PROMOTION TO SENIOR LECTURER:
General Guidance and Procedures
Submission to Meetings of
Academic Promotions Committees
to be held in February 2016
Summary of Procedures and Key Dates
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On receipt of guidance, procedures and criteria, Deans should circulate a copy to all
academic staff and other relevant staff in School
Deans, Associate Deans and Heads of Department in each School should then
consult and identify suitable candidates
Candidates must alert the Centre for Academic Practice as soon as decision is taken
to submit application
Dean and candidate are required to ensure all three Centre for Academic Practice
requirements are completed by Friday 11th December 2015
Candidate must submit the relevant form to the HR Adviser detailing how nonteaching practice elements have been achieved no later than 4 pm on Monday 11th
January 2016
Promotions Committees meet in February 2016
Approved promotions effective from 1 March 2016
This guidance should be read in conjunction with Appendix 1 (teaching practice
requirements) and Appendix 2a, 2b or 2c (as appropriate).
Promotion to Senior Lecturer: General Guidance and Procedures
SECTION 1: INTRODUCTION
1.1
The criteria for promotion to Senior Lecturer are aligned with the University Strategy,
‘Towards 2016’, and incorporate the following strategic factors:
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The University’s status as a research-intensive university committed to research of
international quality.
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The importance of high quality teaching to the Loughborough Student Experience.
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The requirement to foster an enterprise culture by placing a high value on enterprise
activity.
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Recognition of the need for all staff to play an appropriate part in collegiality and
leadership.
The Athena SWAN Bronze submission commits the University to ensuring managers
are proactive in identifying female staff for performance reward and promotion.
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1.2
Academic Promotions Committees consider cases for promotion to Senior Lecturer twice
yearly:
Committee A (Science and Engineering Schools)
School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials Engineering
School of Civil and Building Engineering
Wolfson School of Mechanical, Manufacturing and Electrical Engineering
School of Science
Committee B (Social Sciences and Humanities Schools)
School of Business and Economics
School of the Arts, English and Drama
School of Social, Political and Geographical Sciences
School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences
Design School
1.3
The following arrangements are specific to February 2015.
1.4
The next opportunity will be in May 2016. Details of arrangements will be published by
Human Resources in February/March 2016.
1.5
Only those in the Teaching and Research job family – normally on Grade 7, but
exceptionally on Grade 6 - are eligible for promotion to Senior Lecturer (Grade 8).
1.6
Candidates are required to meet an acceptable standard in teaching, research and, where
appropriate, enterprise.
SECTION 2: INITIAL PROCEDURES
2.1
Deans should ensure that this document and the relevant criteria are now circulated to all
academic staff in their School for information, and to any other relevant staff.
2.2
Deans are then required to review the performance of all lecturers in their School in
consultation with their Associate Deans. They should consider which, if any, are
deemed to meet the criteria (see Section 4 below and relevant Appendix) and, as a result,
should be encouraged to apply for promotion. Where departments exist within a School, it
is expected that recommendations will be made to the Dean by the relevant Head.
No decision should be made unilaterally by a Dean of School or Head of Department.
The Dean should arrange for detailed written feedback to be given to any lecturer who had
anticipated being put forward by the School for promotion but who subsequently was
considered by these senior staff not to meet the minimum requirements. Such lecturers
should also be given the opportunity, if they wish, to arrange a face-to-face meeting with
the Dean for further clarification.
2.3
Any lecturers who independently consider they meet the criteria for promotion to Senior
Lecturer, but are not to be supported by the School, would be expected to notify the Dean
of School if they subsequently decide to self-submit.
In the event of self-submission, Human Resources will obtain comments from the Dean of
School regarding the reasons why senior staff felt unable to support the case. This
information will then be made available to members of the relevant Promotions Committee.
SECTION 3: TIMETABLE FOR FEBRUARY 2016 MEETINGS
3.1
3.2
Submissions for promotion to Senior Lecturer will be considered at the appropriate
Promotions Committee meeting as follows:
Committee A
Science & Engineering Schools:
Tuesday 2nd February at 9.30 am
Committee B
Social Sciences & Humanities Schools:
Tuesday 2nd February at 2 pm
Candidates are required to submit a fully-completed form, detailing non-teaching practice
elements and including comments from the Dean (unless self-submission) to Human
Resources for the attention of the relevant Human Resources Adviser to arrive no later
than 4 pm on Monday 11th January 2016.
Late submissions will only be accepted in very exceptional circumstances and only by prior
arrangement with the relevant Human Resources Adviser (see Section 11).
