The Social Sciences Divisional Office

1
The Social Sciences Divisional Office

• Who we are and what we do

2
Todays Timetable
10.05 10.10 Housekeeping Bhee Bellew 10.10
10.30 Intro to the Division Roger Goodman and
Bhee Bellew 10.30 10.40 Academic and Jane
Dale Graduate Office 10.40 10.45 Projects
Team Bridget Taylor 10.45 10.50 Mini
Break 10.50 11.00 Academic Appointments Divya
Rowan and HR 11.00 11.10 Research Team Chris
Ballinger and Matthew Smart 11.10
11.20 Finance Team Jeremy Sims 11.20
Questions/Feedback
3
How the divisional office fits in the University
4
Committees reporting to Divisional Board
5
Purpose - formal

• Formal responsibilities laid out in the standing
  orders of each divisional board and include
• Development and proposal of strategic five-year
  plans and one-year operating statements
• General oversight of and responsibility for all
  matters concerning budgets, space, syllabus, and
  staffing, across the division
• The maintenance of educational quality
• Periodic strategic review of units
• Approval of appointments of academic staff
• Oversight of relationships between the units,
  relations with other parts of the collegiate
  university and with external funding agencies.

6
Purpose our approach

• To act as honest broker across departments and
  other divisions facilitating multi- and
  interdisciplinary activity
• To act as advocate for departments particularly
  through representation in University committees
• To conduct, as far as possible, light touch
  academic and financial audit, ensuring adherence
  to University (and divisional) policy
• To bear the burden of administration as far as
  possible on behalf of the departments of the
  division.

7
BuildingswithSSDUnits
8
How we compare to other divisions student
numbers (at 01 Dec 08)
9
How we compare to other divisions staff numbers
(FTE as at 31 July 08)
10
Organisation Chart
Academic and Graduate Office
Projects Team
HR
Research Team
Finance
11
Academic and Graduate Office - contact for all
teaching learning matters

• Quality assurance quality enhancement
• Annual reviews by departments and division,
  including
• - undergraduate and graduate admissions
• - national and University student feedback
  surveys
• - chairs of examiners and external examiners
  reports
• - undergraduate and graduate degree outcomes
• - student data (UG, PGT and PGR)
• - statements of provision for graduate students
  codes of practice on supervision
• - quality assurance/enhancement templates

12
Academic and Graduate Office Policy development
advice

• - Advising on University SSD TL policy
  procedures, liaising with University Education
  Committee, servicing of main teaching and
  learning committees of the divisional board
• - Teaching Policy Committee (TPC) responsible
  for policy development and review, including
  review of responses to University and divisional
  consultations
• - Teaching Audit Committee (TAC) responsible
  for quality assurance of specific provision, and
  recommendations/approvals for changes in exam
  regulations and exam conventions, new course
  proposals and major revisions to programmes,
  review of PGT programmes

13
Academic and Graduate Office

• On-course graduate administration
• - advice to depts. and students on on-course
  policies and procedures, OSS GSS
• - maintenance of student records
• - applications for suspension, extension,
  transfer of status, confirmation of status,
  course transfers etc
• - monitoring and advising on supervision
  reporting
• - Graduate Studies Discussion Forum
• Studentships administration (ESRC, Clarendon, ORS
  etc)
• - annual ESRC submission rate survey
• - submission of nominations applications for
  awards
• - management of advice on ESRC studentship
  awards
• - servicing divisional Clarendon/ORS panel
• - liaison with Student Funding

14
Academic and Graduate Office

• Some future developments activities
• ESRC Training Development Board visit 16
  October
• ESRC Doctoral Training Centre bid co-ordination
  associated developments in research methods and
  skills provision
• Forthcoming new post Professional Development
  Co-ordinator
• PGR progression and submission project
• Review of PGT course structures assessment
• Sharing good practice across SSD

15
Projects Team

• Ad hoc projects
• Ongoing responsibilities
• Support for Committees
• Events

16
Projects Team Ad hoc projects

• Current
• Strategic Activity Costing and DAISY
• IT, web and information strategy development
• Concordat and cross-department charging review
• Departmental Administrator project
• Sharing resources
• Health and safety project
• Support for departments and new developments
• Recently Completed
• Template for research centres
• Student progression and DPhil submission rates

17
Projects Team Ongoing Responsibilities and
Committee support

• Support for departmental reviews (and after)
• Space issues
• Divisional web site
• Divisional Board
• Interdivisional Area Studies Committee

18
Projects Team - Events

• Today!
• Briefings
• Departmental Administrator Forums
• Cross divisional event

19
Academic Appointments HR Team Who we are

• In the Divisional Office
• Divya Rowan Administrative Officer
• Michelle Hales Academic Appointments Officer
• Based in Personnel Services but with desk in
  Divisional Office
• Stephanie Merrifield and Sarah Thonemann
• provide support and advice to departments/Division
  on specific personnel issues/problems, e.g.
  implementation of University personnel policy,
  grievance/disciplinary matters, etc.

