OPINION PIECE Isn’t it time to start thinking about ‘developing ’ academic developers in a more systematic way?

There is no defined route to becoming an academic developer. The research on pathways into the field (e.g. Kensington-Miller, Brailsford, & Gossman, 2012; McDonald, 2010; McDonald & Stockley, 2008) shows that in most cases ‘serendip-ity and chance played a role ’ (McDonald, 2010, p. 40). Moreover, induction into academic development (AD) is often ad hoc, haphazard, and informal. Due to the changing higher education (HE) context, the field has grown exponentially and in many countries now plays a central role in institutions. This has generated increased demand for knowledgeable and competent developers that are able to contribute towards solving some vexing problems in contemporary HE. Current recruitment and induction processes of new developers do not necessarily meet this demand. In light of the above, we pose the question: given the changing context of HE and the field of AD, is it not time for us to induct newcomers into the field more systematically? As Kensington-Miller et al. (2012) suggest, we should not leave the induction of the next generation of developers to chance. We suggest that one way of ensuring appropriate induction is through a formal course for developers