Imperial College London

I want to attend a conference during term time do I need permission?

If the conference lasts for two days or under and doesn't affect any teaching or other commitments you might have you are allowed to attend it without permission so long as you inform the Senior Secratary Margaret Hall. If the conference is likely to be longer than two days you should seek permission from the Head of Department first.

I have a paper at a conference during term time. Can I go to it?

To be away from college during term-time requires the permission of the Head of Department. This is unlikely to be granted without including in your request an explicit list of your teaching commitments during that time and how they will be taken care of during that time

I have a paper at a conference during exam time. Can I go to it?

To be away from college during term-time requires the permission of the Head of Department. If you submit to a conference that happens during exam time ask the Examinations Officer if he could avoid those dates for your examinations. It is important to do that as soon as possible.

I have a paper at a conference out of term time. Do I need to tell anybody about it?

Inform the Head of Department's Secretary.

How many days can I be away without telling anyone?

All staff are required to phone the Department on the day of their absence preferably before 10:30.

What is a Course Coordinator/Director?

A Course Coordinator/Director is a Lecturer or Teaching Fellow with responsibilities for the day to day running of a specific course. This role is particularly important when there are a number of lecturers teaching the same course or the course is taught across Departments. I.e. Mathematics and Computing with Joint Math's and Computing Courses.

Who carries out the role of Year Coordinator?

The role of Year Coordinator is carried out by a Teaching Fellow who has responsibilities for the day to day running of an academic year group. Such responsibilities may include:

Ensuring that the year elects representatives

Maintaining the year notice board on the web

Keeping in regular contact (weekly or every two weeks) with the reps to solve problems and answer students questions as they arise

Attending academic committee so that your students' needs can be put
into perspective with other students

Providing the examinations officer with coursework, lab work, topic and foreign language marks as requested.

Leasing with Lab coordinators

Scheduling coursework deadlines

Attending preliminary examination meeting (s)

Who is carrying out the role of Year and Course Coordinators?

Tristan Allwood (1st Year Coordinator), Mark Wheelhouse (2nd Year Coordinator), Anandha Gopolan (3rd and 4th Year Coordinator), Jeremy Bradley (JMC Director), Rueben Rowe (MSc Computing Science Coordinator), Tim Kimber (MSc, MRes and Advanced Computing Coordinator), F. Sadri (MSc Courses Director).

What is Academic Committee?

Academic Committee meets monthly and deals with both the strategic and the regular day to day decisions about our teaching. Subcommittees are formed and look at problem areas. Year and Course Coordinators discuss problems of their constituencies. Topics for discussion can come from any member of the teaching staff and sometimes come from the Operations Committee. Decisions requiring regulations to be changed go to the Engineering Studies Committee and then to College Senate. Academic Committee is chaired by the Director of Studies and any items for the agenda should be sent to the Teaching Administrator.

Who goes to Academic Committee?

All teaching staff are members as is the Departmental Student Rep (DOC Rep). Normally attendance includes the Course and Year Coordinators, Course Directors, Senior Tutor, Teaching Administrator, Examinations Officer and the Director of Studies, the Student Rep and anyone who has an interest in an agenda item.

What is "CATE"?

CATE is an in house "Continuous Assessment Tracking Engine" used for the electronic administration of coursework via the web. You will need to use it when you are setting courseworks and for delivering your coursework marks. If you have a PPT or a PMT group you will also need to use it to enter both your marks and your students attendance. (see screen shot) Dates of all your coursework will also need to be entered so as to ensure that the amount of courseworks the students are set is as spread as possible, (see screen shot).

Once students have completed your work you can decide whether they can submit it electronically via CATE, or in hard copy through the Student General Office. For the latter CATE provides students with a bar-coded submission sheet which is scanned on submission and registered electronically. The system logs all submissions and marks and then makes them visible to relevant staff and students.

You are encouraged to place all your tutorial questions and lecture slides/notes etc on CATE as well. This is because it provides a central easily accessable resource for the students to access. Students are very appreciative of this facility and often mention so in Staff Student Committee Meetings. To do this you can either post the work directly onto CATE or you can place the material on your own website and then post a link to it on CATE.

What is "the Database"?

The "Departmental Database" can be reached from the DOC Internal page. It contains all the public information that we have on your teaching. It also holds details about your students, where your office is, and how you can be contacted. However it does not conatin any information about your research. To keep the database up-to-date it is important that you inform the Teaching Administrator of possible erroneous data in the database.

What is the Student Administrative Office?

The Student Administrative Office is where all the student records are kept. All students should be able to submit their coursework and project work there. The Office is located in Room 345 which can be found on the third floor of the Huxley building.

What about administration load?

New Lecturers do not get an administrative job in their first year. It depends on how their settling in is coming on whether they get one in the second year or not. The kind of admin job normally done by a probationary lecturer is a 'small' one or an assistant to one of the larger administrative jobs. It is unlikely that a member of staff will pass probation without having done an administrative job successfully.

Is the College obliged to give you time off to go to the dentist/doctor?

Normally the Department will be understanding for time off to attend the dentist or doctor but staff are supposed to make appointments at the start or close of the day. Time does not have to be taken from annual leave unless you are taking a dependent to the doctor/dentist.

If I've been off sick from Monday to the following Tuesday, i.e. 6 working days, do I have to provide a medical certificate as well as a sickness absence form?

Yes - where absence is 6 working days or more a medical certificate will be required.

If I am absent due to an accident which occurred out side work, do normal sick pay rules apply?

Yes - however damages you receive can be claimed back by the college out of your sick pay.

Can I take holidays at any time I like?

No it is a Departmental policy that you take holiday outside term time only. If you require leave for specific justifiable reasons you will need to seek the Head of Department's approval.