Staff handbook : School of Engineering and Informatics : Schools and services : AV��Ƶ

Staff handbook

Welcome to the staff handbook for Engineering and Informatics. Please click on a section below to expand it. Scroll down to the foot of the list for the department specific sections.

Absence - annual leave and sickness

From 1st October 2022 annual leave and sickness will be recorded on . Full guidance can be found here.

Annual Leave

Holiday entitlement is included in staff terms and conditions, which vary between categories of staff. They can be found .

The leave year runs from 1st October and all staff are expected to take their allocated holiday during the leave year. Requests to carry over up to 5 days of unused leave to the following holiday year must be made and agreed by your line manager.

Term and other key dates can be found here:

Academic staff, particularly (but not confined to) those involved in teaching, are asked to let the School Office know of longer absences using ei@sussex.ac.uk This will allow School Office colleagues inform students and staff of availability or alternative contacts. Teaching faculty should not normally take holidays during term time; permission to do so should be sought well in advance from the line manager.

Sickness

if you are unwell and not able to work you should inform your line manager as soon as possible. Full guidance on sickness absence can be found here. Sickness should be recorded on My View by you or your line manager if you are unable.

Academic Time Survey (ATS)

The UK Funding Councils require all universities to allocate annual costs across the range of activities that they undertake.

All universities must submit an annual TRAC (Transparent Approach to Costing) return to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in order to provide information to the Government on the full economic costs of teaching, research and other activities. The ATS is a vital component of the TRAC Return process, gathering statistical data about the time spent by Academic staff on teaching, research, other and support activities. The data collected is subsequently used as a basis for allocating certain key categories of costs to those activities.

The TRAC return is a valuable and influential source of data which informs the decisions of Government, concerning funding for research in higher education. Importantly, the TRAC return provides the basis for Research Council full economic cost recovery rates, which determine the amount of overhead that can be charged to a Research Council funded research project. There is therefore, a direct link between the need for a time allocation process and the amount of funding received by the University.

The University must achieve a 75% completion rate for the Academic Time Survey from all eligible Academics in order to comply with the requirements of TRAC.

You will find the ATS on Sussex Direct under the “Personal” tab and a list of ATS definitions and activities is available by the “Related Links” drop down box or;

Before the start of each new Academic year, all eligible Academics will be contacted via e-mail advising them of the dates of the ATS survey. The survey period currently consists of six individual weeks, selected from the academic year, ensuring that each month is sampled once every three years. (Should the survey change, you will be notified by e-mail). You are asked to submit your time data for each period as soon as possible after its conclusion. Follow up e-mails will be sent initially to those who have not completed their ATS surveys and subsequent e-mails to Heads of School and Department, should the targeted completion rate not be achieved.

The survey data is confidential with each individual’s return being used only as part of the whole data set and for no other purpose. The data is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act and by the ATS Administrator alone. It is used in an anonymous, aggregate form to provide statistical data at the level of Schools or the University as a whole.

If you have any questions please contact Stephen Crossman (Resource Accountant) ext. 8702 Stephen.Crossman@sussex.ac.uk

Academic advising & assessment regulations

Information for Academic Advisors is coordinated on the Canvas site, managed by the Director of Student Experience. You will see a list and details of your own academic advisees on the 'Teaching' drop-down menu in Sussex Direct.

For ZJSU-Sussex JI students, the course convenor is also the academic advisor.

Assessment regulations are available on the Academic Quality & Partnerships web pages.

A comprehensive guide for students on assessment and teaching is now available in the student handbooks. Please signpost your academic advisees to these important resources:

Engineering & Informatics student handbook

ZJSU-Sussex JI student handbook

Threshold marking

Engineering, Product Design and ZJSU-Sussex JI (UG courses) faculty should note the additional regulations, including threshold marking and award of non-accreditied degrees, when advising students.

For guidance, for example on a specific case, contact:

Anthea Clark a.clark@sussex.ac.uk - Curriculum & Assessment Officer (Sussex-based courses)

Patrick Meredith pm477@sussex.ac.uk - Curriculum & Assessment Officer (ZJSU-Sussex JI courses)

Jackie Gains j.gains@sussex.ac.uk - Senior Course Coordinator for Informatics

Ellen Bryant e.bryant@sussex.ac.uk - Senior Course Coordinator for Engineering

Achievement and Development Reviews (formerly appraisals)

Please visit the ADR guidance webpage.

