Academic Review for New Starts (All Academic Staff)
1 The Review Period
1.1 Normally, as part of the appointment process for academic members of staff, a review period, of up to 4 years will be agreed.
Detailed objectives for Research, Teaching and Service, covering a period up to 4 years, specific to the individual, taking account of the stage of their career at appointment and reasonable expectations for the relevant academic discipline, including workload management, will be agreed with the individual at the time an appointment is offered. The agreement should cover:
- Publications Strategy
- Engagement (including public and
outreach)
- Grant applications
- Teaching
1.2 The review period is intended to be supportive and encouraging and the University will look for evidence of sustained high quality performance throughout.
1.3 The Head of School (or nominee who will be another senior academic with management experience within the School) will meet with each new member of staff within one month of their appointment to discuss in detail their review goals and objectives as agreed at the time of appointment.
1.4 Regular reviews of performance against the objectives, if necessary modified by agreement, will take place annually, led by the Head of School and assisted by other senior members of the School. A senior academic from another School could be included, in agreement with both parties. A record of each review will be agreed by those involved.
1.5 A panel of senior academic staff led by the Master will receive confirmation that annual reviews have taken place and will be notified of any concerns raised.
1.6 After 4 years, the panel will expect to receive a report and recommendation from the Head of School detailing the progress and achievements. If performance is judged satisfactory by the panel then the review period will be concluded and monitoring will revert to standard appraisal and mentoring processes. If the performance is considered to have been unsatisfactory, the Universitys poor performance procedure will be followed in consultation with Human Resources.
1.7 If the Head of School considers that the member of staff has met all of their objectives at any time prior to 4 years, he/she may, with permission of the Master, and following a final formal review, submit an early recommendation to the Review Committee.
1.8 If at any point, anxieties are expressed regarding conduct or performance, Heads of Schools should refer to the Universitys Poor Performance or Disciplinary procedures. See Section 2 on Performance Management.
1.9 In addition, each new Lecturer will be provided with a Mentor within his/her School. Please refer to the Mentoring Scheme for Academics at https://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/ academic/ Mentoring/Overview/. It should be noted that, if a Lecturers mentor becomes Head of School, a new mentor should be appointed.
1.10 The University runs a programme of workshops and courses to familiarise members of academic staff with key policies and procedures and provide opportunities to reflect on teaching practice and enhance professional expertise. All new members of staff with teaching responsibilities have particular attendance requirements. For further details and to book places, please visit http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/ppd/resources/academicstaff/
2 Performance Management
2.1 As described in Section 1.2, detailed objectives for Research, Teaching and Service will be agreed at the time an appointment is offered. These objectives will be specific to the individual.
The member of staff will normally be expected to meet all of the agreed objectives in the relevant timescales in order for the review to be concluded.
The objectives will be set for completion at 1, 2 and 4 year intervals from the date of appointment.
The Head of School or nominee will be expected to review the member of staff on an annual basis to ensure he/she is meeting their objectives. If the member of staff is failing to meet all or some of their objectives without good reason e.g. being on a period of maternity leave, the Head of School or nominee should initiate the Universitys Poor Performance (Capability) Procedure in consultation with Human Resources. The procedure can be found at http://www.st-andrews.ac.uk/staff/policy/hr/Poorperformanceandbehaviouratwork/.
2.2 The purpose of the Poor Performance (Capability) Procedure is to be supportive if reasonably possible rather than punitive, and it should be recognised that the existence of this procedure is to help and encourage employees to achieve and maintain acceptable standards of performance and to ensure consistent and fair treatment for all.
If performance problems are judged to result from conduct, over which the employee has control, the relevant University disciplinary procedure will apply.
2.3 Should the member of staff consistently fail to meet all or some of their objectives, display conduct that is unsatisfactory to the University or generally not perform in line with the expectations and requirements of the University for academic staff, as set out in contracts and other formal agreements, the appropriate University procedure may be invoked as a result of which his/her contract may be terminated at any time during the 4 year period.
3 Part-time and Fixed Term Lecturers
3.1 While the length of the review will remain the same at up to 4 years for part-time appointments, the objectives agreed should recognise the part-time nature of the employment: any change to the objectives should not imply a reduction in the quality of performance required.
3.2 The review period applies to both open-ended appointments and fixed term appointments to ensure that the progress and performance of fixed term staff are assessed against the same standards and expectations which apply to those on open-ended contracts.
4 Absence during the review period
4.1 Where a member of staff is absent during the review period, for example, on maternity/adoption leave or extended sickness absence, the University will normally adjust the review dates. Again this will have no impact on the quality of objectives that the member of staff will have to meet. This decision will be made by the Head of School in consultation with Human Resources. No decision will be reached, however, without discussion with the member of staff.
5 Support available
5.1 Support for new colleagues is very important to the University and the mentoring scheme fulfils a key role in this respect. The role of the mentor is not a managerial one and provides guidance, support, encouragement and informed feedback to the new Lecturer and therefore provides a valuable resource to them.
5.2 Should any member of staff feel that they need support or advice outside of their School, they can speak to a Human Resources Officer about any issues that arise during the course of their employment.
6 Appendix
Academic Review for New Starts (All Academic Staff) Form (Word, 14 KB)
Human Resources
August 2012