For more information and links to the promotion policy see

http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=i6b4un9aqsukz

About academic promotion

The annual academic promotion round provides an opportunity for staff at Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor (and equivalent research positions) to seek promotion to the next academic level. Its intent is to support academic career development, and create a platform for the success of RMIT. Promotion is merit-based and applications are assessed by a panel of academic peers. It recognises the quality and impact of an academic’s work, and rewards outstanding performance in three areas – teaching, research and scholarship, and leadership. Use this document and the checklist at the end to guide your preparation and application for promotion in 2016.

Key dates in 2016

9 June Intent to apply due 14 August Application due 19 September Optional rejoinder to HoS

Report due Oct-Nov Panel meetings December Notification of outcomes 1 January 2017 Effective date of promotion

Who to contact for advice

Your Head of School / Dean/ Head of Centre

Your colleagues and peers

College administrators or HR (email academic.promotion@rmit.edu.au)

CONTENTS

About academic promotion ............................................................................................................................ 1 Key dates in 2016 .......................................................................................................................................... 1 Who to contact for advice .............................................................................................................................. 1 Summary of academic promotion at RMIT ..................................................................................................... 2 Useful links .................................................................................................................................................... 2 Initial preparation ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Intent to apply ................................................................................................................................................ 4 Application for promotion ............................................................................................................................... 5 Referees ........................................................................................................................................................ 7 Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre report and optional rejoinder .............................................................. 8 Significant additional information ................................................................................................................... 8 How applications are assessed ..................................................................................................................... 9 Notification of outcome .................................................................................................................................. 9 Academic promotion criteria ........................................................................................................................ 10 Standards of performance ........................................................................................................................... 12 Applicant checklist ....................................................................................................................................... 15

Academic Promotion 2016

Information for applicants

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Summary of academic promotion at RMIT

Useful links

Academic promotion website – http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=i6b4un9aqsukz

Policy – http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=6335fr6yma3m

Criteria – http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=2mi1kt4tf4p4

Classification standards – http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=0mdiubcbrkds

Composition of promotion panels – http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=21jtqaryubt5

RMIT Strategy to 2020 – http://www.rmit.edu.au/about/strategy

Appeals procedure – http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=bgt91bojxl0fz

TEACHINGstrong and sustained

performance in student

outcomes, student

feedback and extensive

teaching experience and

skill in a range of teaching

settings

RESEARCH AND

SCHOLARSHIPgeneration of knowledge

and its application to real

world problems, with

demonstrated quality and

impact

LEADERSHIPmotivating, influencing,

developing and inspiring

others. Demonstrated in

many contexts, relates to

delivery of RMIT’s strategic

goals through people

Applications include the case for promotion, teaching and research data,

HoS report, referee reports, external assessment

Written application assessed by a panel of peers

Recognises and rewards high level performance – quality and impact

Merit-based assessment of individual performance (no quotas)

Annual round

Promotion to Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow,

Associate Professor/Principal Research Fellow and Professor

Supports personal career development and organisational performance

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Initial preparation

The information in this document relevant to academic staff seeking promotion at RMIT from:

Level B to Level C: Lecturer to Senior Lecturer or Research Fellow to Senior Research Fellow

Level C to Level D: Senior Lecturer to Associate Professor, or Senior Research Fellow to Principal Research Fellow

Level D to Level E: Associate Professor to Professor, or Principal Research Fellow to Professor

Note: Currently the academic promotion from Associate Lecturer/Research Officer to Lecturer/Research Fellow (Level A to Level B) follows a different process. See http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=ot8l81mljhjm for more details.

Workplanning and deciding to apply

You are encouraged to meet with your Head of School/Dean/Hoc or manager to discuss your readiness, eligibility and intent to apply for promotion. This should be done throughout the Performance Cycle, as well as informal discussions throughout the year.

In the online Performance Workplan, you will see a tab titled ‘Academic Promotion’. This gives you the opportunity to discuss your performance and academic career with your manager, including the extent to which you are meeting the University’s academic expectations, and the support and development you need as you work toward your next promotion application.

