Staff handbook
Welcome to the staff handbook for Engineering and Informatics. Please click on a section below to expand it. Scroll down to the foot of the list for the department specific sections.
- Absence - annual leave and sickness
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From 1st October 2022 annual leave and sickness will be recorded on My View. Full guidance can be found here.
Annual Leave
Holiday entitlement is included in staff terms and conditions, which vary between categories of staff. They can be found here.
The leave year runs from 1st October and all staff are expected to take their allocated holiday during the leave year. Requests to carry over up to 5 days of unused leave to the following holiday year must be made and agreed by your line manager.
Term and other key dates can be found here: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/aboutus/keydates
Academic staff, particularly (but not confined to) those involved in teaching, are asked to let the School Office know of longer absences using ei@sussex.ac.uk This will allow School Office colleagues inform students and staff of availability or alternative contacts. Teaching faculty should not normally take holidays during term time; permission to do so should be sought well in advance from the line manager.
Sickness
if you are unwell and not able to work you should inform your line manager as soon as possible. Full guidance on sickness absence can be found here. Sickness should be recorded on My View by you or your line manager if you are unable.
- Academic Time Survey (ATS)
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The UK Funding Councils require all universities to allocate annual costs across the range of activities that they undertake.
All universities must submit an annual TRAC (Transparent Approach to Costing) return to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in order to provide information to the Government on the full economic costs of teaching, research and other activities. The ATS is a vital component of the TRAC Return process, gathering statistical data about the time spent by Academic staff on teaching, research, other and support activities. The data collected is subsequently used as a basis for allocating certain key categories of costs to those activities.
The TRAC return is a valuable and influential source of data which informs the decisions of Government, concerning funding for research in higher education. Importantly, the TRAC return provides the basis for Research Council full economic cost recovery rates, which determine the amount of overhead that can be charged to a Research Council funded research project. There is therefore, a direct link between the need for a time allocation process and the amount of funding received by the University.
The University must achieve a 75% completion rate for the Academic Time Survey from all eligible Academics in order to comply with the requirements of TRAC.
You will find the ATS on Sussex Direct under the “Personal” tab and a list of ATS definitions and activities is available by the “Related Links” drop down box or;
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/finance/services/corporateaccounting/tracfec
Before the start of each new Academic year, all eligible Academics will be contacted via e-mail advising them of the dates of the ATS survey. The survey period currently consists of six individual weeks, selected from the academic year, ensuring that each month is sampled once every three years. (Should the survey change, you will be notified by e-mail). You are asked to submit your time data for each period as soon as possible after its conclusion. Follow up e-mails will be sent initially to those who have not completed their ATS surveys and subsequent e-mails to Heads of School and Department, should the targeted completion rate not be achieved.
The survey data is confidential with each individual’s return being used only as part of the whole data set and for no other purpose. The data is handled in accordance with the Data Protection Act and by the ATS Administrator alone. It is used in an anonymous, aggregate form to provide statistical data at the level of Schools or the University as a whole.
If you have any questions please contact Stephen Crossman (Resource Accountant) ext. 8702 Stephen.Crossman@sussex.ac.uk
- Academic advising & assessment regulations
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Information for Academic Advisors is coordinated on the Student Experience and Advice (Eng/Inf) Canvas site, managed by Dr Ronald Grau the Director of Student Experience. You will see a list and details of your own academic advisees on the 'Teaching' drop-down menu in Sussex Direct.
For ZJSU-Sussex JI students, the course convenor is also the academic advisor. See Canvas for more information.
Assessment regulations are available on the Academic Quality & Partnerships web pages.
A comprehensive guide for students on assessment and teaching is now available in the student handbooks. Please signpost your academic advisees to these important resources:
Engineering & Informatics student handbook
ZJSU-Sussex JI student handbook
Threshold marking
Engineering, Product Design and ZJSU-Sussex JI (UG courses) faculty should note the additional regulations, including threshold marking and award of non-accreditied degrees, when advising students.
