Academic Promotion - Procedures

Academic Promotion – Procedures

1.1   Preparing an Application for Promotion

Applications for promotion may be submitted at any time during the year through the Head of School and the Dean to the Academic Promotions Committee. (In the absence of a staff member or in special circumstances, the Head of School may submit an application on behalf of the staff member).

When assessing applications for promotion the Academic Promotions Committee will consider all aspects of the application including service to the University and the wider community.

Applicants who elect to have their application considered primarily in one area are nevertheless expected to provide evidence of a satisfactory level of performance in the areas not nominated. That this level of performance has been met will need to be attested to by the Head of School in his or her supporting letter. Applicants applying for promotion on grounds of 'teaching and research' must document achievements under both headings, bearing in mind that all applicants will need to demonstrate a contribution to service.

When the application for promotion is complete it is submitted to the Head of School who will then complete their role in the application process.

The Head of School forwards the application to their Dean who then completes their role in the process and forwards the application to the Executive Officer of the Academic Promotions Committee.

Comments made by the Head of School and Dean must be sighted by the applicant, who in turn may write to the Chair of the Academic Promotions Committee if they wish to respond to these comments. (Comments on applications made by the Head of School and Dean are not sent to assessors.)

1.2   Application Documentation

The application for promotion prepared by the applicant will comprise the following elements:

• Covering letter (not mandatory)
• Application for Academic Promotion – Form 1
• Academic Portfolio including
  • Curriculum Vitae (in your list of publications, do not forget to add your percentage contribution to any joint publications either as a brief statement at the top of your listing or individually in brackets after each such publication.)
  • Folio 1 – Teaching and Learning (max 5 pages)
  • Folio 2 – Research, Scholarship and Original Achievement (max 5 pages)
  • Folio 3 – Service (max 5 pages); and
  • Summary Statement. (This should be attached to the front of your application.)
    
    The Personal Statement should articulate the specific grounds on which an application is based. It should contain a statement delineating clearly the main focus of your work and the particular achievements that are claimed, together with a brief overview of the significance of your contribution in the wider context of the discipline. It is here that you should indicate the structure of your appointment i.e., if it is fractional or cross-disciplinary or there are reasons which would have affected your publication or contributions to service such as Parental Leave, heavy teaching commitments, illness, study leave etc

In all categories, documentation should deal with both the quantity of work and, more importantly, its quality.

Applicants are required to submit 14 copies of each of the components of the application listed above. Six of the 14 copies should be bound for assessors.

As detailed below, six copies of each of six selected publications are also to be included. Reprints are acceptable. These can be added to an appendix behind the Research Folio 2 or provided separately.

Do not submit solicited recommendations and letters of support. The provision of a letter of support is regarded by the Academic Promotions Committee as grounds for disqualifying a person from providing an assessment which can be seen to be ‘balanced, confidential and unbiased’. Accordingly, letters of support should not be sought from potential assessors.

Make sure your application is complete. In particular, remember to:

• sign and date your application form (Form 1);
• number the pages and add a contents list and separators to indicate the different parts of your application and define appendices; (If the application has to be taken apart for any reason such as for copying purposed, it would be difficult to collate it again the right order without page numbers)
• provide your nominated assessors on Application for Academic Promotions – Form 1
• inidcate the extent of your contribution to all co-authored publications in percentage form in your publication list.

Remember that after the application has been submitted to the Committee, any additional information/documentation will only be accepted at the discretion of the Academic Promotions Committee and may not be forwarded to assessors.

• Submit your application through the Head of School to the Dean in line with Faculty deadlines and in order to meet the specified date required by the Academic Promotions Committee.

The Application for Academic Promotion Form 2 (Comments by the Head of School and Dean) signed by the applicant, and the Application for Academic Promotion Form 3 (Nomination of Assessors by the Head of School), will be added to application by the Head of School and forwarded to the Executive Officer, Academic Promotions Committee, through the Dean.

NB: Unless a special request is received, only original publications will be returned to the applicant.

1.3   Information about Documenting Publications

In preparing your list of publications, the six most significant publications on which you feel your case would be best judged should be marked with an asterisk. Six copies of each of these six selected publications must be included with the application.

You should indicate the extent of your contribution to all co-authored publications in percentage form either as a brief statement at the top of your listing or individually in brackets after each such publication.

In general, the Academic Promotions Committee will only consider work already published. However, where applicants are able to provide evidence that an article has received final acceptance for publication, the work will be considered.

Documentation should meet the usual standards of evidence in scholarly disciplines. For example, if the opinions of referees are provided, the expertise of the referee, and the extent to which he or she was in a position to make the judgment reliably, should also be established.

1.4   Assessors

The Academic Promotions Committee has a policy of using assessors external to UWA, both from within Australia and from overseas.

The Committee will refer applications to assessors where it is satisfied that a prima facie case for promotion has been established.

On the “Application for Academic Promotion – Form 1” applicants are asked to nominate assessors who may be consulted in either teaching or research or in both. The Head of School will also suggest assessors when completing “Application for Academic Promotion – Form 3”. Applicants may also indicate the names of people who may be selected as assessors whom they believe would provide a biased assessment. Reasons for concern must also be provided. It should be noted, however, that the Committee will make the final decision regarding the choice of assessors.

