technician wins HEA award

The winners of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) Psychology Technician of the Year Award have been announced as Charlotte Elwell from York St John University and Laura Scurlock-Evans, from the University of Worcester. 

The HEA sponsors the annual award in recognition of the contribution technicians make to psychology education.  Charlotte and Laura were chosen because of the outstanding support they gave to the student learning experience in their departments.

The joint winners were presented with their awards on 6 July at the Association for Technical Staff in Psychology (ATSiP) Annual Conference.  They each received £150 and a framed certificate.

Julie Hulme, Discipline Lead for Psychology at the HEA, said award nominations generally were of an excellent standard but the two best were inseparable in terms of the contributions they made.

Dr Hulme said: “Both demonstrated exemplary skills in using specialist psychological technology, software and resources to support students. Their commitment to the student experience and their active involvement helped to engage students in valuable research training and technology-enhanced learning.

“Both technicians are clearly highly valued by their academic departments and by the students they support, to the extent that it was impossible to separate these two outstanding nominations; I am delighted that the HEA are able to recognise both of their achievements with this double award.”

Applications for the award had to include evidence of excellence relating to one or more criteria. These included interaction with staff and students, development of learning materials and innovative use of existing technology to support the student learning experience.