Guide to grading and progression/promotion for staff in the Education and Scholarship job family
Appointment at Grade E Associate Lecturer (Education and Scholarship)
New appointments may be as Associate Lecturer (Education and Scholarship) subject to:
- An assessment by the College of the requirements of the role; and
- Funding approval and the approval of the line managing Deputy Vice-Chancellor via the SR1 process.
The expectations of the staff at these levels are summarised in the role profile for Associate Lecturer (Education and Scholarship) and will be evidenced by an application and interview process as part of the University's agreed recruitment and selection procedure.
Progression to Grade F Lecturer (Education and Scholarship)
There is no provision for the automatic progression of Associate Lecturers to Lecturer, but there may be circumstances where such progression is appropriate.
Colleges are advised to seek advice from HR Business Partner for the College before making a submission.
The Associate Dean for Education should carry out an initial assessment, supported by the Academic Lead and the HRBP for the College, of whether:
(a) there is an ongoing need in the College for work at Lecturer level (as summarised in the Role Profile for Lecturer (Education and Scholarship); and
(b) the member of staff is ready for progression and that their skills and competences can be evidenced against the appropriate promotion criteria for staff in the Education and Scholarship Job Family, including the requirement for HEA recognition at the relevant level.
If the Associate Dean for Education is satisfied then a written submission should be made using form PD127a to include evidence against the listed criteria. Associate Lecturers should use the right hand column to give appropriate evidence of their achievements against the criteria listed. The form will then be submitted to the College Dean.
The College Dean should discuss the case with their HRBP. If the College Dean is satisfied that there is a case for considering promotion the form should be signed.
If the Dean is unable to support the application, they should explain their reasons to the member of staff who has the right to make a personal submission.
The application will be considered by a panel normally comprising of the College Dean (Chair of Panel), the College Associate Dean for Education and up to three other academics from appropriate academic disciplines. The panel will:
- conduct an initial assessment of the submitted evidence against the appropriate promotion criteria;
- interview the member of staff, who may also be required to make a presentation in support of their application and answer questions on the evidence presented.
The College will notify the staff member of the arrangements for interview. The purpose of the interview is to establish the suitability of the member of staff for promotion to Lecturer.
The panel will make a recommendation to the line managing Deputy Vice-Chancellor on whether the promotion criteria have been met. The decision on promotion will be taken by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
If the Deputy Vice-Chancellor is satisfied that the member of staff should progress to grade F, the employee will be promoted with effect from the 1st of the month following the date on which the Dean has signed the form.
The University’s equality and diversity standards requires that appointment and promotion decisions be made on merit and free from discrimination, as required by the Equality Act. Consequently, the agreed assessment criteria should be fully and fairly applied when considering promotion applications. (The University may be challenged to justify that selection/promotion decisions were made on objective criteria.)
As part of its equality and diversity programme, the University has committed to a number of employment targets to increase the percentage of women in senior academic roles and to increase the percentage of Black Minority Ethnic staff in academic roles. In addition, the University has adopted the Athena Swann commitment to establish excellent employment practices for women, through appropriate recruitment (at all levels of seniority) and career development strategies, in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine and across the entire University.