Arrangements for interviews will then be made to assess a candidate’s research
activity, collegiality and, where relevant, enterprise capability. These will be held with
the relevant Dean and Associate Deans and will be arranged by that Dean’s office. It is
anticipated that the majority of the interviews will take place in January prior to the above
Promotions Committee meetings (see also 4.2 below).
It is essential that candidates familiarise themselves with the requirements for teaching
practice (Appendix 1 of this document), and that they alert the Centre for Academic
Practice as soon as possible regarding their intended application. This information is also
available on the Centre for Academic Practice website at
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/teachingcentre/.
Note that all three requirements related to the practice of teaching (teaching observation,
written submission and statement from Dean of School) must be completed and
submitted to the Centre for Academic Practice by Friday 11th December 2015.
Observations should be scheduled as soon as possible and, in all cases, should have taken
place by Friday 11th December 2015.
3.3
Approved promotions to Senior Lecturer will be effective from 1 March 2016.
SECTION 4: REQUIREMENTS AND APPLICATION PROCEDURES
4.1
Teaching Practice Requirements
It is essential that all potential candidates familiarise themselves with the requirements
specified for the relevant level of attainment. See also 3.2 above.
Full details can be found on the Centre for Academic Practice website at
(http://www.lboro.ac.uk/service/teachingcentre/).
It should be noted that Promotions Committees are unable to award a Senior
Lectureship without the teaching practice requirements being assessed as met,
normally in advance of the relevant Promotions Committee meeting. Deans and
candidates should therefore take responsibility for ensuring that the necessary
assessments have been completed and submitted to the Centre for Academic Practice no
later than Friday 11th December 2015.
Results of teaching practice assessments will be forwarded direct to Human Resources by
the Centre for Academic Practice, and made available to the Promotions Committees at
their meetings.
4.2
Requirements Other than for Teaching
It is recognised that patterns of activity, particularly in research, vary widely from one
subject to another and therefore no attempt has been made to lay down strict criteria or to
limit the freedom of the Promotions Committees. Information on the requirements is
available in appendices to these guidance notes as follows
Appendix 1a: Engineering Guidelines for SL Promotion
Appendix 1b: Science Guidelines for SL Promotion
Appendix 1c: Social Sciences and Humanities Guidelines for SL Promotion
Interviews (see 3.2 above)
The Dean will present verbal reports on interviews at the relevant Promotions Committee
meeting.
4.3
Submission Procedure
The SL Submission Form, designed to demonstrate how the non-teaching practice
elements have been met, should be downloaded from the Human Resources website at
http://www.lboro.ac.uk/admin/personnel/rewardreview/promotionstoseniorlecturer.html and
saved as a Word document. Submissions should not be handwritten. The form should be
fully completed and submitted to Human Resources no later than 4 pm on Monday
11th January 2016.
A publications list will also be provided to the appropriate Promotions Committee. Human
Resources will obtain a list on behalf of each candidate via LUPIN after the closing date for
submissions has passed. Candidates are therefore asked to ensure that their record is
up to date by the closing date for submission of information on the non-teaching practice
elements (Monday 11th January 2016). They should also ensure their Dean of School has
sufficient information to be able to report on any publications in press, or accepted but
not yet in press.
Note also 4.1 above regarding outcome of teaching assessments.
Although every effort has been made to ensure that the electronic copy of the forms is
accessible, it is recognised that occasionally software incompatibility may result in some
difficulties in the downloading of these documents. Section 10 below provides instructions
for saving files.
4.4
Any queries about the SL Promotions processes should be addressed to the relevant HR
Adviser.
SECTION 5: OUTCOMES
5.1
Deans of School may communicate decisions reached by the appropriate Promotions
Committee to the individuals concerned after the meeting. These will then be confirmed in
writing by the relevant HR Adviser.
5.2
Candidates whose submissions are not approved by the Promotions Committee will receive
written notification of the reason(s) for their lack of success and will also be encouraged to
discuss their case with their Dean.
SECTION 6: APPEALS
6.1
Unsuccessful candidates have the right to appeal, although this is limited to evidence of a
substantial defect in the procedure by which a proposal was considered and determined.
6.2
Any appeal will be considered by a sub-group of the Human Resources Committee.
6.3
Any members of staff wishing to appeal against a decision under the Reward Review
process must notify the Director of Human Resources in writing of their intent to appeal
within 2 weeks of receipt of notification from Human Resources of the decision of the
relevant Promotions Committee. This notification should be accompanied by a statement
setting out the grounds for appeal, normally within the range of 300 to 2000 words.
