A Code of Good Practice
Background to the Code of Good Practice
The first version of the Code was produced and endorsed in 1999-2000 by UACE (The Universities Association for Continuing Education, now renamed the Universities Association for Lifelong Learning). We hope it has influenced some of the observable improvements since then. Legislation has undoubtedly given some impetus, particularly the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations 2000 and 2002, and the Fixed-Term Employees (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations (2002), although these have not been widely publicised or addressed by University employers, and trade union interest has been limited.
See DTI website for further details:
http://www.dti.gov.uk/er/index.htm
For a comprehensive view of legislation and guidance affecting part-time and hourly-paid staff, visit the website of the Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff:
http://www2.glos.ac.uk/natfhe/index.htm?nav=pubs&page=pay.htm
The UALL code should also be read in the context of wider legislation on equality of opportunity. For guidance on this see, for instance, Higher Education Funding Council’s site:
http://www.hefce.ac.uk/lgm/divers/
or the Equal Opportunities Commission:
http://www.eoc.org.uk/EOCeng/dynpages/LAWindex.asp
A review of a small sample of UALL institutions in late 2004 suggested that while there has been significant improvement, there is still room for further progress towards integrating sessional tutors* into the life of the institutions they work for. It was decided to revisit and update the Code as part of that continuing process.
Code of Good Practice
1 Principles
1.1 The integration of sessional tutors in terms of staff development implies equivalent integration in terms of pay, opportunities for promotion and incremental progression, and other terms and conditions, including holiday and pension rights.
1.2 Institutions should ensure they are complying with at least the minimum legal obligations required by the Regulations above.
1.3 Consideration should be given to amending rules relating to rights to vote and stand for Faculty Boards, Senate, etc., in order to avoid discrimination.
1.4 To ensure integration into the life of the institution, sessional tutors should be included in learning, teaching assessment and curriculum development.
2 Plans and Policies
2.1 Where institutions introduce or enhance their staff development strategies, they should ensure opportunities for consultation with, as well as, access and rights for sessional tutors.
2.2 QA systems should be transparent and applied consistently.
2.3 Staff development funds for relevant activities should be accessible to sessional tutors, and they should be clearly informed of the criteria for funding.
This may require, for example:
· recognition of the differences in the contracts of salaried staff and sessional tutors
· that peer observation for sessional tutor observers should be paid and travel expenses included where special journeys have to be made
2.4 Programmes of staff development activities relevant to sessional tutors should be organised and published at least annually.
2.5 As part of the annual review process sessional tutors should be encouraged to give feedback on their experiences of staff development opportunities and employment which should inform future discussions.**
2.6 Employing organisations should follow their statutory duty to draw vacancies to the attention of fixed-term employees.
3 Forms of Support Available
3.1 Induction training should be provided for all new sessional tutors.
3.2 Mentoring and support for sessional tutors should be built into their staff development programme which should take account of different mentoring models.
3.3 A range of information should be available, for example:
· guides for tutors
· information packs
· tool kits for tutors to cover both teaching and learning issues and administrative requirements.
Special attention should be played to the needs of those working at a distance from a campus or centre. In these situations policies and documents should be available on Virtual Learning Environments or web-sites.
3.4 Sessional tutors should have access to appropriate accredited tutor training.
3.5 Employing institutions should give support and encouragement to sessional tutors pro rata with that given to salaried staff in order to work towards the appropriate category of HEA membership.
3.6 Sessional tutors should be informed of eligibility for University and National Teaching Fellowship award schemes.
3.7 Payment and expenses for attending staff development events should be recognised as an entitlement.
3.8 Resources should also be available to sessional tutors including access to ICT, photocopying, desk space, storage space, library access and borrowing rights, social space and car parking.
3.9 It is essential that sessional tutors be allocated a named contact person for liaison on administrative, teaching and other issues.
3.10 Some sessional tutors work for more than one educational institution, and
UALL members should consider, where feasible, the creation of regional or local consortia to plan and integrate the staff development opportunities for sessional tutors.
* Throughout this Code ‘sessional tutors’ refers to part-time, hourly paid tutors
** This applies not just to Higher Education Institutions who directly employ sessional tutors, but also to the Higher Education Statistics Agency (data on the employment of sessional tutors remains deficient), Higher Education Staff Development Agency, Learning and Teaching Subject Networks, Higher Education Academy, Universities UK, University Continuing Education Association (an almost complete lack of guidance on legal requirements and advised best practice), AUT (far greater focus on fixed-term contract research staff despite their numbers being considerably lower) and NATFHE.