For guidance, for example on a specific case, contact:
Anthea Clark a.clark@sussex.ac.uk - Curriculum & Assessment Officer (Sussex-based courses)
Patrick Meredith pm477@sussex.ac.uk - Curriculum & Assessment Officer (ZJSU-Sussex JI courses)
Jackie Gains j.gains@sussex.ac.uk - Senior Course Coordinator for Informatics
Ellen Bryant e.bryant@sussex.ac.uk - Senior Course Coordinator for Engineering
- Achievement and Development Reviews (formerly appraisals)
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Please visit the ADR guidance webpage.
- Assessment convening
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The Assessment Convening handbook provides in-depth information and guidance on the administrative aspects of your role as Assessment Convenor. See also the 'Assessment & teaching' sections of the student handbooks:
- Branding & publications
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For information and guidance on the University’s publication and branding policy, please see here.
- Buildings & maintenance: fault reporting & porter assistance
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All building related queries should be sent to: EngInfSEF@sussex.ac.uk
We will log the issue with SEF and coordinate the follow-up and completion of the job. We will keep you informed of progress. Typically, requests will be for ad hoc cleaning, maintenance, heating issues, water leaks, requests for porter assistance. Your email must include:
- Exact location of issue
- Clear explanation
- A photo, if possible/neccessary
- Casual staff: employment & Right-to-Work checks
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Casual staff are now employed through Reed Talent Solutions. Please refer to the information on the Finance Division web pages. It is important to plan ahead as Right-to-Work checks must be completed before any work is done.
In order to ensure that the temporary and casual workforce at the University of Sussex are being paid correctly, and to ensure consistency across the University, Reed and HR have worked together to develop a new set of templates on XMS. These templates ensure that each job is at the correct grade and pay rate, and most include job descriptions attached. The release of these new templates is coordinated with the pay uplifts effective 1st March, 2025.
From 1st March, 2025, when you are raising an order on XMS, please use the new templates. These are easy to spot as they say “(NEW)” at the end, for example, “Student Ambassador (NEW)” or “Technician II (NEW)”.
Please ensure you do not raise any new orders using the old templates. These can be easily identified as they all begin with “DO NOT USE”, for example “DO NOT USE Student Ambassador” or “DO NOT USE Technician II”.
If you raise an order using an old template prior to the 1st April, 2025, the Reed team will be on hand to assist you in making any necessary corrections. Any orders raised using old templates from 1st April onwards, however, will be rejected, and you will need to raise a new order.
If you are raising a new order and you find that the template that you are looking to use says neither “(NEW)” nor “DO NOT USE” and simply has a job title, you may still use this template.
You may find that new templates are more generic that the old templates. If you feel you are struggling to find the correct new template for an order you are trying to raise, please reach out to the Reed team, and we will be more than happy to advise. TemporaryResourcing.UOS@reed.com
- Complaints
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All staff are now required to complete a brief web form when responding to a Level 1 informal complaint from a student. These forms are now live and ready to use, so please ensure that you and your colleagues log any complaints you respond to using the form provided below. The form has been kept as short as possible to just capture the essential data of what the complaint was regarding and how it was resolved.
The webform for our area can be found here.
What is a Level 1 complaint?
When a student first raises a complaint, it should be responded to informally by the relevant department (or ‘service provider’). This is considered the ‘Level 1’ stage of the University’s Student Complaints Procedure and is an opportunity to resolve an issue without the need for a formal investigation. We strongly recommend that staff should aim to resolve complaints at this stage wherever possible.
Further information about why this change has been made and what constitutes as a Level 1 complaint can be found here.
See our full Student Complaints Procedure here.
For any further questions, please contact the Complaints Team on complaints@sussex.ac.uk
- Data protection responsibilities
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The full University Data Protection policy can be found at http://www.sussex.ac.uk/ogs/policies/information/dpa/dataprotectionpolicy.
If you have a teaching role, see also the data protection section in 'Assessment convening'.
- Email and Teams etiquette
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Please read the University Press and Communications Office guidance on the use of email.
The School uses Microsoft Teams as an additional mode of communication. Please apply the same email etiquette rules as above.
