Notes for Associate Lecturing Staff 2014/15
These notes describe standard pay practices within KLS. If, exceptionally, Associate
Lecturers are faced with individual tasks that fall outside their normal teaching and
administrative activities, for example the provision of a student reference, they may
submit in advance a request to authorise payment for this work, providing the work
time requested and to be carried out is greater than one hour. Requests for
authorisation should be made to the SAM / HoS and granted on a wholly
discretionary basis.
The hourly rate
This is set out in the ‘Conditions of Service’ for Hourly Paid Lecturers (HPLs, known
within KLS as Associate Lecturers (ALs), sent to you with your contract. ALs will be
paid the standard teaching rate of pay (i.e. the higher rate applicable to a given grade
and spine point) for the contact hours actually taught.
The rate of payment is determined by the University’s role profiles for HPLs. The role
profile is determined primarily by the level or extent of the lecturer’s responsibility and
the Head of School will determine the appropriate role profile, and therefore grade,
for each AL and each type of work undertaken.
Certain responsibilities, such as marking course work and class preparation are built
into the standard hourly rate of pay for teaching.
Creation of module material
From time to time KLS may ask AL colleagues to contribute to the creation of module
material in readiness for teaching. Where this is the case payment will be agreed in
advance with regard to examples of similar situations and/or the specific
circumstances of the case and will be an agreed number of hours paid at the nonteaching/ other activities rate.
Seminar teaching
In KLS, seminar teaching normally takes place for 10 weeks in each of the autumn
and spring terms. For 2014/15 these will be:
Autumn - weeks 2-4, 6-11
Spring – week 13-16 and 18-24 (less one week out of weeks 22-24 for the final
writing week).
There are a small number of modules that are exceptions to this pattern and exact
teaching requirements will be set out in a letter to you and on the Online Timetabling
Information System (OTIS).
Office hours
ALs are expected to conduct office hours in weeks that seminar teaching normally
takes place. They should conduct two office hours if teaching up to 4 weekly daytime
seminars or 3 office hours if teaching more than 4 weekly daytime seminars. Office
hours are paid at the flat rate of the AL’s standard hourly rate (the lower of the two
rates associated with each grade and spine point and known official to the University
as the additional activities rate and often referred to within KLS as the office hour
rate).
ALs will be offered payment for up to one office hour per week during the Winter and
Spring vacations and the first two weeks of the following term if teaching on modules
taught during the preceding term only and during the Spring vacation and Summer
term where teaching only on a full year module. Work during the vacation periods
does not need to be undertaken on campus and may be undertaken online/ by email.
All ALs should be available at advertised times for consultation by students in the
office allocated to them. These hours should be notified to the Law School UG Office
(KLSOffice@kent.ac.uk) and also displayed on a notice or next to the appropriate
office door. These hours of payment are intended to recognise all work in relation to
contact/ work with students outside of seminars (including by email/ phone/ any other
means used).
Reading and Writing Weeks
No seminars will be conducted during Reading and Writing Weeks (for 2014/15 these
will be weeks 5, 12, 17 and one week from weeks 22, 23 or 24 at the convenor’s
discretion).
ALs should make themselves available (either in their usual seminar room, their
office or by another means) for consultation by students during these weeks.
Payment will be made at the flat rate of pay associated with the lecturers grade and
spine point. ALs are asked to be available to students for hours equating to up to a
maximum of their normal number of weekly contact hours.
Where ALs make themselves available to students in Reading Weeks or
Writing Weeks they must, in the week before the relevant reading or writing week,
notify the KLS UG Office (KLSOffice@kent.ac.uk) and their students of the time and
location of the sessions they intend to hold.
Team meetings
KLS anticipates that for each module there will be:
 For a 30 credit module - up to three, one hour, teaching team meetings per
term (up to a total of 6 meetings with the first being the introductory meeting
and the final meeting end of year review).
 For a 15 credit module – up to 4, one hour, teaching team meetings (the first
being the introductory meeting and the final meeting end of year/ teaching
review)
Introductory meetings are to take place sufficiently prior to the start of teaching to
introduce and explain the module outline and the plan for delivery of teaching
(including the use of Moodle) and should, where possible, take place at least one
week before teaching begins.
End of year review meetings will inform the delivery of the module and/or the
arrangements for the following year.
AL participation in the meetings will be eligible for payment at the additional activities
(also known as the office hour) rate.
Ad hoc additional marking
Marking of coursework relating to your teaching is paid for within the teaching rate
payment for your seminar groups and no additional payments are normally made for
this. However, if you are asked to assist with the marking of a colleague for some
reason during the year that means you are marking the work of a groups you do not
normally teach then separate payment is appropriate and will be made on the
following basis:
- Paid at your additional activities (or office hour) rate
- Paid at a rate of 10 minutes per 1,000 words based on the per script word limit
- Rounded up to the next nearest quarter hour (to allow this to be processed by
Pay Office).
