1. Eligibility

1.1 The Academic Promotions process is open to academic staff who are currently at grade 6 or above and on an academic contract. This includes those still in their probationary period.

1.2 Staff on an open or fixed-term contract are eligible to apply for promotion.

1.3 Staff on Clinical contracts are eligible to apply for promotion. It should be noted that a successful application will result in a change of job title, but the grade may not be amended as NHS Pay Scale rules will apply.

1.4 Applicants for promotion who have been unsuccessful in a round are typically welcome to submit an application in the following round, but clear progress from the previous application would be expected.

2. Promotion criteria

2.1 Applications will be considered against the criteria which sets out the expectations by contract type and grade applied for.

2.2 All applications will be considered by reference to the criteria for their current contract type, although evidence can be provided from time working under other contractual arrangements.

2.3 The criteria are split into A and B descriptors. The A descriptors present and assess the minimum level of achievement over defined core areas. The B descriptors present and assess excellent achievement in other areas (going beyond the minimum thresholds in the A descriptors).

2.4 This approach allows a balance to be struck between ticking off criteria and allowing the panel to exercise peer judgement.

2.5 A descriptors

2.5.1 The function of the A descriptors is to define the minimum level of performance that an applicant must meet to demonstrate that they are ready to be promoted. This will be relevant to the grade applied for and contract type and judged in the context of the discipline or area.

2.5.2 The expectation is that all A descriptors will be achieved to demonstrate all aspects of the contract are being fulfilled with two exceptions:

2.5.2.1 Where relevant individual circumstances apply, a case can be made as part of the individual circumstances portion of the form

2.5.2.2 Where work on one area has been temporarily paused due to agreed commitments in other areas, a robust case can be made in the narrative description. Confirmation of these arrangements will be required in the HoD's departmental assessment.

2.5.3 If any descriptor is below the minimum level required for promotion after due consideration of any case made, then that fact will prevent promotion even if some excellence in other aspects of the performance of the role can be demonstrated.

2.6 B descriptors

2.6.1 The function of B descriptors is to identify indicators that strengthen the application by providing further evidence of excellence in academic contributions.

2.6.2 Achievement of B descriptors should not be seen to compensate for any gap in A descriptors.

2.6.3 There is no prescription as to the number of B descriptors to be met - the panel/committee are looking for exceptional performance that indicates the strength and vitality of the applicant's academic career. It is unlikely that an application with no evidence against B will be successful.

2.7 Work completed outside of the University of York prior to joining the University and/or time working in practice can be used as evidence of meeting criteria.

3. Application process overview

3.1 All promotion decisions will be made based upon the information provided in the application form, supported by a Departmental Assessment form and references as appropriate.

3.2 If an applicant wishes to draw attention to a development of considerable significance after submission of their application, they should do so by writing to academic-promotions@york.ac.uk. Examples of such circumstances are:

3.2.1 Achievement of a grant/funding

3.2.2 Receiving an award

3.2.3 Issue of an editor's letter to confirm material has been fully accepted but awaits publication

3.3 Deadlines within the Academic Promotions process are fixed and will be enforced consistently to ensure fairness.

3.4 Applicants may be considered for promotion and for an advertised post at the same time. If an individual applies for an advertised post while they are being considered for promotion, their promotion application will continue through the process. If they are subsequently offered and accept the new role, their application will be withdrawn from the promotions process.

3.5 Applicants do not need to be at the top of their current grade before applying for promotion. Staff who successfully gain promotion normally move to the minimum point of the relevant pay scale or continue progression where grade ranges overlap.

3.6 In exceptional circumstances, a member of staff may apply for a two-grade promotion. In these instances, the application will be considered on its merits and either awarded the promotion, or not. It is not the role of panels to consider alternative promotion levels to the one requested.

3.7 A successful promotion will not include a change of contract type. Where a member of staff wishes to pursue a transfer between the academic, research and teaching grade structures, they should discuss this with their Head of Department.

4. Completing an application

4.1 Applications consist of a completed application form and CV. This is the opportunity for applicants to demonstrate that they are ready for promotion and demonstrate how they meet the criteria.

4.2 Guidance is provided on how to set out an academic CV, but applicants are able to provide their CV in their chosen format. It is recommended that the CV contains headings that can be explicitly linked to the promotions criteria

4.3 The application form is the opportunity to provide up to a maximum of 6 pages of narrative to highlight the key evidence which supports promotion in a clear, succinct and impactful way. Full guidance is available.

4.4 The application form sets out the required formatting which is Arial font at size 11 with the margins set to 1 cm on all sides. This is pre-set to ensure consistency of opportunity to all applicants and ease of review by panel and committee members.

4.5 Applications that do not meet the set formatting or exceed the maximum page limit will be rejected from the promotion round with no right of appeal against this decision. The applicant will be informed and invited to apply in the next round.

