UCL Academic Manual

Induction of New Staff

contact: Richard Laughlin, Organisational and Staff Development, Human Resources

Good Practice

Starting a new job can be a stressful situation and UCL seeks to provide a supportive environment that quickly dispels uncertainties and anxieties. There are several aspects to induction.

Formal arrangements

UCL's policy on induction and probation is on the web at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/prob_procedure_links.php.

Introduction to UCL

About the Provosts' welcome and induction.

Each term Professor Malcolm Grant personally welcomes all new staff to London’s Global University through an event hosted by OSD in partnership with the Communications Office.

Each welcome takes about two hours and includes both personal presentations and video footage from the Provost and members of his senior management team (SMT). Following the formal presentations, a ‘marketplace’ will be set up where you will be able to browse stands and ask questions to find out about the support and benefits available to new UCL employees.

More information about the Provost's Welcome is available at https://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/osd/timetable/programme/sdpw/index.php.

UCL's Online Induction for new staff is available at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/osd/onlinestaffinduction/index.htm with a Message from the Provost at http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/osd/provost.php.

Induction into the Department

Heads of department are expected to establish procedures for the induction of new members of staff and to monitor their effectiveness. All members of the department responsible for briefing and supporting newcomers should be clear about their particular roles.

Heads of department will normally welcome new staff, introduce them to their colleagues and show them around. Responsibility for outlining departmental policies, procedures and routines is likely to be shared by several members of the department. It is important to recognise that induction is an on-going process, continuing at least throughout the first year of an appointment.

The degree and nature of the support that new staff need will vary according to their background and situation. For example:

The probationer review procedure and departmental mentoring system provide additional support and guidance for staff who are beginning their careers as university lecturers. Guidelines for those responsible for managing the probationary years are given in a separate publication, The UCL Probationary Lecturer Scheme; A Handbook for Probationary Lecturers, Mentors and Heads of Department.

Staff who join UCL from other professions or from industry may have extensive work experience but are likely to be less familiar with academic routines and the university culture than younger colleagues who have followed the traditional route to a university appointment. The comparative maturity of these members of staff and the senior nature of the posts to which some of them are appointed do not absolve the College from its responsibility for induction.

Part-time staff often have limited contact with UCL and special arrangements are usually required to help them develop a sense of belonging.

Those who take up a UCL appointment during the academic year miss out on some of the formal induction arrangements. Particular care is taken to ensure that they are properly briefed and receive all relevant documentation.

Induction into the job

Heads of department are responsible for ensuring that new members of staff are fully briefed on the duties of their post, the standards expected of them and UCL's quality assurance procedures. Course co-ordinators/supervisors should supply details of degree programmes relevant to their teaching, in accordance with the Academic Committee Guidelines for Good Practice (section 7.4). Mentors have a specific responsibility to help probationers develop their teaching expertise (The UCL Probationary Lecturer Scheme: A Handbook for Probationary Lecturers, Mentors and Heads of Department.

It is important to recognise that, although staff who have been UCL students or research fellows/assistants may be familiar with departmental routines, they still need to be fully briefed about the responsibilities of their new role.

A checklist covering the early period of induction is available at:

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/docs/download_forms/induction_probation_checklist.doc.

August 2012

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