Special Interest Groups (SIGs)

FACE welcomes proposals from its members to create Special Interest Groups (SIGs), that bring together professionals with a common interest and purpose. In order to be considered as a Special Interest Group within FACE, you should have a clear sense of what the purpose of the group is, what it aims to achieve and how it supports FACE’s strategic objectives. As a Special Interest Group lead, you will be expected to attend and report into the FACE Policy Group meetings. This group generates policy ideas that evolve through our SIGs as well as other channels, such as task and finish and research groups as appropriate.  

SIGs are an excellent opportunity to bring like-mind colleagues together, to share their practice, learn from one another and identify key challenges, that are potentially outside the scope of their institutional role but impact on the work that they do.

From our experience SIGs work best where all of their members are signed up to what the SIG is trying to achieve, and there is a clear direction of travel. This requires one person or a group of people to drive the momentum of the SIG, ensuring that its purpose remains clear, with easily identifiable outcomes.

If you are considering submitting a proposal for a SIG and would like to discuss your ideas with us, please contact us at webmaster@face.ac.uk, where members of our Management group would be more than happy to chat.

You can submit a proposal for a SIG using this form, which will be considered by the Management Group within 28 days of receipt.

Current SIGs

The Access and Participation Special Interest Group (APPSIG)

The APPSIG was established in the autumn of 2022 following a successful application to the FACE Management Group. It provides a supportive forum for colleagues working in Higher Education (HE) institutions across the sector to share, within a safe environment, approaches, challenges and solutions in relation to the strategic development and implementation of Access and Participation Plan (APP) commitments.  It enables the collective professional voice of the membership, which influences and informs policymakers in the development of access and participation policy.

The APP SIG:

• Enhances practice across the sector by fostering a collaborative environment, sharing knowledge and insight, and identifying challenges in relation to APP development and implementation;
• Provides a collective voice with which to influence regulatory and institutional APP policy including development, monitoring and reporting;
• Provides supportive fora for frank, open and constructive conversations between professionals at different HE providers.

If you are an employee at an HE provider with responsibility for developing and implementing APPs you are eligible to become a full member of the APPSIG by joining FACE. Full membership enables access to the APPSIG MSTeams channel, which includes resources and relevant information as they become available, as well as access to different chat platforms as and when required. You will also be eligible to attend our annual summit and adhoc events, aimed at providing peer support across all aspects relating to APPs.

Open membership is available to all colleagues working across the APP sector and enables access to open meetings held 4 times a year, often with invited guests. Specifically we have developed a collaborative relationship with the Office for Students (OFS), and have welcomed the opportunity to speak directly with the Director for Fair Access and Participation and colleagues, as we develop and deliver our APPs. You do not need to be a member of FACE to join the open APPSIG although institutional membership does entitle you to additional benefits such as receiving the e-bulletin and a free copy of the annual FACE publication.

If you would like to join FACE please do so via this link. Once your membership has been confirmed we will contact you to encourage you to add the names of a maximum of 9 colleagues from within your institution to receive the benefits of being a FACE member. At this point you should email APPSIG@face.ac.uk indicating your request to become an open or a full APPSIG member. We will then add you to the relevant membership and distribution lists. Your 9 additional members will not be automatically added as a full APPSIG member unless you explicitly request it. We look forward to welcoming you.