BIOLOGY 2 and 3 - duties of staff associated with the units

TEACHING COMMITTEE

Definition: The Teaching Committee is responsible for promoting teaching in the School and for fostering School policies on teaching matters.

Chairperson of the Teaching Committee:

• Be responsible to the Head of School for all matters relating to undergraduate teaching in the School including all matters associated with the Teaching Committee

Matters with specific deadlines are:

• Ensure that units of study for following year are determined
  [ by middle of S1, of year prior to class ]
• Ensure that Executive Officers are appointed
  [ end of S2 of year prior to class ]
• Arrange for production of "Information for Students for potential second and third year students
  [ mid-August ]
• Arrange for potential students to receive the above information
  [mid Sept to Biol 2 and mid Oct to Biol 1]

All officers and co-ordinators are responsible for implementing School policies as applicable to their area of responsibility. It is perfectly acceptable for there to be variations in the time schedules as long as these variations are mutually agreed beforehand by both the parties involved.

It is recommended that regular meetings / consultations be held between members of academic and support staff involved with courses.

In the document, the following abbreviations are used:

AC = Area Co-ordinator (i.e. Mark Curran, Michael Joseph, and George Barrett)
AAF = Administrative Assistant (Finance) AL = Associate Lecturer
EO = Executive Officer RO = Resources Officer
S1 = Semester 1 S2 = Semester 2 TC = Teaching Committee

EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Definition: The Executive Officer has the executive responsibility for the unit of study, including the co-ordination of the academic programme and the requisite resources.

• Ensure that each unit component has an adequate set of objectives and methods of assessment and that these are advertised
• Provide School Office, on request, with general course details for Faculty handbook and copy to AC's
  [ by March of year prior to class ]

   

• Provide School Office, on request, with the list of excursion dates; copy to relevant AC.
  [to the RO by end of S2 of year prior to excursion ]

   

• Provide requests for regular tutorial room bookings
  [ to RO by 1 December prior to classes]

   

• When requested, provide appropriate notification re text and reference books to the Library and Bookshop
  [ their deadlines; library usually 8 weeks prior to course ]

   

• Meet with AC dealing with the module to determine mechanism for handling the budget and priorities within that budget
  [ end of S2 for S1 units, and by mid-S1 for S2 units ]

   

• After consultation with other staff (including relevant AC) associated with the unit, produce a list of lectures and practicals (including any excursions) for the unit.
  [ by end of semester prior to classes ]

   

• With the AC, develop a portfolio of costs/expenses as a data base for future planning

   

• With the AC, develop lists of equipment/facilities needed/desired for the classes

   

• Work with re-enrolments officer to ensure that the requisite procedures are efficiently and correctly completed
  [ January ]

   

• Ensure that arrangements are in place for the production of practical class notes.
  [ by the end of the semester preceding the option]

   

• The responsibility of the production may be delegated to the AC or nominee; the notes should be ready for printing 1 month prior to the start of the period in which they are to be used.

   

• Where applicable, arrange details of the work of any Associate Lecturer allocated to the unit e.g. tutorials, class preparation, demonstration, marking and assessment, administration

   

• Be responsible for part-time demonstrators, including their appointment formalities (provision of contract etc, details appended to the teaching documents), authorising their payments

   

• Be responsible for interactions with the University Examinations Section, exam schedules, ensuring that papers are produced, exam invigilation (where appropriate), marking compliance with Academic Board guidelines, co-ordination of marking, examiner's meetings, and submission of results A print-out of mark distribution to be produced with justification of any deviation from Academic Board guidelines.
  [ University deadlines ]

   

• Be responsible for " special considerations", medical certificates etc.
  [ throughout year ]

   

• Deal with needs of the Advanced programme - criteria for admission, nature of the course, etc.

   

• Arrange for election of student rep for staff / student liaison meetings

   

• Attend Staff/Student Liaison meetings
  [ May/Aug/Oct ]

   

• Ensure that a copy (both hard copy and electronic copy required) of all documentation handed to students is lodged in the School Office

   

ACADEMIC STAFF MEMBER RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LECTURE / PRAC (INCLUDING EXCURSIONS)

• Discuss with Area Co-ordinator (or nominee) the proposed classes
  [ to be done prior to the production of class schedules to ensure that there is no clash of equipment use. ]

NOTE 1: If changes are to be made to previously-run classes / excursions, it is the responsibility of the academic staff member to discuss these changes with the Area Co-ordinator (or nominee) by 2 weeks prior to the printing deadlines
NOTE 2: schedule for new/revised classes" applies if changes have a development component involved. If no such discussions are held, the Area Co-ordinator will presume that the requirements of the class are the same as in previous years. At the pre-semester discussions, the academic and support staff may mutually agree (in writing if necessary) on a schedule for filling in some of the details of the changes.

