Staff development

Training and development

The School has a formalised induction process for all staff which is administered via the Dean’s Office. On induction, staff training needs are discussed with the Divisional Head, and appropriate courses are arranged. At yearly appraisals and at other times as the need arises, development needs are considered between individuals and their line manager. The School strongly encourages staff to develop and extend their teaching capacity and staff at all levels are encouraged to improve their skills. A substantial budget is held by the School and can be leveraged through application to the University’s Professional Development Unit. A variety of development routes are available within the University, School and externally.

The University’s Professional Development Unit21 _{provides development advice and courses}

for all groups of staff though a varied programme of short courses and accredited qualifications. Courses in themes such as professional and personal development, leadership and management, and learning and teaching are delivered through a variety of methods such as web based training, forums and traditional courses. In an average year, School staff in total attend more than 300 training courses.

Teaching staff are given opportunities to develop and extend their teaching capacity and encouraged to improve their skills. Opportunities for didactic and pedagogic training and specialisation are available. The School’s position is that it expects all new non clinical lecturers to enrol and complete the Postgraduate Certificate of Higher Education (PGCHE), a nationally recognised training programme, run by the Professional Development Unit. The PGCHE is accredited by the Higher Education Academy, and those completing the course may apply for automatic recognition as a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Clinical Associate staff, who are involved in teaching normally undertake the Associate Teachers' Programme (ATP), an accredited qualification which provides eligibility for Associate Practitioner status with the Higher Education Academy; to facilitate this the ATP has been run at all Clinical Associate institutions as a ‘Train the Trainer’ programme.

The School facilitates attendance at University courses and in addition also organises a number of relevant courses or workshops in-house on a regular basis on all aspects of teaching, learning and assessment.

A number of staff are funded to undertake taught Masters and PhD courses in Education, together with clinical qualifications. Staff are encouraged to join the Higher Education Academy and undertake CPD relating to learning, teaching and assessment generally both within and external to the University.

Many staff participate in intra-University cooperation to share and learn from best practice elsewhere in the University, for example through the Faculty Education Research Group. The School also has strong links with a number of other veterinary schools, where there is collaboration in teaching development and training. In addition, many staff have attended courses and congresses run by the Higher Education Academy Subject Centre for Medicine, Dentistry and Veterinary Medicine, as well as presenting at national and international conferences on veterinary education.

A ‘buddy’ Peer Observation of Teaching (POT) process is in place. All academics are assigned to work in a group of 4 and are required to observe teaching of other members of the group on a yearly basis. This allows them to improve their own curriculum literacy whilst providing a mechanism for informal feedback to other academics in their group.

Appraisal and promotion

The University has a robust Personal Development and Performance Review22 _{process to}

enable the School to manage salary progression in a way which ensures that individuals

22_{Further details are available at}

are appropriately rewarded, based on the contribution they make, clearly linked to the objectives of the School. For individuals it provides the opportunity to be rewarded through a goal-based process which is transparent and fair. Contribution is measured in a variety of ways and includes

 Teaching and assessment responsibilities and achievements  Research grants applied for and awarded

 Publications

 Supervision of research students, postdoctoral research assistants and postgraduate clinical training scholars

 Administrative duties and other contributions to the School, University, and external bodies

Behaviours and values are evaluated against 5 competency groups:  Achieving and delivery

 Personal effectiveness  Working together  Thinking and innovation

 Managing, leading and developing others

The Review process enables the School to identify and respond to the development needs of staff, including both short-term development and more long-term career aspirations. Furthermore the process sets goals for the coming year.

The yearly appraisal process recognises excellence in teaching (and / or research); additional increments can be awarded resulting in accelerated progression within a band. Poor performance results in a review of development and support needs within the context of University guidance on managing underperforming staff.

The University’s promotion process recognises a high level of achievement in 3 broad areas of activity:

• Research and scholarship (research activity, (including research income and publications) and standing within the UK and international research community) • Teaching and learning activity (the criteria for promotion include teaching quality,

teaching leadership, educational research, teaching innovation and good citizenship, including PhD supervision, outreach etc)

• Academic service (whether by offering e.g. leadership, management, administration, collegiality, knowledge transfer or pastoral care within the University, or by engaging on behalf of the University with the wider community)

All applicants for promotion are expected to demonstrate high achievement in the areas applicable to the focus of their role and all must include evidence of academic service. Each individual case will be judged on its merits. All academic staff may put themselves forward

for promotion where they consider their knowledge, skills and experience match the relevant criteria. The School considers each application individually and may choose to support or not support them, prior to submission to the Dean of the Medicine and Health Sciences Faculty. Following discussion by Heads of Schools, the Faculty may pass applications to the University Promotions Committee and then if supported onto external review. The University has no financial or number limit to the number of promotions made each year.