Candidate/Supervisor Panel Agreement
At the beginning of your candidature, you and your Supervisor Panel should align your expectations, by discussing and reaching agreement on each of the following items. The following are the minimum expectations of the University for initiating the student-supervisor relationship. You should address each heading and individual items to develop your agreement.
You and your supervisors are required to:
· Develop a two-three-page agreement including supervisor panel selection and Research, Professional and Career Skills Audit (appendices 1 and 2 to this document)
· Review this agreement each semester when you and your supervisors meet to discuss progress (as part of the progress report process).
· Sign the initial agreement, and provide it as a requirement of Confirmation of Candidature.
Candidate/Supervisor Panel Agreement
1. Meetings
· What will be the frequency, duration, and location of meetings?
· How long before meetings should you submit work for review? In what form?
· What is the planned structure of meetings, including the agenda style, task recording, and which supervisors will be in attendance? Who will be responsible for this?
· What are the responsibilities of you and your Supervisors in the event that a meeting is postponed?
· Are there any anticipated periods during which meeting frequency will be reduced due to limited availability of you or your Supervisors? If so, what contingencies will be in place?
2. Feedback
· How long will Supervisors take to review work and give feedback after it has been submitted?
· In what form will feedback be provided? Oral, written, electronic or other?
· Have you and your Supervisors agreed on the extent and scope of the feedback?
· Have you and your Supervisors agreed on a process of clearly communicating feedback so there is no ambiguity on how to proceed?
2. Supervisory Panel Structure
· What is the composition of the Supervisor Panel as outlined in “Supervisor Panel Selection” (Appendix 1)? Show loadings and skill sets.
· Are any of the Supervisors retiring, going on long service or study leave? Is so, when will this happen, and what processes will be put in place for extended absences?
3. Publication Plan
· How many, and type of publications, are planned for preparation during candidature?
· Who will be the target publisher or audience?
· What is the timeframe for submission and internal review/feedback?
· Which conferences do you plan to attend? How will this be funded?
· Has authorship been discussed between yourself and your Supervisors and between Supervisors?
· The revised Publication Plan and a Progress Statement (against targets set in the publication plan) will be signed off by the Associate Dean RHD at the same time as the nomination of examiners is signed off, and is a requirement for graduation. The minimum requirement should be that you have made some progress towards publishing and disseminating your work.
4. Training, Induction and Skills Development
· Have attended a face-to-face induction held by the Graduate Research School? If not, have you obtained relevant information?
· Have you completed the online Graduate Research Induction Program (GRIP)?
· Have you completed a skills gap analysis using the Research, Professional and Career Skills Audit tool (Appendix 2)?
· Is any coursework required for the degree? If so, when and which units?
5. Resources, Support Services and Research Centres
· Have you been advised of your access to equipment, study space, printing, computer, software, and funding available from School, Faculty and/or Research Centre?
· Are there any anticipated resource or funding issues that could affect progress of the research?
· Are you aware of the research centre most closely affiliated with your research and any services and seminars that are available and will be relevant? What opportunities for involvement/ integration might there be for you with the research centre?
· Have you been advised of services/resources available from School & Faculty?
· Have you been advised of services/resources available from GRS?
· Are you aware of other services available from the University, including Library, Counselling, ORI, CLD etc?
6. Planning, Tracking and Assessment
· Has a timetable/plan for the complete thesis been created showing key milestones, especially the Research Proposal and submission of application to ethics to align with Confirmation of Candidature?
· Have the DEEWR guidelines and ECU rules which require completion by 4EFTSL for Doctoral students and 2EFTSL for Master by Research been discussed?
· Are you aware of the Implications of Marginal Progress?
· Are you aware of the importance of ECU student email? All official correspondence including access to progress reports each semester and ethics is via student email.
7. Rules, Policies and Guidelines – Are you familiar with the following, and able to locate them?
· ECU rules, policies and guidelines related to HDR Candidates
· Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research
· Intellectual Property
· Authorship and Plagiarism
· OHS and Ethics Policies (Human, Animal and Bio-Safety) and requirements
· Research Online (ro.ecu.edu.au) and Digital Thesis publication
· Professional editing and proof-reading of theses
Student Name & SignatureSupervisor Names & Signatures
Date
Appendix 1 – Supervisor Panel Selection
The following examples exemplify how the model can be used to select the correct mix of skills for the Supervisor Panel, with at least one tick in each column. Select the model most appropriate for your supervisor panel, inserting details on the composition, skill set and loadings of your panel:
Example 1 / ExpertiseSupervisor
Title / Name / Load / Discipline
Knowledge / Research
Design / Rules &
Deadlines / Mentoring
Principal / Dr X / 70 / ü / ü / ü
Associate / Dr Z / 30 / ü / ü
Example 2 / Expertise
Supervisor
Title / Name / Load / Discipline
Knowledge / Research
Design / Rules &
Deadlines / Mentoring
Co-Principal / Dr X / 50 / ü / ü
Co-Principal / Dr Z / 50 / ü / ü / ü
Example 3 / Expertise
Supervisor
Title / Name / Load / Discipline
Knowledge / Research
Design / Rules &
Deadlines / Mentoring
Principal / Dr X / 50 / ü / ü
Coordinating / Mr Y / 10 / ü
Associate 1 / Dr Z / 40 / ü / ü
Example 4 / Expertise
Supervisor
Title / Name / Load / Discipline
Knowledge / Research
Design / Rules &
Deadlines / Mentoring
Principal / Dr X / 40 / ü
Associate 1 / Dr Z / 40 / ü / ü / ü
Associate 2 / Dr A / 20 / ü / ü
Example 5 / Expertise
Supervisor
Title / Name / Load / Discipline
Knowledge / Research
Design / Rules &
Deadlines / Mentoring
Principal / Dr X / 30 / ü
Coordinating / Ms Y / 10 / ü / ü
Associate / Dr Z / 20 / ü
External / Dr J / 40 / ü
Appendix 2 – Research, Professional and Career Skills Audit
Please use this table as a template and guide to identify training and professional development that is required. You and your Supervisors should be aware that the GRS, Faculties, CLD, ORI, Library Services, Career Services and other centres offer a broad range of training that is freely available during the academic year.
How are you at? / Score* / How will you improvethese skills? / When will the training occur?
Research & Professional Skills
Literature Review Skills
Appropriate Research Methods
– Qualitative
– Quantitative
– Mixed Methods
– Practice-Led/Based
– etc
Academic writing skills
Publishing Skills
Writing skills, reading skills, verbal skills
Project planning, managing time, setting agendas and completing tasks
Critical thinking, problem solving, analytical skills
Library skills, bibliography, referencing, EndNote, etc
Presentation and communication skills
Using IT research software applications for data analysis, referencing, formatting, publishing, etc
English as an Additional Language (where needed)
Other Professional skills?
Other?
Career Development
Networking & Self Marketing
Action plans for Goal Setting
CV & ePortfolio development
Interview skills
Job searching skills
Writing selection critera
Other?
* 1 = need to develop, 2 = some familiarity, 3 feeling confident, 4 = well developed
ECU Updated 19/11/12 1