You can also indicate your intended timeframe for next applying for promotion – whether this year or in the future – and this will help you and your manager plan your work to optimise your chances of a successful application.

To help you make the decision of whether you’re ready to apply, you should also:

Seek advice from colleagues who have experience of the promotion process, and may be able to help you to identify where you sit in your field and the strength of your case for promotion

Familiarise yourself with the academic promotion policy and procedure

Understand the academic promotion criteria and standards of performance (see below)

Review the information required in the application

Start to collate the required information and think about how you can best present your case for promotion

Attend information and training sessions for applicants (see the developME website for details – http://www.rmit.edu.au/staff/developme – click the ‘RMIT Knowhow’ link).

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Eligibility

To be eligible for promotion you must:

be a continuing or fixed-term academic staff member, working on a full-time or part-time basis

have 12 months continuous service prior to 1 June 2016

meet the minimum standard for academic levels for the level you are applying to as outlined in the Classification standards for academic staff positions

be applying for promotion to the level immediately above your current substantive level.

You should provide sufficient evidence to your Head of School / Dean/Head of Centre to enable them to confirm your eligibility to apply for promotion.

Applicants would normally be meeting the ‘expected performance’ levels for the current level of appointment, as outlined in the Academic Expectations and Development document.

Intent to apply

The first stage in the application process is the submission of an Intent to Apply form, which provides information to the promotion panels and coordinators, and confirms your eligibility to apply.

Download the Intent to Apply form at http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=i6b4un9aqsukz

Intent to Apply forms are due no later than

5.00pm Thursday 9 JUNE Email your form to academic.promotion@rmit.edu.au

Include your name and college in the subject Cc your Head of School / Dean/ Head of Centre so they have a copy

Late intents to apply will not be accepted, except under exceptional circumstances with the endorsement of your Pro Vice-Chancellor and the approval of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic.

Pro Vice-Chancellor approval to apply

Approval to apply for promotion must be obtained from the Pro Vice-Chancellor if you:

hold a research-only position (the PVC must be provided with a copy of your approved research-only position description), or

do not have PhD at the time of submitting the Intent to Apply (you must present the PVC with a case for equivalent accreditation and standing), or

applied unsuccessfully for promotion last year (you must present sufficient evidence to the PVC that the panel feedback has been addressed and substantial progress has been made since the last application).

Please contact your Pro Vice-Chancellor by email, with a cc to your Head of School/Dean/HoC to obtain this approval and their signature on your Intent to Apply form.

If your Head of School/Dean/HoC or Pro Vice-Chancellor does not confirm eligibility and you wish to dispute this decision, you may follow the appeals procedure.

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External assessors and request not to assess

If you are applying for promotion to Associate Professor/Principal Research Fellow or Professor, a report on your application will be sought from two external assessors and provided to the promotion panel in confidence. They will be senior academics or professionals in your area of expertise, nominated by your Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre, endorsed by the Pro Vice-Chancellor and approved by the Vice-Chancellor.

You have the option of nominating up to four people you do not wish to assess your application. This is done on the Intent to Apply form, and you will need to provide reasons and justification for requesting their exclusion.

Teaching and research data

Teaching and research related data will be sought on your behalf, just after the Intent to Apply deadline. These reports will be forwarded to you for validation and submission with your application. Examples of both these reports are available on the academic promotion website.

The Research and Innovation Portfolio will provide reports based on HERDC data sourced from Research Master. It is your responsibility to ensure your research recorded in Research Master is up-to-date and accurate. Please take some time to check the currency and accuracy of your data using MyResearchOutputs at https://research.rmit.edu.au/myro/. Logon using your employee number and password, and follow the instructions on what to do if you believe the data needs updating. Doing this as soon as possible minimises the chances of inaccurate data and reworking during the application process.

The Survey Services Centre will provide teaching-related data – the Overall Satisfaction Index (OSI) and the Good Teaching Scale (GTS) for the courses you teach. A comparison table will also be produced against your school, college and the University. If you have questions about the data, please speak to the relevant people in your school (including your Head/Dean/HoC).

