Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught Supervision Standards

The following policy applies for the 2022/23 year.

Download a copy of this policy (PDF).

Download a copy of the Student and Supervisor Taught Degree Agreement (Word).

Supervisor availability

1. Who is expected to be available to offer supervision to students?

a. All academic staff (with a minimum of a Master’s degree) are expected to make themselves available to act as a supervisor by putting forward projects on an annual basis. Any exceptions to this expectation must be approved by the relevant institute director or their nominated representatives.

2. Supervisor development

a. Supervisor development is compulsory for new members of academic staff, as well as those who have not yet gained experience supervising at the level for which they are going to supervise for.

b. All supervisors are required to complete a supervisor development module on Canvas every three years.

c. Responsibility for ensuring that supervisors complete Canvas supervisor development modules rests with the institute directors or their nominated representative.

d. Supervisors involved in research studies, should attend a research ethics workshop.

Supervision process

3. Amount of individual supervision time to be offered to students

a. The amount of time available for supervision of individual students undertaking research is course specific and will be included in module handbooks and/or module Canvas pages. The following are St George’s undergraduate and postgraduate teaching hours, according to the weightings of the teaching diary:

 If it is likely that a supervisor may be required to attend an ethics committee (whether internal (FREC and SGUL equivalent) or external (e.g. NHS REC)), an additional time allowance for this may be necessary.

 4. Staff availability

a. Expectations of staff availability during the period of supervision should be clearly set out in the introductory meeting with student. A timeline should be agreed for the whole period of supervision.

b. If staff are away from work during term time, arrangements should be put in place to ensure continuity of supervision to the student.

c. Supervisors are expected to be available to supervise the student during the period set by the module and the resubmission period (if required).

 d. If the student extends their period of study beyond the normal period of study for the module, the student should be advised that, where possible, the same supervisor will be allocated again.

5. Introductory meeting and Initial Working Agreement

a. It is important at the initial introductory meeting with the student to set out parameters, reminding students that support is also provided through teaching/module learning activities. Communication processes should also be agreed.

b. An initial working agreement should be drawn up with the student and the supervisor. A copy of the agreement should be sent to the relevant course administrator for record keeping purposes.

c. Course teams should use the Student and Supervisor Undergraduate and Postgraduate Taught Degree Agreement. It is also suggested that course teams provide an indicative timetable for key stages and processes to guide students and supervisors and include this in the module guide, as well as uploading it to Canvas (see example appended from MRes. Clin). This Initial Working Agreement might include guidance and expected timeframes as applicable for the module on:

1. Meetings with supervisor and (if appropriate) workplace mentor/manager.
2. Co-supervision (detailing what this means in practice)
3. Refining topic and research question, creating clear research objectives, timelines for activities
4. Ethics process (noting relevant ethics committee dates). The application must be signed by the Supervisor before it is submitted to St George’s Research Ethics Committee (SGREC)
5. Conduct Research, data collection, necessary amendment to SGREC application if any changes are made to the research protocol.
6. Supervisor attendance at oral presentations or vivas (if appropriate)
7. Findings and data analysis
8. Discussion of research outcomes
9. Writing up
10. Reading draft.

d. The Agreement should also establish the minimum number of contact meetings that the student should attend and whether these will be in-person, virtual, or both.

e. If a student intends to publish their study, they must formally discuss and agree publication with their supervisor. Authorship should be discussed as part of the Initial Working Agreement and would depend on guidelines.

6. Records and progress reports

a. Each formal supervision meeting should be recorded on Canvas and signed off by the student and supervisor (please see example in Appendix 2).

b. Course teams may advocate or require the use of progress reports (please see example in Appendix 3).

c. Research project module leads should monitor and review supervision progress from these records and take action as necessary to promote student progress on the module. They should take prompt action if there is an indication that support for students is less than expected or if there is an indication of “over-supervision” by discussing this with the supervisor in order to find a positive way forward.

7. Supporting students in completing their projects in a timely manner

a. If students are not completing work in a timely way or are not keeping in touch, supervisors should inform the module leader. It is important to act in a timely manner. Module leaders should follow up with the student and inform the supervisor of outcomes.

b. Supervisors who are experiencing difficulties in the supervisor/ student relationship should raise this with the module leader who will determine ways forward.

c. Supervisors and students should discuss with the module leader before extra time is provided. The module leader should record if any extra supervision hours are authorised and the reason why this is the case. The module leader should inform the supervisor and student in writing of their decision.

8. What process should be followed if the supervisor is not providing timely or adequate support to the student?

a. In the case that supervisors are not able to provide timely support, they should communicate with the student and module leader advising the student of the reason for the delay.

b. Students should be advised to raise issues with the supervisor in the first instance if they are of the view that the support provided is inadequate. If they receive no response from the supervisor or if they are not satisfied with the response, then they should refer the matter to the module lead.

9. Reading of drafts and formative feedback

a. The final dates for submission of drafts and provision of formative feedback should be published in the module handbook and/or module Canvas page and adhered to by all.

b. Supervisors should regularly suggest that students avail themselves of academic skills support and Library and Learning services.

10. Marking summative pieces of work

. All summative pieces of work will be double marked.

b. A marking scheme/rubric will be made available to students and staff by the course director.

c. The two markers will agree marks and provide combined feedback to the student. The feedback should be congruent with the agreed grade.

d. In the event of failure to agree, the module leader and course director will determine the process to be followed (normally a third independent marker).

11. Post assessment board

a. If a student fails the module, the module leader will advise the supervisor about re- assessment processes following a meeting of the Board of Examiners. Normally the supervisor will offer support to the student in the reassessment period. This will include answering the student’s questions about feedback in order to promote clarity about what the student needs to do to improve their submission.

12. Supervisor responsibilities re: research integrity and governance

a. For students below doctoral level, the UK Policy Framework for Health Research requires the supervisor rather than the student to be designated as Chief Investigator (e.g. on IRAS form) (https://www.hra.nhs.uk/planning-and-improving-research/research- planning/student-research). Supervisors are required to ensure that the research is conducted in accordance with the St George’s Code of Practice for Research and the UK Policy Framework and related legislation and regulations. For SGUL registered students, the Joint Research and Enterprise Office (JREO) acts as Sponsor.

Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that arrangements are in place for the secure handling, storage and archiving of research data and documents in accordance with University policies.

b. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring that they and their supervisees have undertaken appropriate training in e.g. Good Clinical Practice (for research involving investigational medicinal products), or the MRC Good Research Practice for non-medicine research (https://byglearning.com/mrcrsc- lms/course/index.php?categoryid=1 and

https://www.nihr.ac.uk/health-and-care-professionals/learning-and-support/good- clinical-practice.htm).

Appendixes