Appointment of Tutors and other Teaching and Research Support
Staff - Procedures
Human Resources Policy Group
1. Purpose:
These Procedures set out the Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington (the
University) appointment processes for Tutors, Oral Language Tutors, Research Assistants
and Fellows (less than one year), Sessional Assistants, Laboratory Demonstrators, Teaching
Assistants and Audio-visual Teaching Assistants. They are designed to provide a fair and
transparent process for the appointment of and remuneration for these staff and ensure
compliance with the terms and conditions of employment contained in the Tutors’ (and other
Teaching and Research Support Staff) Collective Agreement (“CA”) (or mirror General
Terms and Conditions for Tutors (and other Teaching and Research Support Staff) (“GTC”).
2. Organisational Scope:
These are University-wide Procedures. They are effective from 1 December 2020 subject to
the provisions of the CA and GTC.
3. Definitions:
For the purposes of these Procedures, the following definitions shall apply:
Oral Language Tutors/Tutors,
Fixed term employees who are responsible for
Demonstrators, Audio Visual Teaching
teaching/tutorials, which may include marking
Assistants/Teaching Assistants
student assessments, and who work under
the supervision of course-co-ordinators or
Programme Directors, but excluding those
employees who have final responsibility for
awarding course grades.
Research Assistants and Research
Fixed term employees employed for less than
Fellows
one year who provide research assistance
and/or support to academic staff. Research
Fellows work at a higher level than Research
Assistants and may have responsibility for
supervising the work of Research Assistants.
Sessional Assistants
Fixed term employees who assist with and/or
provide support for tutoring or teaching.
Manager
Head of School or delegate such as Course
Coordinator or Programme Director.
Note: Casual employees are excluded from the coverage of the CA. Casual employees are
defined as those employees who are generally employed on an ‘as and when’ required basis
without an ongoing expectation of work and without regular hours.
Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wel ington
Appointment of Tutors and other Teaching and Research
Support Staff - Procedures
4. Procedures:
4.1
Appointments
4.1.1
Appointments of six months or more
(a) Any appointment of six months or more must have the approval of the SLT
Appointments Committee before the position can be advertised.
(b) Applications for appointments of six months or more must be made electronically on the
University’s electronic recruitment system.
4.1.2
Notifying Vacancies
(a) All vacancies should be advertised on School notice boards or in a similar location to
enable suitably qualified and interested persons to apply.
(b) Advertisements shall include the duration of the fixed term, intended start dates, work
responsibilities, reporting lines, location, pay rates, an estimate of hours (including
marking hours), the selection criteria (education, experience and skills required) and
process.
4.1.3
Selection Process
(a) All applications must be assessed against the agreed selection criteria. Where
appropriate, interviews should be held to establish suitability for the role. All applicants
must be treated fairly, and the requirements of the Human Rights Act and Privacy Act
observed. Please contact your Faculty HR Manager if you require advice on the
appropriate selection process.
(b) Appointment decisions must be based on merit. In the case of comparable applications,
preference should be given to current post-graduate students with previous experience.
(c) Applicants must have and maintain a legal entitlement to work for the University in New
Zealand in the role offered. Evidence of this legal entitlement must be provided before
work in the role begins. For New Zealand or Australian citizens or Permanent Residents,
a copy of their passport or birth certificate will suffice. For foreign nationals, including
international students, a copy of their student visa or work visa must be provided.
Student visas may contain a limit on the number of hours per week the student may
work. Any letter of offer should comply with the conditions of their visa.
(d) The successful applicant should be advised immediately and given reasonable notice
of the intended terms and conditions of employment, including hours of work and
commencement date.
(e) Unsuccessful applicants should also be advised as soon as possible, and confirmation
provided in writing.
(f)
All employees must receive, sign and return their employment offers prior to
commencing work. They must also be advised of their entitlement to seek independent
advice about the intended agreement and be provided with a reasonable opportunity to
seek that advice. Any issues they raise must be considered and responded to.
4.1.4
Allocation of Hours
(a) Employees are entitled to be paid for all hours that they are required to work.
(b) In the case of Research Assistants/Fellows and Sessional Assistants, hours will be
agreed between the employee and the Manager, and specified in the letter of offer.
(c) In the case of Tutors/Oral Language Tutors, Demonstrators, Audio Visual Teaching
Assistants and Teaching Assistants who undertake duties similar to these roles, details
of the expectation of working hours over the course of the fixed term will be set out in
the letter of offer. The following Procedures should be used to determine the appropriate
allocation of hours.
(d) All authorised hours worked each week must be recorded in an online timesheet in the
HR Kiosk and completed timesheets must be submitted for approval each week (unless
no hours of work have been completed in that week – e.g. mid-trimester break).