• Arrange for any hand out material associated with lectures
  [ 2 days before lecture for up to 4 pages, 1 week for more ]

   

• Undertake assessment as agreed with EO, including contributing examination question(s), being available for marking, and attending examiners' meetings.

   

• Within 1 week of the completion of any excursion or class (class series may be more appropriate in some cases), discuss any problems and thoughts of improvement with the appropriate member(s) of the support and academic staff. The class file will then be updated accordingly and stored in the relevant folio.

   

• Be present throughout each practical class unless other arrangements have been made prior to the start of the class

   

• Be available to assist with matters which may arise during preparation of practical classes

   

• Book other than regular audiovisual requirements with the attendant responsible for the relevant lecture room

   

• Make casual room bookings (may delegate to AC or AL )

   

• Obtain any protocols or permits necessary for purchase / collection / experiments with / maintenance of organisms

   

AREA CO-ORDINATOR

.
NOTE:a nominee of the Area Co-ordinator may be involved in any of the stages below.

• Discuss with the EO the schedule of classes to be held
  [ by end of previous semester ]

   

• Make any bookings of excursion venues and associated vehicles

   

• Check that required equipment will be available for the scheduled weeks and book as appropriate

   

• Make room bookings for practical classes or casual rooms used during scheduled practical periods

   

• Ensure that records of requirements and planning schedules are produced for each class / excursion

   

• The above schedules should be updated and filed within two weeks of the completion of each class / excursion to overcome any problems which may have occurred in the current year. The updated schedule can then be presumed to be the one which will be used for any future version of the class unless the academic staff member involved has held discussions with the AC. Information to be stored on disk as well as on paper [by the end of the semester preceding the class]

   

• With EO, develop a folio / data base containing the practical class records, including costing estimates

   

• Liaise with the EO re the production of the notes; arrange for the printing of same
  [ by the end of the semester preceding the option ]

   

• Ensure that all materials are ordered in time, that collecting / growing schedules are produced, and that classes are produced to an appropriately high standard

   

• Ensure that the presentation of each class is checked by a nominated staff member

   

• Ensure that, within budgetary constraints, equipment is well-maintained

SUPPORT STAFF ASSOCIATED WITH CLASSES

• work under the direction of the AC to:

  produce, set out, and clear away materials for practical classes and excursions;
  maintain teaching equipment, materials, and laboratories;
  attend excursions as required;
  be available for assistance during the scheduled class times when this is deemed appropriate by the AC and the lecturer in charge of the class;
  assist in the development of future classes
  carry out other teaching-related duties.

   

COMPUTING OFFICER

• work under the direction of the Chair of the Computer Committee to: maintain and update hardware and software in computer laboratories, teaching laboratories, and mobile facilities that are used for teaching.

ASSOCIATE LECTURER

• Undertake tutorials, excursions, class preparation, demonstrations, class assessment, student assistance, and assessment as arranged by the EO

   

• Make any casual room bookings for tutorials and lectures as requested by other lecturing staff or as needed for own tutorials (Note: the regular room bookings are made by the RO).

   

• May be required to check material for class

   

• Be familiar with techniques, equipment, and material to be presented in prac classes NOTE: this preparation should be done in advance of the class; the support staff cannot train new AL's immediately prior to classes but the AC should ensure that the equipment is available at a mutually suitable time for any necessary training.

   

SCHEDULE FOR NEW OR REVISED CLASSES

1. IDEA from any source or staff member.

    

2. Idea discussed with others associated with the course

    

3. A. Discuss with the AC
   B. Trial experiment by class support staff

   NOTE The AC needs to determine feasibility including the implications for :
   

   1. equipment
      preparation time
      staffing
      timetabling (e.g. availability of shared facilities)
      cost.
      

   This may be done before or after the trial depending on how much development work is done in the research lab.

    

4. It is the responsibility of the lecturer to ensure that the support staff members are trained in the skills / techniques required for the classes.

    

5. Basic experiment to be modified to suit numbers of students and conditions available.

    

6. Schedules and lab notes prepared as agreed between academic and support staff. Prior to printing, notes for new classes prepared by academic staff should be given to AC's to check for implications concerning preparation and presentation.

Timing - development completed by 2 weeks prior to printing deadlines

Note inserted at request of AC's: most development work can only happen during the long vac. as the other breaks are fully occupied with items relating to the courses for the current year.