Eurodoc conference – London 16 March 2007

1. Eurodoc conference – London16 March 2007 Advances and challenges in the management of human resources in European higher education and research Gill Clarke UK Quality Assurance Agency for HE

2. Advances and challenges _______________________________________________________________ • What recent changes are affecting human resource management in HE? • What are the benefits and challenges: • For early career researchers? • For established staff, including supervisors? • For institutions?

3. … a European perspective

4. Reference points - 1 _______________________________________________________________ • European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (2005): • Aimed at – researchers, their employers and funders • Charter: focuses on career development and mobility of researchers and is complementary to UK QAA Code of Practice for PGR degrees • Code: focuses on equal treatment of all applicants to research jobs and the concept of open and sustainable labour market

5. Reference points – 2 _______________________________________________________________ • QAA Code of Practice: Postgraduate research programmes - Contains various HR principles, including: • Fair and effective recruitment of research students (precepts 6-10) • Students’ and supervisors’ responsibilities (precepts 9, 11-14) • Institutions’ responsibilities to students, supervisors and other staff (precepts 11, 13, 14, 17-20)

6. Review of management of research degree programmes in UK _______________________________________________________________ • Sept 2004 – revised section 1 of the QAA CoP on postgraduate research programmes was published • 2005-06 - the QAA was contracted to manage a ‘special’ review of RDPs • The purpose of the review was to evaluate institutions’ implementation of the revised section 1 of the Code, including HR issues

7. Background _______________________________________________________________ • 124 institutions involved in special review, of which 10 were from Wales, and 114 from England and Northern Ireland • All institutions received an overall judgement of appropriate and satisfactory • Features of good practice were identified in 85% of the reports • Areas for further consideration were identified in 81% of the reports

8. Distribution of good practice examples Institutional arrangements 2% Research environment 10% Admissions, induction 13% Supervision 16% Progress/ review 13% Skills development 32% Student feedback 5% Assessment 6% Student representations 3%

9. Distribution: areas for further consideration

10. Good practice - admissions _______________________________________________________________ • Attention paid to equal opportunities in admissions to research programmes, ensuring merit, capability and diversity of entrants • Good practice in advising students who were not offered a place • Timely and transparent selection processes • Use of interview grid to assure consistency

11. Further action - admissions _______________________________________________________________ • Lack of clarity around entry qualifications • Need to ensure at least two staff involved in selection • More consistency in the admissions process (between different subjects) • Use of interviews in the admissions process (equal opportunities) • More formal induction processes

12. Good practice - supervision _______________________________________________________________ • Appointment of supervisors, e.g. register of approved supervisors • Good documentation to support the supervisory process • Formal training for new and established supervisors • Regular events, e.g. away days, supervisors’ conferences • Excellence in supervision as criterion for promotion

13. Further action - supervision _______________________________________________________________ • Supervisor workloads – need to enhance monitoring and management • Need to ensure that all supervisors take advantage of formal training and development opportunities • Need for greater consistency in supervisory practice across subjects • More systematic supervision arrangements, e.g. regularity of meetings

14. Good practice – skills development _______________________________________________________________ • Use of personal development planning (PDP) tools • Evidence of cohesive, high quality, flexible and accessible development opportunities • Special arrangements for part-time, distant and international students, e.g. weekend and residential courses • Good practice in information provision in relation to skills • Student-led skills development opportunities

15. Further action – skills development _______________________________________________________________ • Further enhancement and development of skills training opportunities • Better embedding of skills development within programmes • Increased alignment with research councils’ Joint Skills Statement • Accessibility of skills training to different groups of students

16. Comparisons 1 Institutional arrangements 6 Skills development 2 Research environment 7 Feedback mechanisms 3 Selection, admissions, etc 8 Assessment 4 Supervision 9 Student representations 5 Progress and review (complaints and appeals) good practice (195) further consideration (175)