[Last approved: 1/12/2020]
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Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wel ington
Appointment of Tutors and other Teaching and Research
Support Staff - Procedures
(e) Should unexpected circumstances mean that a Tutor/Oral Language Tutor, Demonstrator, Audio
Visual Teaching Assistant or Teaching Assistant assesses they will not be able to complete the
duties of their role within the expected total hours of work, they must seek prior written approval
from the Head of School to authorise additional hours. They will not be entitled to receive extra
payment for any unauthorised additional hours that are beyond those required without the correct
prior authorisation and they must also complete and submit an online timesheet for any
authorised additional hours worked.
Orientation/Training:
All new Tutors that have not been employed by the University as a Tutor in the preceding two
years are entitled to three hours paid orientation/introduction to teaching per year. This may
be either an in-house programme or a generic workshop offered by the Centre for Academic
Development (CAD), such as Introduction to Tutor Training.
Additionally, all Tutors who have not marked before will be required to undertake an
assessment workshop, consisting of training in marking, feedback and assessment. This
training will consist of a one-off two-hour (paid) training session.
Preparation:
Managers must consider what preparation is required for the first tutorial each week. When
calculating preparation time, Managers should take account of reading requirements,
preparation of lesson plans and requirements to attend weekly meetings to discuss the
upcoming tutorials. Payment should be made for attendance at lectures, where such
attendance is agreed with the Manager. It is estimated that preparation time will be between
a half-hour and 3 hours depending upon requirements. If an employee is taking subsequent
tutorials in a week, then preparation is not included in the calculation of hours for those
subsequent tutorials.
Delivery:
This is the actual delivery time per tutorial.
Student Consultation: Where this is required a general guideline is ½ -1 hour per week per
tutorial group.
Meetings:
Include all meetings that Tutors are required to attend except where
these have been accounted for under orientation, preparation and
marking.
Marking:
The expected time required to prepare for marking (meetings pre &
post marking, training sessions etc,) and to mark should be
calculated. When considering what hours should be allocated
Managers should consider:
•
The number of students and assessments per tutorial group
•
The type of assessment – terms test, essay, short answers, etc,
•
The length of assessment
•
The level of assessment – 100,200,300 or post-graduate level
•
Preparation required for marking – meetings, marking guides,
training etc
•
Moderation – meetings or peer moderation
Marking will need to be monitored, as individual Tutors will mark at
different speeds. If it is anticipated that a Tutor will spend more time
marking than the hours allocated, the Manager should investigate
to determine if more paid hours or training are required.
Managers should ensure that Tutors are aware that additional hours
will only be paid with prior agreement.
Other duties:
Some Tutors may be responsible for some coordination or training
of other Tutors.
Each employment offer must set out the hours required for each tutorial, including the first
and subsequent tutorials in each course.
[Last approved: 1/12/2020]
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Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wel ington
Appointment of Tutors and other Teaching and Research
Support Staff - Procedures
Example (of a 10-week tutorial schedule)
Tutorial Schedule
Tutorial #
Day
Time
Location
Duration
1
Tues
9-10am
1 hour
2
Wed
2-3pm
1 hour
Allocation of hours
Course: UNIV123
Duties and responsibilities
Expected
hours
First tutorial in a week
Delivery
1
Preparation
2
Student Consultation
1
Other related duties
0
Subtotal: 40
Second and subsequent tutorial in a
week Delivery
1
Preparation
0
Student Consultation
1
Other related duties
0
Subtotal: 20
Extra hours to be worked across the
duration of the fixed term
Marking
10
Meetings
5
Attendance at training
3
Attendance at lectures
0
Other related duties
0
Subtotal:18
Total: 78
4.1.5
Hourly Rates
Hourly rates are contained in the CA (or GTC). There are ranges for undergraduate and
graduate students. If an employee is not a student, then usually the graduate rate will apply.
These are minimum rates that must be paid. When determining the appropriate hourly rate
the following should be taken into account:
•
Relevant qualifications
•
Relevant experience, for example, an employee who has successfully tutored over
a period of time would normally be paid above the bottom of the relevant range, in
accordance with their experience
•
Additional Duties – if more senior duties such as tutor coordination or training other
Tutors are required, then an hourly rate towards the top of the range would normally
be paid.
4.1.6
Course Content and Marking
Tutors will receive guidance on course content and marking requirements and standards for
the courses on which they are tutoring.
4.1.7
Tutoring Evaluations
Staff covered by the CA/GTC who undertake tutoring as part of their responsibilities may be
requested to have their tutoring evaluated through a process conducted by CAD.
[Last approved: 1/12/2020]
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Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wel ington
Appointment of Tutors and other Teaching and Research
Support Staff - Procedures
5. References:
Employment Relations Act 2000
Human Rights Act 1993
Privacy Act 2020
6. Approval Dates:
This version takes effect from:
1 December 2020
7. Contact Person:
The following people may be contacted in relation to these
Procedures:
Employment Relations Manager
Extension: 7427
Senior HR Advisor (HR Policy & Support)
Extension: 6724
[Last approved: 1/12/2020]
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