This guidance applies to applications for promotion and pay progression.
Heads of Institution, with the assistance of appropriate senior colleagues if necessary, can play a positive role in the career development of all eligible academic staff in their Institution. The list of eligible staff will be provided to the Head of Institution and Departmental/Faculty Administrator by the HR team at the launch of each year’s ACP T&S round.
Heads of Institution are required to:
- Have supportive and confidential conversations with all staff that are eligible to apply; discuss any perceived barriers, including any relevant Contextual Factors or COVID-related impacts that may be preventing an individual from applying.
- Ensure that the ACP CV scheme is actively publicised to all eligible staff.
- Actively help and mentor staff from groups that are under-represented at senior levels who are potentially ready for promotion / progression to encourage them to apply.
- Discuss promotion/progression pathways with under-represented staff not yet ready for promotion.
- In all cases, institutions should ensure that sufficient funding is identified to support applications for promotion and ongoing salary costs. Queries concerning funding should be raised with the relevant School Finance manager in the first instance.
The University’s Staff Review and Development (SRD) scheme, whilst remaining a separate and independent mechanism for reviewing personal contribution and professional development, should be used to discuss career aspirations, assess an individual’s readiness for promotion or progression, and help inform and support the ACP T&S process. These discussions should take place on a regular and ongoing basis throughout the course of an individual’s career. Heads of Institution should have open and honest conversations with academics in their institution about whether it is the right time for them to apply for promotion, and for which role/grade they should apply. Heads of Institution should also provide guidance to individuals on areas they may wish to work on in order to better demonstrate their achievement of the assessment criteria.
Heads of Institution should also ensure that appropriate mentoring opportunities are available and help facilitate this process to support career development and progression.
Heads of Institution are required to review the gender balance and ethnic diversity of ACP T&S applications and to provide an explanation to the Chair of the FC when these are not in proportion to their representation in the proximate less senior office. The decision whether to make an application will ultimately sit with the individual.