- External Speakers
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If you are organising an event that will have an external speaker, please check the external speaker request procedure here. The person inviting the external speaker needs to complete the online form on this page. An external speaker or venue booking should not be confirmed until it has been approved by the University of Sussex. It is therefore important that the process is started at the earliest opportunity. If the School Office is supporting the organisation of an event which an external speaker is attending, please let them know when this process has been completed.
- Family friendly policies
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The Unversity's family friendly policies can be found here.
- Finance, purchasing & expense claims
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Finance and Purchasing
Refer to the Finance section for full guidance. Stefanie Freiling is our dedicated finance and administration assistant in the School Office. Please contact her if you have any queries or need support. S.Freiling@sussex.ac.uk
The School has a Management Accountant, Chris Chaplin, who will provide advice and support on complex matters http://www.sussex.ac.uk/finance/services/schoolsfinance
The University’s finance system is Unit 4. Log-in here.
New users of the system will need to complete a form (application for access to Unit 4 for non-finance staff).
Further information for staff on purchasing, goods receipting, IR35/invoices from suppliers not set up on UNIT4, business travel, budget codes etc, can be found here.
Expenses
Staff must claim expenses through Unit 4. Please see instructions on how to do this here.
Please note the University guidelines on expenses, included in the financial regulations.
Please contact Anne Craig in the School Office for assitance with expense claims a.s.craig@sussex.ac.uk
You must take public transport wherever it is feasible to do so. The University will not pay taxi fares except when: they are incurred abroad; they are before 7am or after 9pm; you have, or are accompanied by someone with a mobility difficulty; you are transporting heavy luggage or equipment and there is no other reasonable mode of travel.
- Food on campus
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Places to eat on campus can be found on this webpage.
- Health, safety & environment
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Please visit the Health, safety & environment page.
For information on student equipment loans please see this page.
- IT Services
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School research computing is supported by the Informatics computing support team.
Standard desktop computers are provided by the University’s IT Services unit and any computer related questions or issues should be sent on-line to ITS Support via the web form: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/help/
Please note that it is a University requirement that all data is saved to Box to ensure work is stored and backed up. Local drives do not meet this requirement: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/services/networkandstorage/cloudfirst-filestorage
If data is sensitive and or confidential other arrangements can be made through IT Services or the Research support team: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/services/research
IT Services registration and training
In order to set-up and activate your IT Services account, through which you receive your email account and address, you will need to visit IT Services Reception in Shawcross Building. For the building’s location, see the campus map online:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/aboutus/findus/campusmaps
When visiting IT Services you will need to take with you your letter of appointment or staff ID as proof of identity. Your email account can be set up in a few minutes and will be ready for you to send and receive email straight away.
You can also collect your log in details by calling IT Services on 01273 67(8090).
IT Services Reception hold training courses for staff. You can find out what is available at: http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/training/
Network/colour printing, photocopying, scanner, fax
You will be networked to the University Multi-functional Devices which includes scanning, faxing and printing. These devices can be used with your access card. http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/services/informationandsupport/mfd
Microsoft Outlook calendar
Instructions on how to access the calendar can be found on:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/its/services/programsandsoftware/emailandcalendar/exchange
It is important to use Outlook for your School diary system as only this method is used when sending invitations to meetings. - Keys & SALTO (access) cards
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If you require a key please check with your line manager and/or the School Office on ei@sussex.ac.uk
If you require a SALTO access card please fill in this form, have it signed by your line manager or the School Administrator and email it to SEF.ServiceCentre@mitie.com
- ID cards
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New members of staff should email SEF.PrintUnit@mitie.com to request an ID card.
Please email us from your Sussex email account and attach a passport-style photo of yourself (a 'selfie' is acceptable in most cases).
When your card is ready you can collect from the Print Unit or we can post it to your campus or home address.
For futher information on ID cards, please visit the Print Unit webpage.
For a replacement ID card if yours has been lost, stolen or has expired: request a replacement ID card
- Line Management and Leadership
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Resources to support line managers:
Management and Leadership toolkit by Organisational Development.
Management essentials workshops run termly by Organisational Development.
Workplace adjustments to support your staff members.
Staff wellbeing resources and Employee Assistance Programme.
Government Access to Work scheme to support your staff members with adjustments that go beyond standard workplace adjustments.
