Introduction
Promotion and reward in research intensive Universities are traditionally developed through excellence in research, however teaching continues to be perceived as undervalued (Kreber 2002; Martin and Ramsden 2000).
This research examines the emerging models of recognition and reward for individual teaching excellence in research intensive Universities in England and to identify consistencies and differences of interpretation.

Methods
A survey of senior academic leaders, responsible for education strategy, using an open ended questionnaire was the chosen method. Scrutiny of institutions’ published strategies on Learning and Teaching, using content analysis was used to explore the connections between the written strategy and institutional practice.

Findings
The emerging themes which shared common characteristics were as follows:
• Institutional acknowledgement, awards and rewards
• Professional Development
• External Recognition
• Promotion with evidence
• Interface between learning, teaching and research
• Concepts of teaching quality and teaching excellence
• Ownership and engagement with implementation process

Conclusions
Institutions utilised a combination of models and processes to recognise and reward teaching excellence. Diverse academic roles have been established to provide education leadership. The characteristics of teaching quality articulate with current policy, however, what is understood as teaching excellence excelled the policy descriptions. While promotional opportunities for demonstrable teaching excellence are in place, the evidence base on which judgments are made tends to follow the research model. If sustainable change is to be secured, there needs to be coherence between institutional strategies (Hall 2000).

References
Hall, A. (2000) Personnel Management in Warner, D and Palfreyman, D (Eds) Higher Education Management: The Key Elements. Buckingham, Open University Press
Kreber, C. (2002) Teaching Excellence, Teaching Expertise and the
Scholarship of Teaching. Innovative Higher Education, vol.27, No.1, Fall 2002.
Martin, E. and Ramsden, P. (2000) Introduction Higher Education Research and Development, 19, 133-135.