You should provide commentary on data trends in the case for promotion.

From 2016, you will be required to participate in the Peer Review of Teaching process, and to use the reports in support of your application. For full details of Peer Feedback at RMIT (both Peer Partnerships and Peer Review), including how to apply to be peer reviewed this year, see http://www.rmit.edu.au/teaching/peer-feedback.

Application for promotion

Download the application template at http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=i6b4un9aqsukz

Your full application is due no later than

5pm Sunday 14 AUGUST

RMIT’s Academic Promotion applications will be managed in RMIT’s online recruitment system. No emailed, incomplete or late applications will be

accepted.

How to submit your promotion application - A guide will be available to applicants after they submit their Intent to Apply

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When submitting your application, please send a copy of your application to

your Head of School / Dean/ Head of Centre

The application template asks you to include the following:

Case for promotion (up to 6 pages)

Record of academic achievement (up to 10 pages)

Research and teaching reports

Peer review of teaching reports (optional in 2015)

Copy of current workplan and recent review

Name and contact details of three referees (for guidance on this see below)

The green text in the template is designed to provide additional guidance in building your application – please remove it from your final version.

Please note the strict page limits and font size and ensure you adhere to them –

additional pages will not be forwarded to the promotion panel. If the font size of

your application is smaller than specified the application will be resized or returned

back to you to be resized.The art of writing your application for promotion is to

make your strongest case as clearly and succinctly as possible. Seek advice from

your manager, mentor or colleagues (at RMIT or elsewhere) if you would like to

discuss this aspect of the promotion process.

Teaching and research data

The final versions of the teaching and research reports provided by the Survey Services Centre and Research and Innovation respectively must be attached to your application. You are encouraged to provide commentary on data trends in your case for promotion.

If data is not available, you should provide a brief statement explaining the absence.

Performance Workplan and workplan review

From 2016, you will not be asked to submit your complete workplans with your application. Your own rating and your manager’s ratings for the last completed workplan will be provided to the panel as a report. You are encouraged to comment on the relationship between your current Performance Workplan and your contributions as discussed in your case for promotion.

What to leave out of your application

The following material should not be attached to your application, however it should be made available if the panel request it:

Media contributions

Testimonial letters (including industry, peer or personal, international collaboration testimonials)

Course documentation

Student questionnaires

School organisation charts

Theses or abstracts

Proposals.

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Strategic focus

Your case for promotion should also be informed by the following:

RMIT Strategic Plan – ‘Ready for Life and Work’

Your college/portfolio/school plan

Applicants in research-only roles

Research-only academics may only apply for promotion against the Research and Scholarship, and Leadership criteria. Research-only applicants should be able to demonstrate supervision of higher degree research students and leadership in research, including research training and supervision.

A copy of your official position description must be submitted as part of the completed application.

What happens next?

College administrators will email applications to your nominated referees and the approved external assessors for Associate Professor/Principal Research Fellow and Professor, requesting that they send their reports back to RMIT by Friday 1 September

College administrators will request a report from your Head of School/Dean/HoC (see page 8)

The Head of School/Dean/HoC will send you their report by Monday 12 September

Attach your Head of School/HoC/Dean’s report and your rejoinder (if you write one) by Monday 19 September

Panels will meet in late October-early November to assess each application

Outcomes will be communicated from the Vice-Chancellor in December

Promotions will be effective from 1 January 2017.

Referees

Selecting your referees

You will be required to provide at least 2 referees, one of whom has to be external to RMIT, who will provide compelling support of your application.

You should identify senior and experienced individuals, who have standing in your field, and a sound knowledge and understanding of your body of work and its relationship with the wider teaching, research and leadership of your discipline.

Referees should be senior people from both within and outside of RMIT. For applications to all levels, at least one referee should be external to RMIT, but please note that the higher the level you are seeking promotion to, the more senior the positions and experience the referees are expected to be.

