Postgraduate Tutoring

Dear Research Postgraduates

Postgraduate Tutoring

I am writing to all research postgraduates in the School to invite expressions of interest in tutoring during Semester 1 and Semester 2 of the coming academic year, 2008/09.

Opportunities to tutor exist in most of the first and second year courses in the School, listed in Appendix 1. In exceptional cases, research postgraduates may be employed to tutor at Honours and MSc level, listed in Appendix 2. Exceptional cases include, for example, when a research student has relevant experience beyond their academic qualifications. There will be an additional call for expressions of interest in tutoring on semester 2 courses in the autumn. Please note that most courses will have arranged their tutoring staff by then, therefore only limited opportunities will be available.

Research postgraduates must ensure that they have suitable academic knowledge of the course content to tutor, and that the tutoring workload will not be detrimental to their course of study. If you wish to tutor, you must discuss this with your supervisor (or if you have not yet been assigned a supervisor, your programme director) and your supervisor (or programme director) must sign the attached form. The final decision regarding employment as a postgraduate tutor rests with the course convener.

Please note that all tutors who wish to be considered for tutoring on 1st and 2nd year courses must hold a Disclosure Certificate, or apply for one if they do not already have one. Please see Appendix 3 for details. To allow for greater flexibility about how many tutors are employed in a given semester, tutors may be employed on a ‘zero hours’ basis, which registers them on the casual payroll (if the Disclosure Check is satisfactory) but leaves open the number of hours (if any) that they will teach in a given semester. To avoid repeat Disclosure Checks for the same individuals, tutors may be employed for a number of years (on a zero hours basis for future years). Tutor contracts may be extended. So long as there is no break in the period of employment a further Disclosure Check will not be required.

If you are interested in tutoring, please complete the School Expression of Interest in Postgraduate Tutoring form(attached), discuss it with your supervisor and obtain their signature, and return it with a copy of your CV to Margaret Brown, School Administrative Assistant, Adam Ferguson Building (AFB) room 230 (email ). Please submit the form and CV in both hard and electronic copy, by 12.00 pm on Friday 30th May 2008.

If you are new to tutoring in the School, you will need to apply for a Disclosure certificate. You can collect a blank application form and notes of guidance from Margaret, or from the Undergraduate Teaching Office, Room 206, AFB. Please return the completed Disclosure Application form and proof of identity, as set out in the attached letter, to Margaret Brown by Friday, 30th May.

We would hope to contact you by late July to let you if you there are tutoring opportunities for you. Disclosure Scotland checks will then be carried out for successful candidates as necessary.

Yours sincerely

Dr Jonathan Hearn

Director of Undergraduate Teaching

School of Social and Political Studies

Enclosed:

• Appendix 1: SSPS 1st and 2nd year courses where there may be opportunities to tutor
• Appendix 2: SSPS Honours and MSc courses where there may be opportunities to tutor
• Appendix 3: Disclosure
• SSPS – Expression of Interest in Postgraduate Tutoring form

APPENDIX 1: SSPS 1st and 2nd year courses where there may be opportunities to tutor

Canadian Studies

Canadian Studies 1A (CA0013) (1st semester)

Politics

Introduction to Politics and International Relations (U02397) (1st semester)

Democracy in Comparative Perspective (U02398) (2nd semester)

International Cooperation in Europe and Beyond (U02399) (1st semester)

Research Centre for Social Sciences

Technology and Society 2A (SY0071) (1st semester)

Science Studies

Note that Science Studies courses do not have face-to-face tutorials, but ‘virtual’ tutorials delivered via WebCT. There may be opportunities to help with WebCT course delivery and routine marking of coursework.

Science and Society 1 (SU0001) (1st semester)

History of Medicine 1 (SU0005) (2nd semester)

Social Anthropology

Social Anthropology 1A – An Introduction (SA0105) (1st semester)

Social Anthropology 1B The Practice of Social Anthropology (SA0104) (2nd semester)

Social Anthropology 2 Into the Field (U03813) (1st semester)

Social Policy

Social Policy and Society 1 (U03818) (1st semester)

Politics of the Welfare State 1 (U03819) (2nd semester)

European Social Policy 2 (U03820) (1st semester)

Sociology

Sociology 1A The Sociological Imagination: Individuals and Society (U03814) (1st semester)

Sociology 1B The Sociological Imagination: Private Troubles, Public Problems (U03815) (2nd semester)

Sociology 2: Transformations of Self and Society (U04280) (1st semester)

Social Work *

Social Work: Making a Difference (U01498) (1st Semester)

Social Work: Policy and Legal Frameworks (U01500) (2nd Semester)

From Research into Practice: Landmarks in Social Work Research (U01515) (1st Semester)

South Asian Studies

South Asian Studies 2A (AS0095) (1st semester)

South Asian Studies 2B (AS0096) (2nd semester)

School-wide courses

Social and Political Theory 2 (SP0079) (2nd semester)

Social and Political Enquiry 2 (U02440) (2nd semester)

*Only qualified Social Workers, or, exceptionally, people with a sound and substantial background in social work or social care, may tutor on Social Work courses.

