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{\Large Annex to annual staff review form}
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\section*{Info for section ``Brief description of duties"}

Together with my colleagues Peter Cutler (first year Laboratory Organiser)
and Wei Yi Fan, I am responsible for the overall smooth running of the
first year {\bf Integrated Laboratory} which supports the first year lecture
courses. %yeah, yeah, we know... :-)
This shared responsibility includes the following:

\begin{itemize}
\item
The preparation of a suite of lab {\bf exercise specs}, mostly over the summer.
I have developed software to manage the production of different versions
of the same spec. for the three different groups of students taking the
common first year (CS1/SE1, ISE1, JMC1).

\item
The design, implementation, testing and installation of all the
{\bf lab support} software modules specific to the first-year exercises.

\item
The design, implementation and testing of lab
{\bf sample answers} to each exercise,
both for the consumption of PPTs (Personal Programming Tutors) to assist them
in marking, and for internal lab administration purposes, to check that
in our professional judgement a solution is feasible with the tools and
within the time constraints available to the first-year students.

\item
The running during term-time of the timetabled {\bf lab sessions}.
This involves assisting the first-years with a wide variety of hardware and
software environments.
\end{itemize}

In addition I have individual responsibility for the following:

\begin{itemize}
\item
The design, implementation and maintenance of
the {\bf automated testing system} for the
first-year student lab submissions. This runs the student submissions
overnight on test data and reports the results to PPTs to assist them in
marking. It has evolved under my individual management over a number of
years and now represents a robust, powerful and reliable tool in boosting
the productivity of the marking process which, without some automation, can be
an extraordinarily labour-intensive and tedious necessary evil competing
for academics' time.

\item
The provision to the CS1 students during term-time of the {\bf ``Lab Workshop"}
course, which includes lectures and question-and-answer sessions on the
currently issued lab as well as general information and advice on the
computing environments available (e.g. Miranda, Modula-2, Unix, X-windows,
shells and utilities, Internet usage issues).
\end{itemize}

As well as directly lab-related activities, I have supported and marked
a wide variety of {\bf tutorials} including:

\begin{itemize}
\item Miranda programming
\item Modula-2 programming
\item Mathematical methods and graphics
\item Reasoned programming
\item Logic.
\end{itemize}

This year in addition I have been a {\bf PMT} (Personal Maths Tutor) to 5 JMC1
students.

I have proposed and am supervising a variety of final year individual
{\bf projects}; these include, and have included, CS3/SE4 and MSc Conversion
projects on subjects ranging from simulation to
language design to user interface development.
I am also involved in 2nd-marking of projects.

I have gathered {\em de facto} responsibility (because of my existing expertise
in the area) for the maintenance and enhancement of the IC DoC Modula-2
mathematical support software {\bf MathLib}.


\section*{Info for sections ``grounds for promotion" and ``comments on duties"}

The duties listed above require a high, and I believe rising,
degree of professional commitment and responsibility, going beyond the
narrow conception of being an employee carrying out fixed repetitive
duties. Rather, the fulfilment of excellence in these duties involves a broad
professional approach. This includes:

\begin{itemize}
\item
A commitment to putting in whatever {\bf extra effort and labour}
may be required in the management and resolution of unforeseen crises.
These can include working round changes in the underlying hardware and software
systems, updating the structure of the Integrated Laboratory in rapid
response to late timetabling or syllabus changes, or simply the readiness
to solve {\em any} lab software problems that may arise during term-time
and require rapid and sustained attention outside the normal timetabled
rhythm of the Department.

\item
A commitment to participation in
{\bf external professional scrutiny and validation}
by bodies such as HEFCE, IEE, BCS, College USC, etc.
The carrying out of rigorous self-assessment (and assessment by, and of,
colleagues) of standards of quality and professional excellence, as a
{\em routine} part of the work rhythm, with an eye to making the
external professional scrutiny go that much more smoothly if and
when it arises.

\item
A high and sustained
level of {\bf care and attention to detail} both in the preparation and
installation of the extremely versatile (and therefore complex) suite of
lab software, and in the individual helping and tutoring of
students with a wide variety of concerns, needs and backgrounds.

\item
The {\bf initiative} to carry out broadly defined duties to tight deadlines
without supervision or assistance. The sustaining of a high level of
service to an ever-rising intake of students.

\item
{\bf Specialized knowledge} of many parts of the undergraduate degree syllabus,
including programming languages, systems software and systems programming,
graphics, mathematical logic and reasoning.

\item
The initiative to {\bf upgrade my skills and expertise} by self-study whenever
possible, in the absence of a formal training programme for TAs.

\item
The (often complex and subtle) {\bf professional judgement},
aided by experience,
required to match the level and variety of the spectrum of
available exercises to the varied needs and backgrounds of the students.
This applies with special force to the first year, who do not yet share a
common computer science background (as in the second year sharing the
first-year common background, and so on up).

\item
A professional awareness of {\bf broader issues} in software management such as
documentation, quality testing, and (especially important in a ``hacker-rich"
environment) security issues.

\item
In the supervision and marking of projects, the ability to form a
{\bf professional working relationship}
on a one-to-one basis with final year students
and transmit the specialized knowledge and ethos required for professional
development.
\end{itemize}


\section*{Final statement}

I believe I continue, sometimes in the face of great odds, to live up to
the responsibilities, initiative and professional judgement
required to conduct the many and varied duties documented above.
I would therefore like this sustained achievement of professional excellence
to be recognized when the panel considers promotions within the
Department as part of the annual staff review in progress at present.
\\
\\
(signed)

\vspace{1cm}

Iain Stewart.


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