Assessment convening

The Assessment Convening handbook provides in-depth information and guidance on the administrative aspects of your role as Assessment Convenor. See also the 'Assessment & teaching' sections of the student handbooks:

Engineering & Informatics student handbook

ZJSU-Sussex JI student handbook

Branding & publications

For information and guidance on the University’s publication and branding policy, please see .

Buildings & maintenance: fault reporting & porter assistance

All building related queries should be sent to: EngInfSEF@sussex.ac.uk

We will log the issue with SEF and coordinate the follow-up and completion of the job. We will keep you informed of progress. Typically, requests will be for ad hoc cleaning, maintenance, heating issues, water leaks, requests for porter assistance. Your email must include:

Exact location of issue
Clear explanation
A photo, if possible/neccessary

Casual staff: employment & Right-to-Work checks

Casual staff are now employed through Reed Talent Solutions. Please refer to the information on the Finance Division web pages. It is important to plan ahead as Right-to-Work checks must be completed before any work is done.

Complaints

All staff are now required to complete a brief web form when responding to a Level 1 informal complaint from a student. These forms are now live and ready to use, so please ensure that you and your colleagues log any complaints you respond to using the form provided below. The form has been kept as short as possible to just capture the essential data of what the complaint was regarding and how it was resolved.

The webform for our area .

What is a Level 1 complaint?

When a student first raises a complaint, it should be responded to informally by the relevant department (or ‘service provider’). This is considered the ‘Level 1’ stage of the University’s and is an opportunity to resolve an issue without the need for a formal investigation. We strongly recommend that staff should aim to resolve complaints at this stage wherever possible.

Further information about why this change has been made and what constitutes as a Level 1 complaint can be found .

See our full Student Complaints Procedure .

For any further questions, please contact the Complaints Team on complaints@sussex.ac.uk

Data protection responsibilities

The full University Data Protection policy can be found at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/ogs/policies/information/dpa/dataprotectionpolicy.

If you have a teaching role, see also the data protection section in 'Assessment convening'.

Email and Teams etiquette

Please read .

The School uses as an additional mode of communication. Please apply the same email etiquette rules as above.

External Speakers

If you are organising an event that will have an external speaker, please check the external speaker request procedure here. The person inviting the external speaker needs to complete the online form on this page. An external speaker or venue booking should not be confirmed until it has been approved by the AV��Ƶ. It is therefore important that the process is started at the earliest opportunity. If the School Office is supporting the organisation of an event which an external speaker is attending, please let them know when this process has been completed.

Family friendly policies

The Unversity's family friendly policies can be found here.

Finance, purchasing & expense claims

Finance and Purchasing

Refer to the Finance section for full guidance. Stefanie Freiling is our dedicated finance and administration assistant in the School Office. Please contact her if you have any queries or need support. S.Freiling@sussex.ac.uk

The School has a Management Accountant, Chris Chaplin, who will provide advice and support on complex matters

The University’s finance system is Unit 4. Log-in here.

New users of the system will need to (application for access to Unit 4 for non-finance staff).

Further information for staff on purchasing, goods receipting, IR35/invoices from suppliers not set up on UNIT4, business travel, budget codes etc, can be found here.

Expenses

Staff must claim expenses through Unit 4. Please see instructions on how to do this .

Please note the University guidelines on expenses,

Please contact Anne Craig in the School Office for assitance with expense claims a.s.craig@sussex.ac.uk

You must take public transport wherever it is feasible to do so. The University will not pay taxi fares except when: they are incurred abroad; they are before 7am or after 9pm; you have, or are accompanied by someone with a mobility difficulty; you are transporting heavy luggage or equipment and there is no other reasonable mode of travel.

Food on campus

Places to eat on campus can be found on this webpage.

Health, safety & environment

Please visit the Health, safety & environment page.

For information on student equipment loans please see this page.

IT Services

School research computing is supported by the Informatics computing support team.

Standard desktop computers are provided by the University’s IT Services unit and any computer related questions or issues should be sent on-line to ITS Support via the web form:

Please note that it is a University requirement that all data is saved to Box to ensure work is stored and backed up. Local drives do not meet this requirement:

If data is sensitive and or confidential other arrangements can be made through IT Services or the Research support team:

IT Services registration and training

In order to set-up and activate your IT Services account, through which you receive your email account and address, you will need to visit IT Services Reception in Shawcross Building. For the building’s location, see the campus map online:

When visiting IT Services you will need to take with you your letter of appointment or staff ID as proof of identity. Your email account can be set up in a few minutes and will be ready for you to send and receive email straight away.

