Ms Rehana Awan

Rehana joined the OU in September 2008 working as a Regional Coordinator on Openings in the Centre for Widening Participation in East Grinstead. She has held a number of roles including Access Presentation Manager supporting the Senior Manager, Curriculum, Senior Manager in AL Support and Professional Development, Open Programme’s Manager, Communications and Engagement and the first Staff Tutor for Open and Access in 2019. Here she was responsible for the Open Programme, Open Modules ('Open Boxes') and Y031 Arts and Humanities (having also looked after the largest Access module YO32 People, work and society for 2 years). As Academic SST lead for the Open Programme, Rehana represented the Open qualifications during the Periodic Quality Review. She was commended for her ‘breadth and depth of [her] knowledge and experience’.

In June 2022 Rehana joined the School of Computing and Communications in the Faculty of Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths as a Lecturer in Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Implementation. Rehana’s key responsibilities include:

• supporting others with scholarship, engaging in self-directed scholarship and dissemination of scholarship as appropriate
• developing, planning and updating curriculum to address awarding gaps
• engaging with Access, Participation and Success, EDI and Decolonizing the University initiatives
• informing the future direction of teaching, assessment and exams
• gathering data to inform module development, teaching, staff development including ALs) and research
• establishing an EDI Community of Practice
• contributing to the Schools’ academic community

Before joining the OU Rehana worked in a local Further Education College as Head of Teacher Training, and Access to HE. Prior to that she worked in training and management development in the private sector.

Rehana is co-chair of the Black and Minority Ethnic staff network. She recently chaired the first ever event for South Asian Heritage month, was part of the team that set up the Race and Ethnicity Hub, and was Chair of the APS task and finish group for Mental health declarations and Black students, which included a scholarship project, resource development and key recommendations to the University.

Rehana is also an Associate Lecturer, supporting students on DD102 Introducing the Social Sciences and she tutored on Access for 11 years. Rehana has demonstrated her commitment to leading and managing teaching and learning as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and Fellow of the Staff and Educational Development Association (FSEDA). 

As a professional doctoral student, Rehana is researching student narratives and degree awarding gaps at the OU, and she has set up a Community of Practice for other PGRs also investigating awarding gaps.