Updated 12 July 2013
A consultation took place in Hilary term about two possible variations to the current system for titles and merit pay for academics. The Personnel Committee sought views from members of Congregation and University and college bodies on two proposals:
i. the introduction of the title of associate professor;
ii. the introduction of merit pay for lecturers with the title of professor.
Details of the proposals were set out in the consultative paper, which was published as a supplement to the Gazette on 30 January 2013. Responses to the consultation, which ended on 22 April 2013, are available on the Task Force website.
A wide range of divergent views were expressed in the consultative exercise, and the majority of the responses, including the majority of the 159 responses received from individuals, were broadly supportive of the outline proposals.
Council has agreed to put before Congregation in Michaelmas term resolutions proposing a new system for merit pay for academics, and proposing that the main lecturer grades be retitled associate professor. The resolutions and supporting material, which will set out versions of the original proposals refined to reflect some useful revisions proposed by respondents, will now be prepared and will be published at the beginning of Michaelmas term 2013.
Background information
At its meeting of 14 January 2013 Council approved the recommendation of the Personnel Committee and PRAC to lift the suspension of the University’s various arrangements for salary review and merit pay. Council agreed to the reintroduction of regular exercises to consider distinction awards to statutory professors and readers and other eligible academics. Council also agreed that a recognition of distinction exercise to consider applications for the conferment of the title of professor should be held annually from 2013-14, with funding made available from 2014 for salary increments for lecturers awarded the title of professor.
Before launching the next recognition of distinction exercise, the Personnel Committee wanted to canvass views on two possible variations to the current system for academic titles and merit pay: the first was the possible redesignation of the university lecturer grade as ‘associate professor’; the second was the possible introduction of merit pay for all university lecturers with the title of full professor, rather than this being reserved for a selected subset as proposed by the Task Force on Academic Employment in its 2010 report.