You can also collect your log in details by calling IT Services on 01273 67(8090).

IT Services Reception hold training courses for staff. You can find out what is available at:

Network/colour printing, photocopying, scanner, fax

You will be networked to the University Multi-functional Devices which includes scanning, faxing and printing. These devices can be used with your access card.

Microsoft Outlook calendar

Instructions on how to access the calendar can be found on:

It is important to use Outlook for your School diary system as only this method is used when sending invitations to meetings.

Keys & SALTO (access) cards

If you require a key please check with your line manager and/or the School Office on ei@sussex.ac.uk

If you require a SALTO access card please fill in this form, have it signed by your line manager or the School Administrator and email it to SEF.ServiceCentre@mitie.com

ID cards

New members of staff should email SEF.PrintUnit@mitie.com to request an ID card.

Please email us from your Sussex email account and attach a passport-style photo of yourself (a 'selfie' is acceptable in most cases).

When your card is ready you can collect from the Print Unit or we can post it to your campus or home address.

For futher information on ID cards, please

For a replacement ID card if yours has been lost, stolen or has expired:

Line Management and Leadership

Resources to support line managers:

Management and Leadership toolkit by Organisational Development.

Management essentials workshops run termly by Organisational Development.

Workplace adjustments to support your staff members.

Staff wellbeing resources and Employee Assistance Programme.

to support your staff members with adjustments that go beyond standard workplace adjustments.

Rewards and benefits that the University offers to support your staff members.

Development programmes for managers and leaders.

EDI resources.

Information for supporting new staff can be found here and in more detail in the "recruitment, induction and onboarding" below.

Refer to HR pages for information on occupational health, workplace adjustments, policies and procedures etc.

New Staff Members

If you are a new staff member you can find lots of useful information on the new staff central webpage and the . Your line manager should conduct an induction and onboarding process with you. School specific information can be found here in the staff handbook. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out the School Administrator Lily King on schooladministrator@enginf.sussex.ac.uk

If you are a new academic member of staff and will be convening a module, please check the assessment convening handbook.

If you know or think you may benefit from workplace adjustments and this has not already been discussed with you, please speak to your line manager. Sussex staff can also make use of the government's .

Parking on campus

Comprehensive guidance to parking on campus can be found .

Parking information for staff can be found .

Visitor parking information can be found . Staff inviting visitors to campus may reserve parking for them in advance by contacting the transport office, or visitors can pay for short stays via phone or app.

Pay information

Current rates of pay can be found .

Records Management

Records management ensures that our records are created, used, stored, and disposed of in our day-to-day work in a way that facilitates their most efficient and effective use and complies with legal and other requirements. For a simple overview of records management, please look at the video here which only takes 4 minutes to view.

We have a Records Management Policy that provides more detail about the importance of records management and the principles that underpin it. Good records management enables records to be found and retrieved quickly and facilities the better use of our physical and server space. Some benefits of good records management are listed here and the Information Management team produced a Panopto video here that gives you some top tips on becoming better at records management. Some tips are listed below.

• Classification: remember to classify sensitive records, including your emails. If you need more help with information classification, have a look at this page.
• File name and version: Ensure records are easily found by using appropriate file naming protocols. Version control will help colleagues to use the most up to date version of a record. More information on effective version control is available here.
• Security: create and maintain records with appropriate security measures and access controls in place.
• Storage: use ITS supported storage options, like Box or OneDrive, for electronic records. For more information on how to set up files and who should be able to view or edit your records in Box, please see these ITS guides.
• Retention: only keep records for as long as they are required.

Additional guidance is available for the management of our master records in the Master Records Retention Schedule. A ‘master record’ is a core record which has ongoing institutional, authoritative and/or evidential value. Records such as policies, personnel files, Committee papers, contracts and research outputs are all types of master records. The Schedule provides specific detail about which records make up our master records, how long these should be retained, and what the recommended disposal action following the end of the retention period is.

The records management webpage will assist with any questions you may have on records management. The FAQs section helps you to find answers to questions such as What is a ‘master record’?, How long should I keep records?, and How do I dispose of records?. You can also contact Greg Toth from the Information Management team who will be happy to answer any queries and provide advice on all aspects of records management.

Recruitment, Induction and Onboarding

Recruitment

Please follow recruitment guidance on the HR webpages.