Information not made available to the original decision-making body cannot be included.
An appeal meeting will then be convened.
6.4
The Chair of the Promotions Committee which reached the original decision will also furnish
the Appeal Committee with a statement setting out the reasons as to why the reward was
not recommended. Both statements will be placed before the Appeal Committee, along
with the original case and they will make a final decision after careful consideration of the
documents. The decision will be reported to the Human Resources Committee.
SECTION 7: PERSONAL CHAIRS AND READERSHIPS
7.1
A sub-committee of the Human Resources Committee will continue to consider all
proposals for promotions to Personal Chairs and the award of the title of Reader (see
Human Resources website for full details).
SECTION 8: SENIOR STAFF SALARY REVIEW (Grade 9)
8.1
The salaries of senior staff in Grade 9 are reviewed annually in June/July by the Senior
Staff Review Group and the Remuneration Committee. Advice on the format of
submissions is sent to all members of the senior staff each year.
SECTION 9: MONITORING
9.1
The University is committed to monitoring and evaluating its reward procedures and
activities to ensure consistency, equity and fairness.
9.2
As indicated above, Promotions Committees have responsibility for awarding promotions to
Senior Lecturer. However, all decisions will be reported to the Human Resources
Committee which retains a policy and monitoring function in relation to reward matters.
9.3
In order to ensure equity both in implementation of procedures and in consideration of
submissions across the University, an elected member of Human Resources Committee
will attend all Promotions Committee meetings as an independent observer.
9.4
Reward data is stored on a central database held in Human Resources and summary data
made available to the Human Resources Committee and to its Equality and Diversity SubCommittee.
9.5
Specifically, on an annual basis, the University’s Staff Development Adviser (Equality and
Diversity) will identify those to whom merit awards, including promotions to Senior Lecturer,
are given in proportions of men to women, different racial groups, those with a disability, by
grade and by job family, and this information will also be reported as part of the on-going
equal pay audit and impact assessment work.
SECTION 10: INSTRUCTIONS FOR SAVING THE SUBMISSION FORM
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Open the document from the web link as ‘Read Only’
Click on the Office button (top left) and then on ‘Save As’
In the ‘Save As’ window click on ‘Tools’ and choose ‘General Options’
Click on ‘Read Only’ to remove that attribute
Click on ‘OK’ and again to confirm the change in attribute
Save the document on your hard drive as you normally would for a Word document
SECTION 11: MEMBERSHIP OF PROMOTIONS COMMITTEES
A Human Resources Adviser will be in attendance at each of the Committees:
Committee A: Science and Engineering Schools
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Chair:
Pro-Vice Chancellor (R)
Deans:
Professor Chris Linton (Provost)
Professor Steve Rothberg
Professor Mark Biggs, Professor Rachel
Thompson, Professor Tony Thorpe, Professor
Paul Conway
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Independent Observer from elected members of Human Resources
Committee:
Professor Marta Mazzocco
HR Adviser
Helen Sendles/Jo Arno/Carolyn Kenney/Debbie
Vernon
Committee B: Social Sciences and Humanities Schools
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Chair:
Pro-Vice Chancellor (R)
Deans:
Professor Chris Linton (Provost)
Vacancy
Professor Tracy Bhamra, Professor Angus Laing,
Professor Alison Yarrington, Professor Mark
Lewis, Professor Jonathan Potter, Professor Mike
Caine
 Independent Observer from elected members of Human Resources
Committee:
TBC
 HR Adviser
Helen Sendles/Jo Arno/Carolyn Kenney
HR ADVISERS
 HR Adviser (School of Business and Economics, Loughborough Design
School and School of Sport, Exercise and Health Sciences :
Joanne Arno (ext 223792, J.M.Arno@lboro.ac.uk)
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HR Adviser (Loughborough University London, School of Science:
Carolyn Kenney (ext 228022, C.Kenney@lboro.ac.uk)
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HR Adviser (School of the Arts, English and Drama; Wolfson School of
Mechanical, Manufacturing and Electrical Engineering and School of Social,
Political and Geographical Sciences:
Helen Sendles (ext 228029, H.Sendles@lboro.ac.uk)
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Snr HR Officer (School of Aeronautical, Automotive, Chemical and Materials
Engineering and School of Civil and Building Engineering:
Debbie Vernon (ext 222377, D.Vernon@lboro.ac.uk )
Author: Human Resources Date: October 2015. Copyright © Loughborough University. All rights reserved.