Rewards and benefits that the University offers to support your staff members.
Development programmes for managers and leaders.
Information for supporting new staff can be found here and in more detail in the "recruitment, induction and onboarding" below.
Refer to HR pages for information on occupational health, workplace adjustments, policies and procedures etc.
- New Staff Members
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If you are a new staff member you can find lots of useful information on the new staff central webpage and the new staff Welcome Pack. Your line manager should conduct an induction and onboarding process with you. School specific information can be found here in the staff handbook. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out the School Administrator Lily King on schooladministrator@enginf.sussex.ac.uk
If you are a new academic member of staff and will be convening a module, please check the assessment convening handbook.
If you know or think you may benefit from workplace adjustments and this has not already been discussed with you, please speak to your line manager. Sussex staff can also make use of the government's Access to Work scheme.
Sustainability at the University of Sussex
Our strategic goal is for the University of Sussex to be one of the most sustainable universities in the world, and you can play your part. As you start your time with us, we encourage you to complete the Sustainability e-learning module to learn more about our goals and how you can contribute.
- Parking on campus
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Comprehensive guidance to parking on campus can be found here.
Parking information for staff can be found here.
Visitor parking information can be found here. Staff inviting visitors to campus may reserve parking for them in advance by contacting the transport office, or visitors can pay for short stays via phone or app.
- Pay information
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Current rates of pay can be found here.
- Records Management
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Records management ensures that our records are created, used, stored, and disposed of in our day-to-day work in a way that facilitates their most efficient and effective use and complies with legal and other requirements. For a simple overview of records management, please look at the video here which only takes 4 minutes to view.
We have a Records Management Policy that provides more detail about the importance of records management and the principles that underpin it. Good records management enables records to be found and retrieved quickly and facilities the better use of our physical and server space. Some benefits of good records management are listed here and the Information Management team produced a Panopto video here that gives you some top tips on becoming better at records management. Some tips are listed below.
• Classification: remember to classify sensitive records, including your emails. If you need more help with information classification, have a look at this page.
• File name and version: Ensure records are easily found by using appropriate file naming protocols. Version control will help colleagues to use the most up to date version of a record. More information on effective version control is available here.
• Security: create and maintain records with appropriate security measures and access controls in place.
• Storage: use ITS supported storage options, like Box or OneDrive, for electronic records. For more information on how to set up files and who should be able to view or edit your records in Box, please see these ITS guides.
• Retention: only keep records for as long as they are required.Additional guidance is available for the management of our master records in the Master Records Retention Schedule. A ‘master record’ is a core record which has ongoing institutional, authoritative and/or evidential value. Records such as policies, personnel files, Committee papers, contracts and research outputs are all types of master records. The Schedule provides specific detail about which records make up our master records, how long these should be retained, and what the recommended disposal action following the end of the retention period is.
The records management webpage will assist with any questions you may have on records management. The FAQs section helps you to find answers to questions such as What is a ‘master record’?, How long should I keep records?, and How do I dispose of records?. You can also contact Greg Toth from the Information Management team who will be happy to answer any queries and provide advice on all aspects of records management.
- Recruitment, Induction and Onboarding
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Recruitment
Please follow recruitment guidance on the HR webpages.
Induction and Onboarding
Guidance for line managers onboarding new employees.
Please ensure that you prepare an induction schedule for your new staff member's first 1-2 weeks. Complete the University new staff checklist and induction training plan.
Ensure that you also discuss workplace adjustments with your new staff member.
If your new staff member will be line managing others, please ensure they review the guidance for line management resources (see above "line management and leadership").
Additional induction items for new academic staff
Set up introduction meetings with your new staff member and the following key contacts:
- Clare Neil, Research Development Manager
- Faye Brockwell, Learning Technologist in Educational Enhancement (only for staff with teaching responsibilities)
- Naomi Alder, Senior Information Officer, Records Management
- Kate Howland, Director of Student Experience EngInf (only for staff with teaching responsibilities)
- Research support
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The School's research support team (enginf-research@sussex.ac.uk) can advise on research related matters, and help you identify support from across the University. Information on the University’s central research support services can be found here.