As a guide:

For applications to Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow/ Associate Professor – at least one referee should be external to RMIT. Applicants for promotion to Associate Professor level should be able to demonstrate at least a ‘national standing’ in their field and this should be considered when nominating appropriate referees.

For applications to Professor – Applicants for promotion to this level should provide at least one international referee.

Referees do not necessarily need to be familiar with your abilities and achievements in all three criteria (eg they may be able to comment on only two).

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Referees should not include your Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre or Pro Vice-Chancellor, the Vice-Chancellor or members of the University Academic Promotion Committee.

Before nominating them via your application form, please make contact with your chosen referees to ensure they are willing and available to act in this capacity for you.

Make sure you have sent a copy of your application to your nominated referees, and they are aware of the RMIT promotion criteria. This will ensure they are able to write a referee report with reference to both. Your referees may need some briefing on your current activities in teaching, research and/or leadership.

Please note that reworking old referee reports are not advised, as the promotion criteria change over time and the focus may need to shift.

Referee reports

The college administrators will request the referee reports on your behalf and provide them with a template and other relevant information. The reports need to be received by Monday 12 September. Please ensure your referees are aware of this deadline.

Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre report and optional rejoinder

Please ensure your Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre has a copy of your application.

Your Head of School/Dean/HoC will review your application and provide comments against the promotion criteria. This may be written in consultation with your manager if appropriate. They do not score the application, but make a recommendation to the promotion panel based on their opinion of your performance in teaching, research and scholarship, and leadership.

Your Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre should provide you with their report by Monday 12 September. As they will have conveyed a written assessment of your application, Heads of School/Deans/Head of Centre do not attend promotion panel meetings (unless they are nominated members of a panel).

Optional rejoinder

You have the option to respond to the Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre report, with a one-page rejoinder. This must be submitted within five working days from receipt of the report. A template is available on the academic promotion website.

Neither the Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre report or the rejoinder are provided to external assessors.

Attach the Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre report and the rejoinder (if applicable)

no later than 5.00pm Monday 19 SEPTEMBER

Significant additional information

Information relating to significant new achievements or formal approvals (for example publication or doctoral approval) that occur after the submission date may be provided to the panel up until 1 October.

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This must be limited to one page, and only one submission will be accepted.

Email the document to academic.promotion@rmit.edu.au with your name, college and “Significant additional information” in the subject line.

Superficial or editorial changes to your application will not be accepted.

Additional information received after this date will not be provided to the panel.

How applications are assessed

Promotion panels

Promotion panels are established to assess the applications received. There is a College-based panel chaired by the Pro Vice-Chancellor for applications to Senior Lecturer/Senior Research Fellow and Associate Professor/Principal Research Fellow, and a University-wide panel chaired by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic/Education for applications to Professor. The names of panel members are confidential, but you can see the composition of promotion panel for details about panel membership.

The panel will consider:

The case for promotion and supporting evidence presented in each application

The Head of School/Dean/Head of Centre report and rejoinder from the applicant (if received)

Referee reports

External assessor reports (for applications to Associate Professor/Principal Research Fellow and Professor)

The Panel does not give a numerical score to the application, but assesses the evidence provided to come to a decision about whether or not to recommend promotion to the Vice-Chancellor, via the University Academic Promotions Committee.

Quotas

RMIT does not apply quotas on promotion of academic staff. Applications are assessed and promotions granted on individual merit.

Equity

Significant career interruptions or special circumstances may impact on work patterns and impede the career prospects of some individuals. You are invited to comment on this in your application if you believe that such demands (eg parental or carer responsibilities) and non-traditional work patterns (e.g. fractional employment) impact on your claims for advancement. This will give the promotion panel a perspective on your skills and experiences outside of the traditional academic pursuits, and help them recognise factors that may have interrupted your career history and development.

Notification of outcome

You will be informed of the outcome of you application in writing by the Vice-Chancellor in December. Please provide clear and correct contact details on your Intent to Apply form – an email address for a copy to be emailed to you.

For successful applicants, promotion will take effect from 1 January 2017.

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If you are unsuccessful, you will have the opportunity to meet with the Chair of the panel to obtain written and verbal feedback on your application. This will normally be within 4 weeks of the Vice-Chancellor’s notification.