Induction and Onboarding

Please ensure that you prepare an induction schedule for your new staff member's first 1-2 weeks. Complete the University new staff checklist and induction training plan.

Ensure that you also discuss workplace adjustments with your new staff member.

If your new staff member will be line managing others, please ensure they review the guidance for line management resources (see above "line management and leadership").

Additional induction items for new academic staff

Set up introduction meetings with your new staff member and the following key contacts:

Clare Neil, Research Development Manager
Faye Brockwell, Learning Technologist in Educational Enhancement (only for staff with teaching responsibilities)
Naomi Alder, Senior Information Officer, Records Management
Kate Howland, Director of Student Experience EngInf (only for staff with teaching responsibilities)

Research support

The School's research support team (enginf-research@sussex.ac.uk) can advise on research related matters, and help you identify support from across the University. Information on the University’s central research support services can be found .

Please visit the for nformation on the grant application processes and the School research strategy.

Applying for funding

The University wishes to encourage high quality proposals for the funding of research and knowledge exchange activities. All proposals should undergo internal review before submission, and pass through the institutional authorisation process. For further guidance on submitting a proposal, please see here.

Our grant application proforma can be downloaded here.

Elements

is the Current Research Information System (CRIS) now in use at the University. Elements supports the management of research activities by providing one single point of organisation, presentation and reporting for all scholarly and research activities, including research publications. It also hosts the University staff profile pages. For guidance on using Elements, please see , or contact the Elements team at elements@sussex.ac.uk.

To satisfy REF and funder Open Access policies, publications must be deposited from Elements to SRO within 3 months of acceptance.

Worktribe

is a holistic research management system designed to support the whole project life cycle from proposal to post award management.

To access Worktribe you must complete the mandatory training ‘Introduction to Worktribe’ which you should automatically be enrolled on. The Worktribe team will provide you with access to the system usually the following Monday after completing the training.

For further information on using Worktribe, please see here.

Room booking

See . (Not available while central timetabling is in progress).

You can book Chichester Foyer meeting rooms 1 and 2 via the School Office: ei@sussex.ac.uk or 01273 (67)8195

The Future Technologies Lab (Ci27/28/30) is also available for booking when not in use for teaching. Contact the School Office.

School meetings & committees

School meetings and committees

Meetings of the School of Engineering and Informatics are normally held on Wednesday afternoon in week 8 each term.

Other School committees (requires login):

(see also the School web pages)

A full listing of other within the University is also available via Sussex Direct.

Department meetings

Meetings of the Department of Engineering & Design and the Department of Informatics are normally held on Wednesday afternoons in weeks 5 and 10 each term. The membership consists of all academic and professional services staff and student representatives in the respective Departments.

School management

The Head of School is Professor Ian Wakeman. Ian is the line manager of all staff in the School. He is supported by a management team, which meets regularly and which consists of the School Directors, the Heads of Department and the School Administrator.

Professor Romeo Glovnea is Head of Department for Engineering & Design, Professor George Parisis is the Head of Department for Informatics.

The Directors each have a portfolio of administrative responsibility:

Dr Luis Ponce Cuspinera, Director of Teaching and Learning

Dr Roald Grau, Director of Student Experience

Professor Julie Weeds, Director of Postgraduate Research

Professor Andy Philippides, Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange

Dr Phil Birch, Director of Admissions and Recruitment

Dr Elizabeth Rendon-Morales, Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Deputy Head of Engineering

David Tucker is the Technical Services Manager

Lily King is the School Administrator and she has overall responsibility for the school’s administration, and School Office resources and staffing.

School office team

School office team

Staff Development

The Universityhas a variety of offers to support your personal development including:

Workshops and courses
Online learning
Mentoring

Student reps

Student reps

Travel

Before you travel please check the University guidelines. Our preferred provider of travel arrangements is , please try to use them wherever possible. Please ensure that you have University insurance in place.

A must be completed for each trip, along with registration of the trip through the link on Sussex Direct under the admin menu. Ensure that you have identified a "travel buddy" who should be someone at Sussex that can be contacted in an emergency during your trip. This should generally be your line manager, or if travelling as a research group, someone else from the group. If you do not have an obvious contact you should ask the Head of School. Ensure that you have your travel buddy's mobile phone number and other emergency phone numbers readily available when you are travelling.

Please ensure that you read the available from , which also contains University emergency contact details.

AV��Ƶ

School of Engineering and Informatics (for staff and students)