The role of an assessor is not to act as a referee but, rather, as an expert in the field able to offer the Academic Promotions Committee a balanced and confidential assessment of the merits of the particular application according to the stated criteria. Assessors will also provide, if possible, an indication of the applicant's standing in the field. Assessors should be preferably persons of eminence in the discipline who may or may not be known personally to the applicant but who are aware of the applicant's research activities and with whom the applicant has not collaborated or published. While the Committee will use the Head of School's list for guidance, it may take advice from elsewhere when selecting its assessors.

Applicants may wish to consult with the Chair of the Academic Promotions Committee if they have any concerns about the possible choice of assessors by the Head of School, or about any aspect of their application.

1.5   Level E Winthrop Professor and Winthrop Research Professor Applications

In applications for promotion to Winthrop Professor or Winthrop Research Professor, if the Academic Promotions Committee considers that a prima facie case for promotion exists following a review of assessors' reports, the Committee may seek the views of a Corresponding Member. The Corresponding Member is a senior academic who may not be in the same area of specialisation as the applicant but who is nevertheless able to provide a broad assessment of the applicant's suitability for promotion to Level E.

If the Academic Promotions Committee decides, on the basis of the submitted material, assessors' reports, and the report from the corresponding member, that a prima facie case exists for promotion to Winthrop Professor or Winthrop Research Professor, it will recommend to the Vice-Chancellor that the application proceeds to a Senate Promotion Committee for interview. The Senate Promotion Committee will normally interview all applicants recommended for promotion to Winthrop Professor or Winthrop Research Professor by the Academic Promotions Committee.

Following the interview with the Senate Promotion Committee, applicants will be invited to meet with the Vice-Chancellor or the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor to discuss the result of the application.

1.6   Accelerated Promotions

The Academic Promotions Committee will consider applications where a staff member wishes to apply for accelerated promotion ie. two levels higher than their current employment. Applicants need to give a clear explanation in the Personal Statement as to why an accelerated promotion is being sought. The Head of School and Dean are also expected to refer to this request in their supporting comments.

1.7   Fast-Track Promotion

The University is committed to retaining high quality staff. To support this it has introduced Fast Track Promotion procedures for use only in exceptional circumstances. They enable the University to respond rapidly to opportunities to retain high quality staff. It is envisaged that for the majority of academic promotions, the standard promotion process will be used.

Where a staff member has applied for a position in another University which is above their current level at UWA, and where the Head of School sees it as important to retain the staff member, the Head may wish to encourage the staff member to apply for promotion. This means that their case for promotion can be considered at the same time as their application to the other institution. Where time frames are tight, however, and particularly where the staff member has received an offer of employment at a higher level, such promotion applications mey be considered under the Fast Track Promotion procedures.

Please note that in order to facilitate the efficient and timely handling of applications for Fast-Track promotion and to ensure delays do not occur, the following procedures are to be followed:

APPLICANT IS REQUIRED TO PROVIDE THE FOLLOWING:

1. A letter of offer including preferred timeframe for the outcome of the application.
2. Academic Portfolio
3. Written confirmation that they have sighted the comments from the Head of School and Dean of Faculty on appropriate form Application for Academic Promotion Form – 2.
4. Two nominated assessors, one for teaching, one for research, or in the case of a Research Only application, two for research. Full title, postal address, email and telephone contact details must be provided. These should be provided on the Application for Promotion – Form 1.

HEAD OF SCHOOL AND DEAN REQUIREMENTS:

1. A case to support a Fast-Track application for promotion must be approved by the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor prior to electronic submission to the Executive Officer, Academic Promotions Committee.
2. Head of School and Dean of Faculty comments should be provided on Application for Academic Promotion Form 2 and if necessary, may include additional information on a separate page.
3. Prior to submission to the Executive Officer, Academic Promotions Committee, assessors must be contacted and advised that invitations may be forwarded to them to act in this capacity for a Fast-Track promotion application. This will ensure that they are standing by to accept material electronically and are aware of the short timeframe involved. All assessors nominated may not be invited, the final choice remaining with the Chair and members of the Academic Promotions Committee.
4. Application for Academic Promotion Form – 3 with the names of four nominated assessors. Full title, postal address, email and telephone contact details must be provided.

THE PROCESS:

• All applications will be acknowledged on receipt.
• The case for Fast-Track promotion is circulated to the Chair and members of the Academic Promotions Committee who will review the case and invite assessors from those names provided by the Head of School.
• On acceptance of invitations, application material is forwarded to assessors electronically and they are given an indication of the timeframe by which a report will be required.
• It is very important for the Executive Officer to be advised if the timeframe is shortened and the applicant is expected to give the other institution an earlier response than originally anticipated.

When all assessors’ reports have been received they are circulated by the Executive Officer to the Academic Promotions Committee who will review the case and make its recommendation to the Vice-Chancellor. The Committee will consider whether there is a need for a further review of the application by a corresponding member, or an interview process with the Senate Selection Committee. However, these processes may be waived at the discretion of the Vice-Chancellor.

2.   Procedures for the Review of Recommendations of the Academic Promotions Committee