4.6 Departmental Promotion Groups are in place to provide guidance and support to staff with preparing their applications. A wide range of support is also available on the University's academic promotion pages.

5. Testimonials, feedback and references

5.1 Applicants can include examples of positive feedback and/or testimonials in their CV and/or narrative that evidence their readiness for promotion. These are not essential to a successful application and it is not expected that testimonials become the focus of applications. An example of where it might be appropriate to include a testimonial is to confirm performance in a University wide role where the Head of Department would not necessarily be fully aware of the contributions made.

5.2 Only applications to Professorial bands 1, 2 and 3 require references to be taken.

5.3 There is a requirement for Professorial applications to have two references and applicants will be asked to provide a list of potential internal and external referees who are at the Professorial level or an equivalent level in practice.

5.4 The HoD will rank these in an appropriate priority order alongside completing the departmental assessment.

5.5 Referees will be contacted by the Reward Team and provided with an optional template to complete and return, but references will be accepted in any format. Guidance on what the reference should cover will also be provided.

6. Departmental assessments

6.1 Following the closing date for applications, Heads of Department (HoD) will be requested to complete a Departmental Assessment form.

6.2 HoDs may delegate completion of the form to a more appropriate member of the department (e.g. line managers, DHoD) and they will also consult their Department Promotion Group

6.3 Where an individual works in more than one department, the HoD of the first department will be responsible for completing the assessment form, with input from other HoDs and relevant senior individuals.

6.4 Applicants will be informed when this assessment has been completed and will be invited to review it and respond with additional context should they wish to do so.

7. Consideration of applications

7.1 Panel members will have a minimum of two weeks to review all documentation prior to the panel meeting.

7.2 A balance will be struck between ticking off criteria and allowing the panel to exercise peer judgement. The panels are asked to work against the criteria descriptors to decide

7.2.1 Have all of the relevant A descriptors been evidenced?

7.2.2 If an exemption from some of the A descriptors is requested, is this justified?

7.2.3 Is there activity that goes beyond the minimum threshold, and is this sufficiently sustained and significant to merit promotion?

7.3 Panel meetings will be sufficient in length to allow full and proper consideration of each application.

7.4 Panels will give full and proper regard to ensuring academic freedo when considering promotion applications.

7.4 Panels will be responsible for preparing full and detailed feedback for applicants that have not been successful. The purpose of feedback is to provide useful guidance on where the applicant can focus their efforts to lead to a successful promotion in the future, and to provide reassurance that any individual circumstances were given full and proper consideration as mitigation.

8. Outcomes

8.1 The Panel/Committee will keep written records on the reasoning for final outcomes. This will be held centrally by the Reward team following completion of the round.

8.2 When the Panel/Committee has completed its work, its decision will be communicated to each applicant by letter to the timescales set out in the process timeline on the University's academic promotions pages.

8.3 Successful applications:

8.3.1 Successful promotions are effective in the following academic year, on 1 September.

8.4 Unsuccessful applications:

8.4.1 Unsuccessful applicants are encouraged to arrange a meeting with their Dean to understand the areas of weakness in their profile.

9. Appeals process

9.1 Any applicant not awarded a promotion who remains dissatisfied following the feedback process may submit an appeal only on the grounds of procedural irregularities which had the potential to impact the promotion outcome.

9.2 Appeals should be submitted to the Director of HR via the Academic Promotions team within 20 working days of the date of the letter confirming the outcome was sent.

9.3 The appeal should set out the nature of the procedural irregularity and what impact this had on consideration of the application. Additional information not available during the application process should not be included.

9.4 The Director of Human Resources will confirm to the individual whether the grounds for appeal constitute a potential defect in the application of the procedure. Should this be determined, the appeal will be submitted to the Academic Promotions appeal panel. The Appeal panel will consist of panel members have had no previous involvement in that year’s academic promotions process, as follows:

9.4.1 Pro-vice Chancellor (Chair)

9.4.2 2 x Professors

9.5 A senior member of HR will be in attendance to provide procedural guidance.

9.6 The review will neither re-assess the candidate, nor appraise the professional judgement of the assessors, but will consider whether the promotions procedure has been properly applied.

9.7 The outcome of this review is final (subject to 9.7 below) with two options available:

9.7.1 Dismissal of the appeal as there are no grounds found for claiming procedural irregularity.

9.7.2 Upholding of the appeal on the grounds of procedural irregularity. In this case, the application will be referred back to the stage at which the irregularity occurred and will be reconsidered again from this point.

9.8 The appeal panel may not award a promotion.

9.9 The decision of the appeal panel will be sent to the candidate and is final. The outcome of an academic promotion application/ appeal application is not normally grounds to raise a grievance.

10. Privacy notice

10.1 Our privacy notice - staff sets out the ways in which the University gathers, uses, stores and shares your data including for promotion purposes.