Academic promotion criteria

Academic promotion is based on commendable performance in the areas of TEACHING,

RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP and LEADERSHIP. Promotion panels assess your

contribution to these three areas by reviewing the standard of performance and the

quality and impact of the work, as articulated in the application documents.

When preparing your application, you should determine how best to express your contribution across

the three promotion criteria. Within the ‘case for promotion’ section of your application, you should

provide a brief narrative on your major contribution/s since your appointment or last promotion,

whichever is most recent. It is recommended that you articulate your assessment of your standard of

performance in your application.

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About the criteria

TEACHING RMIT aims to deliver high quality and high impact academic programs that are distinctive in their technology and design focus, that are innovative in their design and delivery, and that make a difference in the lives of students, staff and communities.

Those making an application which relies significantly on this criterion would normally be engaged in the practice of teaching at the time of making their application. Evidence is required of strong and sustained performance in student outcomes, student experience and feedback and extensive experience and skill in a range of teaching settings.

RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

RMIT aspires to international excellence in research in its chosen fields and aims to produce high quality and high impact research in defined research areas. This aspiration is underpinned by supporting cross-disciplinary and multidisciplinary teams to work with partners from universities, industries, organisations and communities to address complex problems.

Applicants should provide evidence of the quality and impact of their research with reference to the Excellence in Research Australia’s indicator categories

Applicants are strongly encouraged to present clear and concise data to support their claims for promotion, for example, a graphical representation of research productivity over time.

Applicants may focus their application on: Research – the creation of new knowledge and/or the use of existing knowledge in a new and creative way so as to generate new concepts, methodologies and understandings. This could include synthesis and analysis of previous research to the extent that it is new and creative.1

and / or The scholarship of teaching – the generation of knowledge and its application to the solution of real world problems related to learning and teaching. Evidence should be provided of the quality and impact of teaching-focussed scholarship.

LEADERSHIP Leadership refers to motivating, influencing, developing and inspiring others through discipline leadership and by translating the University’s vision and strategy into meaningful actions. It involves taking a global outlook that harnesses the talents of staff and fosters inclusion, development and performance excellence.

Distinct from routine administration, leadership can be demonstrated at any level, or in any context, related to the development of a discipline and the achievement of RMIT’s strategic goals. RMIT recognises that different academic levels and roles confer different leadership opportunities, but the quality and impact of any leadership activity should be clearly articulated in the promotion application.

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See the academic promotion section of the policies website for more in depth descriptions about the promotion criteria, including examples of evidence that may be applicable

for inclusion in your application.

Standards of performance

The ‘minimum standards for academic levels’ provide guidance to applicants on the minimum expectations of staff appointed at each academic level, and your school and/or college may have also established guidelines to help you make an assessment for yourself.

Applicants would normally have advanced qualifications – that is, a doctoral qualification or equivalent accreditation and/or experience and standing appropriate to the discipline.

It is expected that applicants are meeting at least the ‘expected performance’ levels for their current level of appointment, outlined in the Academic Expectations and Development document.

Assessment matrix

Applicants should have a case for promotion and a record of achievement that demonstrates they are consistently performing well in duties appropriate to their current level AND satisfactorily achieving beyond their current level, for a least two of the three criteria.

Promotion panels will assess each application on its merits. The matrix and descriptors used to make this assessment, and the standard of performance required to be deemed ‘promotable’, is outlined below.

Teaching Research and Scholarship

Leadership

Outstanding Outstanding Outstanding

Excellent Excellent Excellent

Good Good Good

Satisfactory Satisfactory Satisfactory

Not Satisfactory Not Satisfactory Not Satisfactory

Overall recommendation

Promotable Not promotable

Outstanding performance is defined as achieving and exceeding all objectives at the current level and performing satisfactorily at the higher level. Applicants will need to show evidence of performance and outcomes at the higher level.

Excellent performance is defined as achieving all and exceeding some of the objectives at the current level and performing satisfactorily at the higher level. Applicants will need to show evidence of performance and outcomes at the higher level.

