Academic career pathway framework

Introduction

Oxford Brookes University is committed to supporting the career development of academics at all stages of their career, and to helping its people to reach their potential and make a significant contribution to their discipline, the University and society more broadly. We welcome those who have started their careers in other professions or in industry and recognize the importance of bringing new perspectives into our teaching and research.

As an Oxford Brookes academic, there are opportunities to progress from Lecturer to Senior Lecturer, and to be promoted by the Senior Academic Promotions Committee (SAPC) to Associate Professor (formerly Reader or Principal Lecturer Education and Student Experience) and Professor, and through the four grades of Professor.

For staff on research-only contracts, there are opportunities for progression from Research Fellow to Senior Research Fellow and then for promotion through SAPC to Associate Professor, Professor and through the grades of Professor.

Pathways

Promotions through SAPC take place in one of three pathways, which help staff to structure their career, focus applications for promotion, and identify areas for development (in the table below):

Education
Education, Knowledge Exchange and Professional Practice
Education and Research

Career paths may change over time and therefore the framework allows people to choose criteria from other pathways when applying for promotion and to move to a different pathway for future promotions.

Grade	Education	Education, Knowledge Exchange and Professional Practice	Education and Research
9	Lecturer	Lecturer	Lecturer or Research Fellow
10/11	Senior Lecturer	Senior Lecturer	Senior Lecturer or Senior Research Fellow
12	Associate Professor	Associate Professor	Associate Professor
Prof 1-4	Professor 1-4	Professor 1-4	Professor 1-4
Overview	Promotion according to education criteria as well as criteria for leadership and academic citzenship appropriate to level.	Promotion according to knowledge exchange and Professional Practice criteria as well as criteria for education, leadership, and academic citzenship appropriate to level.	Promotion according to research as well as criteria for education, leadership, and academic citzenship appropriate to level.

Five pillars of performance

Within each pathway, the criteria for promotion and for progression through the different grades are organised around five pillars of performance that reflect our educational character, strategic goals and guiding principles:

Education

Your ability to educate students and others in a way that is effective and inclusive, and to innovate and contribute to advances in pedagogy, informed by your scholarship and, if appropriate, research.

Research

Your ability to advance knowledge through research, to contribute to your discipline across the University, nationally and internationally, and to engage with beneficiaries of research to develop impact.

Knowledge exchange and professional practice

Your ability to deliver impact through engagement and knowledge exchange for professional practice, quality of life, wider cultural, economic or social issues, and through engagement with external communities; this includes innovation, enterprise and commercialisation of research.

Academic citizenship

To be an active academic citizen, taking a collegial, collaborative approach to your work; to engage effectively with students to support their learning and development and with recruitment, outreach and external stakeholders more broadly.

Leadership

Your ability to take opportunities to develop yourself as an effective leader and to take on leadership roles to manage projects, teams, partners and help develop others.

Overview of Core and Optional Criteria

Blocks	Critera	Education pathway	Education, knowledge exchange and professional practice pathway	Education and research pathway
Education	High Quality Teaching Practice infromed by scholarship and/or research	Core for both levels	Core for both levels	Core for both levels
	Curriculum Enhancement	Core for both levels
	Innovation in Teaching	Core for both levels
Academic Citizenship	Collegiate & collaborative approach	Core for both levels	Core for both levels	Core for both levels
	Student engagement, recruitment and outreach
	External stakeholder engagement	Core for Professor only
Leadership	Self-development
	Leading and developing others	Core for Professor only	Core for Professor only	Core for Professor only
	Team, project or partner management
Knowledge Exchange and Professional Practice	High quality outputs and income from KE, innovation, enterprise, or associated with professional practice		Core for both levels
	External engagement, making a contribution through knowlege exchange activiities and/or professional practice
			Core for both levels
	Economic or societal impact from knowledge exchange activites and/or professional practice
			Core for Professor only
Research	High quality research outputs and sustainable research funding			Core for both levels
	External engagement, contribution to field, nationally and internationally
				Core for both levels
	Interdisciplinary and collaborative research, and research impact
				Core for Professor only