Further details about many of these courses, including a short description, can be found in the SSPS Student Handbook 2008-09, available at

APPENDIX 2: SSPS Honours and MSc courses where there may be opportunities to tutor

(Opportunities to tutor on Honours courses are subject to there being sufficient financial resources available for next academic year).

HONOURS COURSES

Politics

Approaches to Politics and International Relations (2nd Semester)

Comparative Politics (1st semester)
Global Justice & Citizenship (1st Semester)

International Security (2nd semester)
Introduction to African Politics (1st semester)
War and Justice (1st semester)

Social Policy

Welfare, Justice and the State, Ref U00192 (U00192) 2nd semester

Joint Sociology / Social Policy Courses

Designing and Doing Social Research 1st semester

Doing Survey Research 2nd semester

MSc COURSES

Research Training Courses

Research Design (2nd Semester)

Research Skills in the Social Sciences: Data Collection (1st Semester)

Core Quantitive Data Analysis (1st Semester)

Further details about these courses, including a short description, can be found in Subject Area Honours handbooks, available on the Subject Area websites (accessible via the School website, the GraduateSchool website,

APPENDIX 3: Disclosure Checks

Background

The Protection of Children (Scotland) Act covers the protection of children under the age of 18 and establishes a Scottish list of adults Disqualified from Working with Children. This Act makes it an offence to offer work in a childcareposition to a person on this list. ‘Childcare positions’ include teaching and supervising. As such, any offer of employment as a Tutor at Ordinary level – which may involve the teaching of students aged under 18 - is subject to the receipt of a satisfactory Enhanced Disclosure certificate from Disclosure Scotland.

Who needs a Disclosure Certificate?

All postgraduates who wish to be considered for tutoring on1stand 2nd year coursesmust apply for anEnhanced Disclosure Certificate.

• If you are new to tutoring in the School of Social and Political Studies, you must apply for a Disclosure Certificate, even if you have previously obtained one in relation to work done elsewhere in the University or for a different employer.
• If you have tutored previously in the School of Social and Political Studies, Margaret Brown, School Administrative Assistant, will contact you if you need to apply for a new Disclosure Certificate.

If you are only interested in tutoring on Honours or MSc courses,you do not need to apply for a Disclosure Certificate.

I need a Disclosure Certificate. Who pays?

You do not need to pay for the Disclosure application. The University will pay for this.

How do I apply for a Disclosure Certificate?

Disclosure Application forms and Notes on Guidance are available in the School Undergraduate Teaching Office, AdamFergusonBuilding room 206. If you are unable to come to the School to collect the form, please contact Margaret Brown, School Administrative Assistant, who will arrange for one to be sent out to you.

Note: you do not need to pay for the Disclosure application; the University will pay for it.

The form should be completed in BLACK INK ONLY, using block capital letters. In addition to the Notes on Guidance, there are some points that are specific to The University of Edinburgh’s recruitment process which are as follows:

Part A: Type of Application: - tick Enhanced Disclosure.

Part B: Personal Details: - please complete this section in as much detail as possible. Address History is now only required for 5 years due to a change in policy.

Part C: Declaration: - please sign and date the form at Section C1/C2, as the application cannot be processed without your signature.

Part D: Payment: - the cost of the Disclosure will be met by the University, please therefore cross the box at Section D3 and ignore the rest of Part D as this is for the University to complete.

Part E: Countersignature: - This section of the form is for completion by The University of Edinburgh. However, you should complete Section E1 as ‘The University of Edinburgh’ and Section E2 – the position for which you are applying. DO NOT sign the document at E17/18 as this is for the University to complete.

E13: - You now need to provide THREE forms of identification (one photographic) out of the following:

• Passport
• birth certificate
• driving licence
• other (i.e. a utilities bill which includes your name and address)

Please either bring the originals together with the completed form and show them to the School Administrative Assistant when submitting your form, or submit the form together with photocopies of the documents proving your identity.

Please return your completed Disclosure Application form and return, with appropriate proof of identity, to Margaret Brown, School Administrative Assistant, AdamFergusonBuilding room 230 by Friday, 30th May 2008.

What happens next?

If you have been offered and accepted tutoring employment in the School, your Disclosure Application form will be forwarded to Human Resources for checking, countersigning and processing. Human Resources will then send the Application to Disclosure Scotland. The Disclosure process could take up to two months to carry out. The Disclosure certificate will be posted to your home address and a copy will also be sent to the College’s registered countersignatory who is a member of the College Human Resources team. The Disclosure certificate will be kept in a separate, secure file for six months, after which it will be destroyed. If any further information is required by Disclosure Scotland in order to process your Disclosure Application, you will be contacted directly.

If you have not been offered tutoring, or have chosen not to accept an offer of tutoring, your Disclosure Application form will be destroyed.

1

SSPS – EXPRESSION OF INTEREST IN POSTGRADUATE TUTORING

1