Revision seminars in summer term
In stage 1 modules, revision seminars may be conducted in the Summer Term.
These may only be undertaken with the prior agreement of the convenor. Revision
seminars will be paid at the standard hourly teaching rate.
Exam script marking
Each year a small number of AL colleagues assist with exam script marking (as
agreed in advance with the Chief Examiner) and payment for this is at additional
activities rate of grade 7 point 36 and on the following basis:
- For a 2 hour exam – 17 minutes per script
- For a 3 hour exam – 25 minutes per script
- With the total for all exam marking rounded up to the next nearest quarter hour.
Dissertation supervision
Each year a very small number of AL colleagues assist with dissertation supervision
(as agreed in advance with the dissertation module convenor) and where this is the
case payment is made as follows:
UG dissertations – 2 hours at the teaching rate are paid for supervision.
PG dissertations – up to 7 hours at the teaching rate are paid for supervision.
Holiday
Holiday pay is included in the hourly rates paid to ALs. Holidays during normal
working periods may only be taken in exceptional circumstances and must have the
prior written agreement of the Head of School.
Sick pay
Details relating to sick pay are set out in the University Conditions of Service for
Hourly Paid Lecturers.
ALs will be expected to make up classes missed if ill for one week or less (we
normally expect both permanent and associate lecturers to run “make-up” classes
where they have missed classes due to sickness, unless the circumstances are
exceptional). If you are ill for a longer period please contact your module convenor to
discuss this.
Travel Expenses
Travel expenses are claimable by AL colleagues on the same basis as for other staff.
This means that travel expenses can be claimed for any necessary travel to a place
that is not your normal place or base of work (at a mileage rate of 45p per mile, or
receipted public transport costs). Your normal place/ base for this purpose is
determined by where you do the majority of your work for us and will be set out in the
letter you receive from us setting out your teaching for the year. You will not be able
to claim travel expenses for travel to and from your normal place or base of work.
Professional Development Allowance
All academic colleagues (including ALs, pro-rata as set out below) are eligible for this
allowance in support of their learning and teaching activities from 1 August 2014 and
this allowance replaces and builds upon the book allowance previously available to
ALs.
Examples of activities that the allowance might be used for include, but are not
limited to:
- travel, accommodation and registration for conference attendance
- travel, accommodation and fees for training aimed at building/ enhancing skills
and techniques that will be used in research activities
- specialist equipment, software, other resources or services to be used to facilitate
learning & teaching and role related activities (noting that core provision set out in
Appendix 2 will be made by KLS to all colleagues and will not need to be funded
from this allowance)
Accessing the Allowance
As with all expenditure to be incurred by KLS this must be booked and paid for
directly by KLS if at all possible and you can do so via the KLS Finance and Travel
Team using one of the following email addresses as appropriate (or by contacting a
member of the team in person in room L18 of the Eliot Extension):
KLSFinance@kent.ac.uk
KLSTravel@kent.ac.uk
Access to this Allowance will be on a pro-rata basis as set out in the table below:
Min seminar groups
1
3
5
8
12
Max seminar groups
2
4
7
11
-
Allowance, £
150
250
500
750
1,000
15 credit and 30 credit module seminars will count equally and regardless of exact
pattern of teaching.
Please note: this allowance in part replaces the book allowance that existed until the
end of 2013/14 but is wider in remit for which the funds can be applied in support of
learning and teaching activities within a research led teaching environment.
This allowance can be claimed by colleagues once confirmation of teaching for the
coming year has been received from the HoS and no earlier than 1 August before the
relevant academic year.
The last date that expenditure can be drawn from this allowance each year will
normally be the end of reading week in the Spring term (as with the previous book
allowance).
Convenor Payments
Additional payment is made to those undertaking convenor duties based on:
 A core fixed sum


A payment per student for modules with more than 10 students (which is
higher if the convenor is responsible for a teaching team which includes other
ALs)
The payment is scaled for 15 credit modules (63% of the payment for a 30
credit module).
As this is payment is not based on a number of set contact hours the exact payment
can only be calculated on the following when known:
 Number of students on the module
 The pay rise for the year (usually agreed around January each year and
backdated to the start of the academic year).
As a result of this an estimate is calculated towards the end of the autumn term, once
numbers for 30 credit and autumn term 15 credit modules are known (and based on
an estimate for the pay rise). With a final figure calculated early in the Spring term to
enable any adjustment necessary to the total payment. The payment will be made
upon submission of timesheets for an agreed number of hours at the relevant rate of
pay for the individual.
Contacting the KLS Finance Team
If you have any questions about this information, your timesheets, contracts or any
other aspect of these arrangements please contact:
Surname A – L: Janet Shore
Surname M – Z: Liam Tuite
On klspayclaims@kent.ac.uk.