20
Academic Appointments HR Team Who to contact
for what (1)

• Divya Rowan Administrative Officer
• general advice on academic appointments HR
  policy
• co-ordination of academic appointments process
  (professors, readers, ULs) inc. college
  association, scrutiny of further
  particulars/adverts, approval of selection
  committees
• review/reappointment process for University
  Lecturers
• recruitment protocol (implemented across
  University May 09)
• merit awards for University academic-related and
  support staff
• cases for Univs Senior Appointments Panel RSIV
  and ALC6 proposals, over-scale salary supplements
  and distinction titles
• academic appraisal requirements
• HRIS project new HR information system
• HR section of divisional website under
  development

21
Academic Appointments HR Team Who to contact
for what (2)

• Michelle Hales Academic Appointments Officer
• advertising academic posts
• preparation of lecturer contracts and payroll
  arrangements for new starters
• administration of sabbatical and other leave
  schemes (maternity, special leave, etc.),
  including advice on entitlement
• administration of review/reappointment process
  for university lecturers
• checking of documents proving right to work in UK
• reporting of outside appointments
• maintenance of academic records (including
  Opendoor)
• Who is the right person to contact about X?
• Please contact Divya or Michelle if its not
  us, we will direct you to the right person

22
AAHR Team Division vs Dept vs Centre

• Creation and refilling of posts approved by
  Division
• Recruitment of professors/readers
• Division approves further particulars (drafted by
  department) and electoral board membership
• Centre places the advert and runs the recruitment
  exercise
• Centre prepares the contract and Division puts on
  payroll
• Recruitment of lecturers
• Division approves further particulars (drafted by
  department) and selection committee membership
• Division places the advert
• Department runs the recruitment exercise
• Division considers selection committee
  recommendation, prepares the contract and makes
  payroll arrangements
• Other posts grades 1-10
• Department does it all!

23
Research Team - Purpose

• What we do Research Facilitation
• Supporting cross-department and cross-divisional
  research developments by providing advice on
• Funding
• Interdisciplinary Research
• Policy and Strategy
• How we work
• Reactive
• Proactive

24
Research Team Funding

• Identify funding opportunities
• Funding briefings/meetings - aimed at academics/
  administrators
• Advice to departments on costing strategies and
  norms-guidance
• Direct advice to applicants
• Fell Fund to support cutting-edge research ideas

25
Research Team Interdisciplinary Research

• Brokering major grant applicationsespecially
  where these are multi-disciplinary or
  cross-department, or even cross-Division
• Co-ordination of research and knowledge
  exchange bids between departments and museums,
  collections, and libraries
• Networking and liaison
• Multi- and Inter-disciplinary web-sites

26
Research Team Policy Strategy

• Assisting Head of Division and Divisional
  committees on questions of policy and strategy
  relating to research
• Co-ordinating Division-wide responses to
  consultations (internal and external)
• Trends in research funding
• Liaising with groups of departmental contacts
• Research Ethics Review Process

27
Research Team Who to contact?

• General queriescontact your departments link
  facilitator
• Chris. Law, Politics IR, SIAS, QEH, Education,
  James Martin School
• Matthew SBS, Economics, OII, Sociology, Oxford
  Man Institute
• Sam SoGE, Archaeology, Anthropology, SPSW, Smith
  School
• Fell Fund Matthew
• Research Ethics Chris
• Details
• chris.ballinger_at_socsci.ox.ac.uk,
  matthew.smart_at_socsci.ox.ac.uk,
• sam.sneddon_at_socsci.ox.ac.uk

28
Finance Team

• General
• Link between SSD and Finance Division
• Point of contact on all financial matters
• Advice service to departments
• Support PRC (Planning and Resource Committee)
• Member of central finance management team
  (Operations Board)
• Financial Planning and Reporting
• Responsible for drawing together the divisions
  budgets and forecasts and longer term plans
• Quarterly and year-end reporting of divisional
  results
• Financial decision making capital projects and
  academic business cases

29
Finance Team

• Projects
• New divisional database and activity based
  costing
• Closely involved in first phase of HRIS project
• Oracle Simplification project
• Finance induction training for administrators
• On-going development of budgeting and forecasting
  tools
• New Developments
• Divisional finance officer forum
• Divisional Finance Manager

30
Finance Team
31
Where to find out more

• Information on the divisions web site at
  www.socsci.ox.ac.uk
• Contact details and profiles of individual staff
  members
• Web pages about each team (under development)
• Copies of memos sent to departments
• Calendar of meetings/deadlines
• Manual for Heads of Department
• Minutes of Divisional Board
• 5-year plan
• Termly meetings with and monthly email bulletins
  for Departmental Administrators
• Regular function based meetings