The Career Progression Portal

Development on the Career Progression Portal (CPP) started in early 2020 in collaboration between Human Resources and the Digital, Data and Technology Group. The aim of the portal was to provide an automated system to support the various processes and procedures that underpin career progression at the University of Bath. The first phase of development started with a focus on academic probation for lecturers and the CPP has been built to support the following areas:

• induction and confirmation of probation arrangements
• objectives setting and approval
• reporting of progress
• assessment by Academic Staff Committee (ASC)
• communication of ASC decisions and feedback

After a successful round of user testing, the CPP has been rolled out across all academic departments.

Reporting an issue or feedback

If you see something that isn't working as well as it should within the CPP or you would like to suggest feedback for how it can be improved or developed further, please let us know by filling out the Report an Issue Form. This form allows you to indicate if you are leaving feedback for future development, or if you are in need of urgent help.

A member of the Academic Career Progression (ACP) Team will be notified whenever a response is submitted and will contact you as soon as possible for any issues where urgent assistance is needed. The ACP Team may ask to call you via Teams so you can share your screen to understand more about the issue.

Induction and confirmation of probation arrangements

There is no need to register or set up access to the CPP as this is done automatically when you start.

Within your first couple of weeks, you will receive a welcome email with the link to log into the CPP. Here you can view your probation details such as review dates and start adding to your ‘Probation Profile’ including previous employment history and qualifications. This information is required information each time you report on progress at your next review.

Your Head of Department/Division and Dean Faculty/School will receive notification that you are on probation and set up on the CPP. Your Head of Department/Division will confirm within the CPP who your Reviewer is for your probation. This could be the Head of Department/Division themselves or another senior colleague within the Department/Division.

Following this, you and your Reviewer will receive an email notification with instructions for next steps such as:

• meeting to discuss probationary objectives and mentoring arrangements
• assigning a mentor
• setting and approving objectives

This meeting should take place within your first month of starting in your Lecturer role.

The Academic Staff Development Team will also receive notification that you are on probation to invite you to an induction of the Academic and Professional Development for all Staff (APDaS) programme. The completion of this is a requirement for passing probation.

Setting objectives

By the end of your meeting with your Reviewer, you should have agreed two sets of objectives for:

• the entire probationary period − these are the objectives you want to achieve by the end of your one or three year probation period. Once approved, they will not change during your probation unless requested by ASC in exceptional circumstances
• for the period under review − these are the objectives you want to achieve by your next probationary review. After each review, they will be revised taking into account feedback from your Reviewer, Dean and ASC and will eventually work towards achieving your objectives for the entire probationary period

While you are expected to achieve the base line probationary targets set by the University, which can be found in our examples of good practice probationary objectives, there are some objectives that can be adapted. This will depend on your discipline and will form the basis of your discussion with your Reviewer.

Following on from your meeting, you should input your agreed objectives within the ‘Probationary Objectives’ section of the CPP. You will also need to confirm the name of your mentor under 'Mentor Details' in the 'Probation Profile' section. You will then need to send to your Reviewer for agreement by changing the status on the home screen. Your Reviewer can either return the objectives back to you with comments for amendment or send on to your Dean for approval.

Once approved by the Dean, you will receive a notification and the 'Probationary Objectives' section is then closed for editing but you can view your objectives at any time by logging in to the CPP.

Your objectives should be approved within your first three months of starting in your Lecturer role.

Reporting on progress

Approximately 10 weeks before your next review, you, your Reviewer and Dean will receive notification reminding you to report on your progress against your objectives for the period under review. You’ll need to complete this within the ‘Probation Progress Report’ section. The email will also advise the deadline for when this needs to be completed within the CPP.

Completing your Probationary Progress Report

You will need to provide information on your activity during the period under review, reflection on progress and supporting evidence in the following areas:

^* Only required for Probationary Lecturers with an additional specialism in research and on a three year probation period.

For final reviews only

• Probationary Lecturers on a three year probation period are required to upload a Senior Independent Assessment from a senior colleague in the Department/Division
• Probationary Lecturers on a one year probation period are required to upload an observation of teaching carried out by a Senior Observer and can contact the Academic Development Team to help arrange this

Additional supporting evidence

You will have an opportunity to upload documents which are not required evidence within the 'Additional Docs' section. Examples include a mentor report or informal/alternative student feedback. Please note that anything under required evidence as previously listed should not be uploaded in the 'Additional Docs' section, but in the relevant area (teaching research, admin & management).

You can also provide details of any significant work-related issues or periods of absence within the 'Probation Profile' section so the Committee is aware and can make reasonable adjustments when assessing your progress.

Once you have completed your required sections of the 'Probationary Progress Report', you can change the status bar on the home screen to send to your Reviewer for comment.

Completing Reviewer and Dean comments

Your Reviewer will have an opportunity to comment on all the areas you will have reported on and will then change the status bar to send to your Dean for comment.

Once the Dean has added their comments, you will have an opportunity to reflect on feedback provided by your Reviewer and Dean and add your own final comments before your Reviewer is asked to approve the final 'Probationary Progress Report' for consideration by ASC.

All steps should be completed before the deadline communicated by HR in the reminder email and you should speak to your Reviewer to confirm internal deadlines to ensure this deadline is met.

Assessment by ASC

After the deadline, your 'Probationary Progress Report' will be made available to the Academic Staff Committee and lead officers will be assigned to individual cases.

ASC will then use the information, reflective comments and supporting evidence provided to assess your progress against your objectives and the criteria for passing probation to confirm a decision and any developmental feedback.

Communication of ASC outcomes

Approximately two weeks after the ASC meeting, your Reviewer will receive notification that an outcome and feedback is available for them to view on the CPP. Your Reviewer should then arrange to meet with you to provide the outcome, discuss feedback provided in the 'Probationary Progress Report' and from ASC and to agree objectives for the next review period.

Approximately three to four weeks after the ASC meeting, you will receive notification that your formal outcome is available to view on the CPP.

Outcomes will be available to view at any time once they have been added to the CPP so you can reflect on feedback from ASC when it comes to reporting on progress at your next review.

The Probationary Objectives screen will then open again for editing so you may input and approve your objectives for your next review period.

For detailed guidance on using the Career Progression Portal, please review our guidance document.

How we will collect and use your data

The CPP has been built using SharePoint and PowerApps within Office 365. Basic employment details will by synced with data from iTrent (The University HR and Payroll system). Your data will be collected via the app and shared with:

• Head of Department (HoD)
• Reviewer (if different to HoD)
• Members of the academic staff committee (once submitted via the app)
• Members of the workforce development team (HR)

Information will be collected and stored in accordance with the workforce data protection policy.