RAPID ACTION PLAN AND FRAMEWORK FOR DEPARTMENTS TO WORK TOWARDS AN ATHENA AWARD

ATHENA SUBMISSION DEADLINES: End of April and November each year

ACTION / WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE / TIMEFRAME AND NOTES
  1. Departmental Athena Self-Assessment Group to be set up
/ (a)Each department to set up an Athena Self-Assessment Group which should be led by the HoD or a Senior Member of Academic Staff. Recruitment of a diverse membership consisting of key staff, i.e. admissions tutors, outreach officers and post-doctoral research staff and PhD and undergraduate students.
(b)Regular meetings to be organised and noted in diaries (one or two meetings will not be acceptable – it has to be demonstrated that regular meetings take place and become embedded into culture of department – these meetings will need to continue after submission to move the Action Plan forward). Dates and times of the meetings of the Athena Self-Assessment Group should be communicated to the group in advance, so frequency of meetings is known well in advance.
(c)Representative from group to attend University Athena Network meetings for support and to share best practice / Start of Process and continuous
Sandra Beaufoy d/or Claire Algar om HR are available to attend departmental Self-Assessment Group meetings to advise on the process and the departmental application, plus share best practice identified in other departments.
The majority of STEM departments have given their self-assessment groups the name of Welfare and Communication Group, so that the group can not only address Athena issues, but take a wider view of departmental issues, such as welfare of staff and students, communication and most also include the PULSE survey.
Network meetings are held monthly and dates/times and venue can be obtained from Claire Algar ()
  1. Identification of a staff member to lead the process and be responsible for collating all the information
/ (a)To provide administrative support to the Departmental Athena Focus Group:
(i)Arrange meetings, dates/times and venue
(ii)Set up email distribution lists
(iii)Create web page with a web link to the Athena Swan Charter web page on the departmental intranet to keep staff informed of progress.
(iv)Post minutes of meetings and other related Athena documentation on the departmental Athena Swan web page.
(v)Download Athena Application form from Athena Website and issue to Athena Focus Group.
(vi) Post the final submission and the associated action plan on the departmental Athena Swan web page. The final submission will also be required to be in the public domain.
(b)Departments should ensure that they have a work allocation model, so that it is transparent to staff how duties are allocated and workloads measured. / Start of Process and continuous
Anonymised final submission to be copied to S. Beaufoy for display on E&D Athena webpage (if successful – these can only be published once ECU have notified of success, which is usually five months after submission).
  1. Briefing to department staff and students by Senior member of staff
/ Briefings to be arranged to communicate the principles of the Athena Charter and why departments are working towards achieving the award. The briefings should inform and engage departmental staff and students in the process, to determine what issues need to be addressed. This could take place at Staff meetings and SSLC meetings. / After first meeting of Athena Focus Group
Remember to include ALL staff in the process, including PDRAs and PhD students.
  1. Member of staff to be identified to take responsibility for the baseline data.
/
  1. Staff member to contact:
Anne O’Rourke HR for staff data
Samuel Cole the Strategic Planning and Information Office (SPA)
for Student data.
  1. Once data is received, to analyse it and compare with national trends.
  2. The member of staff will be responsible for providing a commentary on the data’s significance and how this has affected the action planning. Discussion should take place with the Focus Group on how to address any disparities.
  3. Explain on Action Plan proposed actions to be taken to address disparities – this is essential, it is not enough just to identify trends, explanations must be given on how issues will be addressed.
  4. HR (Anne O’Rourke) can provide staff data in table format for the following sections on the Athena application form:
  • Female : Male ratio of academic staff and research staff
  • Turnover by grade and gender
  • Job application and success rates by gender and grade
  • Applications for promotion and success rates by gender and grade
  • Female : Male ratio of academic and research staff on fixed-term contracts and open-ended (permanent) contracts
  • Maternity return rates
  • Paternity, adoption and parental leave uptake
  • The Strategic Planning and Analytics Office (SPA) (Sam Cole) will supply data for students, in a Dashboard format for the following sections:
  • Numbers of males and females on access or foundation courses
  • Undergraduate male and female numbers
  • Postgraduate male and female numbers completing taught courses
  • Postgraduate male and female numbers on research degrees
  • Ratio of course applications to offers and acceptances by gender for undergraduate, postgraduate taught and postgraduate research degrees
  • Degree classification by gender
  • Departments will be responsible for providing data for the male and female representation on departmental committees.
/ Start of Process and continuous
Athena request 3 years worth of data on submissions, but Warwick decided to submit data over a 5 year period, so that sensible comparisons/trends and commentary could be made
Numbers relate to data questions on Bronze / Silver Submission form
Relate to data questions on Bronze / Silver Submission form
  1. Allocate specific questions from the submission form to individuals on the Focus Group best placed to take responsibility for that section
/ For example the member of staff that has responsibility for the departments recruitment would respond to the Recruitment Section.Individuals to draft responses to questions and submit them to a Group meeting for discussion and approval. / Throughout the process
  1. Collaborate with similar departments from other Universities that have already been successful in gaining an Athena Award.
/
  1. Invite the Athena Coordinator from the external department to come to Warwick to give a talk on their experiences during the submission process and to share best practice.
  2. Report this collaboration on your submission
/ Start of the Process – look on the Equality Challenge Unit (ECU) - Athena Swan Website to see details of other Universities and departments that have achieved awards.
If in doubt, contact Sandra Beaufoy ()
  1. When submission has been drafted and discussed at meetings, identify issues for attention and draft a suitable Action Plan.
/ Draft appropriate Action Plan, with objectives and realistic timeframes. The Action Plan should address the issues that are identified through the data analysis and through communication with staff within the department. Action Plans should be over a four year period. / Towards the end of the submission process, but for ease, this could be done as issues are identified.