People & Organisational Development

The following newly appointed/promoted staff on open-ended contracts at Grades 7 and 8 will been enrolled on to ECDP:

• Those on the Research & Teaching Track
• Those on the Learning, Teaching & Scholarship Track
• Those independent researchers (i.e. with Principal Investigator status, normally Grade 8) appointed on the Research Track without a funding review date.

Newly appointed researchers employed on LKAS fellowships will be enrolled on full ECDP as detailed on the LKAS Terms & Conditions.

Those on prestigious external fellowships such as Leverhulme, Royal Society, British Academy, British Heart Foundation, Medical Research Council, Cancer Research UK, Wellcome, etc. will not automatically be taken into membership of the Programme however will be assigned a mentor, have access to modules on the ECDP Development Programme and have their PDR objectives reviewed at College level and by the ECDP panel.

If you meet the criteria for ECDP, you will be automatically enrolled in the programme either at the recruitment stage or when your promotion takes effect.

You will be issued with a welcome email from the Performance, Pay and Reward Team shortly after beginning your role, which will provide guidance on next steps.

There are formal induction sessions held periodically throughout the year. Information on dates and how to book can be found here.

When participants initially join the programme, they are assigned an academic mentor by their Head of School ideally within the first month of appointment.

All early career development staff entering the ECDP should be provided with a mentor upon entering the Programme. Mentoring is intended to be in place for the full duration of the programme although the individuals taking on the mentoring role may change depending upon development needs.

Initial mentoring relationships will normally be in place for a period of two years. Beyond the initial two year mentoring period, the mentee should have the option to continue this arrangement or discuss the selection of an alternative mentor with their line manager, with endorsement of selected mentor by Head of School.

Mentors should meet face to face  (as appropriate) with their mentee 6-8 times per year to provide support and guidance, and to monitor progress. It is intended that mentoring focuses on meaningful interactions on a regular basis throughout the mentoring period.

A discussion should take place at the end of Year 2 regarding ongoing mentoring arrangements. The mentee should have the option to continue this arrangement or discuss the selection of an alternative mentor with their line manager, with endorsement of selected mentor by Head of School.

If for any reason the initial mentoring arrangement does not work satisfactorily, the line manager and VP/Head of College can decide to allocate a new mentor in consultation with the mentee.

ECDP mentoring may include a range of activities or experiences as relevant to the mentee’s development needs and is intended to be ‘hands on’. For example, the types of activities ECDP mentoring could include are:

• providing assistance in the drafting of annual objectives, for example, including guidance on objectives as aligned to promotional criteria based upon the participants progress on the programme
• sharing tips for success tips in writing grants, providing feedback on draft grant applications, reflecting on unsuccessful grant applications
• identifying key networks to join, making introductions where possible
• providing an overview of relevant aspects to R&T activities (e.g. Internationalisation, REF, Impact)

Additional ideas for mentoring can be found within the Mentoring Resource. 

You should meet with your line manager shortly after appointment/promotion to agree suitable objectives and targets for progression towards promotion to Grade 8 or Grade 9. You can view the Academic Promotion criteria here.

For newly appointed colleagues, the objectives will initially be captured as part of the Probation process.

For newly promoted colleagues joining ECDP, and those outwith the probation period, objectives should be recorded on the PDR form, in the ‘Future Objectives’ section. The standard review period for PDR is 1 July – 30 June, with annual PDR discussions taking place between mid-July and the end of September, therefore, objectives should be agreed, which are achievable (at least in part) within the review period.

Following conclusion of the PDR round, the VP/HoC (or nominees), and the ECDP Board of Review, will review a sample of ECDP participant PDR forms, and may communicate feedback and/or require amendments to objectives before ratifying progression to the next stage of the programme.

The Development Programme contains mandatory and optional components. You must complete the mandatory elements to successfully complete the ECDP. 

The programme requires all participants to complete the PgCAP (or hold an equivalent teaching qualification which has been ratified by Academic & Digital Development). Additionally, participants are required to complete Research Integrity training and the Fundamentals of Postgraduate Supervision course.

The recommended teaching reduction for those undertaking PgCAP is 50% in year 1 and 25% year 2 based on the previous academic probation model.

For further information on the PgCAP, Recognising Excellence in Teaching (RET) or to enquire if a prior teaching qualification permits an exemption from PgCAP. Please access the Academic & Digital Development (ADD) website.

If you believe you have a teaching qualification which may be equivelent to PgCAP, you can apply for full or partial exemption. This process is managed by the Academic & Digital Development team (ADD) and further informaiton can be found on Accreditation of Prior Learning section of the ADD webpage. 

Alternatively, if you have extensive teaching experience you may wish to consider Recognising Excellence in Teaching (Fellow).

You can apply for promotion when you can evidence meeting the promotion criteria requirements for the grade and track. You may apply earlier than the year due on your ECDP timeline. You are strongly encouraged to discuss readiness for promotion, with your Line Manager and PDR reviewer, in advance of an application.

You can apply for academic promotion through the standard annual process. More information on this process can be found on the Academic Promotions webpages.

If you are promoted from Grade 7 to Grade 8 you will remain on ECDP until promotion to Grade 9. If you are promoted from Grade 8 to Grade 9 on the programme then you will be confirmed as having successfully completed ECDP.

Where an individual is not performing to the standards required of a Grade 8 role, the University’s Managing & Supporting Performance Policy and Procedure will be initiated.

Completion of ECDP will be confirmed when you have been promoted to Grade 9 and completed all three mandatory elements of the programme.

Where you are absent during the ECDP period for acceptable reasons e.g. extended sick leave, maternity leave and parental leave etc, the University will extend the ECDP period. This decision will be made formally by the relevant Vice-Principal & Head of College in consultation with the Head of School and Head of P&OD. The decision will be communicated with the ECDP Board of Review.

In such circumstances, as part of your return-to-work arrangements, a meeting will take place to discuss the rescheduling of the ECDP objectives/targets between yourself and your line manager.

The outcome of the meeting will be reviewed be the ECDP Board of Review who will either agree the outcomes or seek modification of these.

Please note that in cases where you are on research leave or are absent from the University undertaking development explicitly linked to promotion criteria or involved in Knowledge Exchange activities no extensions to the programme will be granted.

If you reduce your hours then necessary consideration should be given when setting objectives. Similarly, if you increase your hours it would be expected that your objectives should be amended to reflect this change as appropriate.

All general queries can be directed to the POD helpdesk or the key ECDP Contacts.