Good performance is defined as achieving all objectives at the current level.

Satisfactory performance is defined as achieving most objectives at the current level.

Not satisfactory performance is defined as achieving no or only a few objectives at the current level.

Applicants would normally be considered promotable if their performance across the three criteria was assessed by the panel to be at least:

Outstanding, Outstanding, Satisfactory, or

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Excellent, Excellent, Excellent, or

Outstanding, Excellent, Good.

See scenarios below …

The dark green shading in the scenarios below show the ‘promotable’ level of performance across three criteria:

Important notes

If you are assessed as ‘Satisfactory’ at your current level in any criteria, you will not meet the standard of performance required for promotion, unless you are assessed ‘Outstanding’ in two criteria.

If you are assessed as ‘Not Satisfactory’ in any criteria you will not be eligible for promotion.

Where teaching is an emphasis within your application for promotion, you must evidence a recent and sustained teaching load, a breadth of experience across awards, and a high level of skill in a range of teaching settings.

When writing your case for scholarship in either teaching or research, evidence of quality and impact must be clearly presented

Research-only applicants may apply for promotion against the Research and Scholarship, and Leadership criteria, and should be assessed as ‘Outstanding’ in one criterion and at least ‘Excellent’ in the other.

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Research-only applicants are not required to provide evidence against the teaching criteria; however you will need to demonstrate supervision of research degree students and leadership in research, including research training and supervision.

Additional considerations

An applicant to Senior Lecturer / Senior Research Fellow should be able to demonstrate an emerging national impact, and provide evidence of original contributions which expand knowledge or practice in a discipline.

An applicant to Associate Professor / Principal Research Fellow should be able to demonstrate impact and achievement at a national level in teaching and/or research and scholarship, and provide evidence of independent and innovative contributions to the advancement of teaching and/or research and scholarship in their discipline.

An applicant to Professor should be able to demonstrate distinction at a national level and would typically have an international reputation for their contribution to research and scholarship.

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Applicant checklist

Stage 1 – Preparing to apply

During workplanning, discuss your readiness and intent to apply

Confirm eligibility to apply

Familiarise yourself with the academic promotion process and key dates

Visit and bookmark the academic promotion website for future reference –

http://www1.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=i6b4un9aqsukz

Book into a promotion information session

Decide to apply in 2016 or that you will wait until next year

If you want to take part in Peer Review of Teaching, apply on the Peer Feedback website as soon as

possible

Stage 2 – Intent to apply

Download the intent to apply form from the academic promotion website

If required, seek approval from the Pro Vice-Chancellor

For applicants to Associate Professor/Principal Research Fellow and Professor, consider if there is

anyone you wish to exclude from being an external assessor of your application

Ensure the currency and accuracy of your research data using MyResearchOutputs

Submit intent to apply form by Thursday 9 June

Ensure your Head of School / Dean/ HoC has a copy

Stage 3 – Preparing your application

Familiarise yourself with the academic promotion criteria and standards of performance

Consider how you will present your narrative case for promotion

Collate the required information to support your case for promotion

Check the research and teaching reports generated for you and update if necessary

Identify four referees and approach them to determine their willingness and availability

Attend application writing training and / or a promotion mentoring workshop

Stage 4 – Submit your application

Download the application template/s from the academic promotion website

Submit full application by 5.00pm Sunday 14 August. This should include:

o Your written case for promotion – up to 6 pages (using the application template)

o Record of academic achievement – up to 10 pages

o Research data (report generated from Research Master)

o Teaching data (report generated from the Survey Services Centre)

o Peer review of teaching reports

o Names and contact details of two referees

Ensure your Head of School / Dean/ HoC has a copy

Ensure your referees have a copy

Stage 5 – After submitting your application

Your Head of School / Dean/HoC will write their report and send it to you by 12 September

Write your one-page response (if you choose to do this)

Submit the Head of School / Dean/ HoC report and the rejoinder by 19 September

Submit any significant additional information by 1 October