Please visit the School’s research pages for nformation on the grant application processes and the School research strategy.
Applying for funding
The University wishes to encourage high quality proposals for the funding of research and knowledge exchange activities. All proposals should undergo internal review before submission, and pass through the institutional authorisation process. For further guidance on submitting a proposal, please see here.
Our grant application proforma can be downloaded here.
Elements
Elements is the Current Research Information System (CRIS) now in use at the University. Elements supports the management of research activities by providing one single point of organisation, presentation and reporting for all scholarly and research activities, including research publications. It also hosts the University staff profile pages. For guidance on using Elements, please see here, or contact the Elements team at elements@sussex.ac.uk.
To satisfy REF and funder Open Access policies, publications must be deposited from Elements to SRO within 3 months of acceptance.
Worktribe
Worktribe is a holistic research management system designed to support the whole project life cycle from proposal to post award management.
To access Worktribe you must complete the mandatory LearnUpon training ‘Introduction to Worktribe’ which you should automatically be enrolled on. The Worktribe team will provide you with access to the system usually the following Monday after completing the training.
For further information on using Worktribe, please see here.
- Room booking
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See central room booking system. (Not available while central timetabling is in progress).
You can book Chichester Foyer meeting rooms 1 and 2 via the School Office: ei@sussex.ac.uk or 01273 (67)8195
The Future Technologies Lab (Ci27/28/30) is also available for booking when not in use for teaching. Contact the School Office.
- School meetings & committees
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School meetings and committees
Meetings of the School of Engineering and Informatics are normally held on Wednesday afternoon in week 8 each term.
Other School committees (requires Sussex Direct login):
- School Health, Safety and Environment Committee
- School Research Committee
- School Research Degree Committee
- School Student Experience Group (see also the School student representatives web pages)
- School Student Progress Committee
- School Teaching and Learning Committee
A full listing of other Committees & Teams within the University is also available via Sussex Direct.
Department meetings
Meetings of the Department of Engineering & Design and the Department of Informatics are normally held on Wednesday afternoons in weeks 5 and 10 each term. The membership consists of all academic and professional services staff and student representatives in the respective Departments.
- School management
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The Head of School is Professor Ian Wakeman. Ian is the line manager of all staff in the School. He is supported by a management team, which meets regularly and which consists of the School Directors, the Heads of Department and the School Administrator.
Professor Romeo Glovnea is Head of Department for Engineering & Design, Professor George Parisis is the Head of Department for Informatics.
The Directors each have a portfolio of administrative responsibility:
Dr Luis Ponce Cuspinera, Director of Teaching and Learning
Dr Roald Grau, Director of Student Experience
Professor Julie Weeds, Director of Postgraduate Research
Professor Andy Philippides, Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange
Dr Phil Birch, Director of Admissions and Recruitment
Dr Elizabeth Rendon-Morales, Director of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion and Deputy Head of Engineering
David Tucker is the Technical Services Manager
Lily King is the School Administrator and she has overall responsibility for the school’s administration, and School Office resources and staffing.
- School office team
- Staff Development
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The Universityhas a variety of offers to support your personal development including:
- Workshops and courses
- Online learning
- Mentoring
- Student reps
- Travel
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Before you travel please check the University guidelines. Our preferred provider of travel arrangements is Key Travel, please try to use them wherever possible. Please ensure that you have University insurance in place.
A risk assessment must be completed for each trip, along with registration of the trip through the link on Sussex Direct under the admin menu. Ensure that you have identified a "travel buddy" who should be someone at Sussex that can be contacted in an emergency during your trip. This should generally be your line manager, or if travelling as a research group, someone else from the group. If you do not have an obvious contact you should ask the Head of School. Ensure that you have your travel buddy's mobile phone number and other emergency phone numbers readily available when you are travelling.
Please ensure that you read the health and safety policy available from this page, which also contains University emergency contact details.
More documents can be found on the International Office website.
See also: Business travel and how to apply for a purchasing card (corporate credit card)
- Vehicle hire
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The School owns a minibus that is available for our staff and students to hire for university activites.
Maximum no of passengers: 8 + driver (no special licence is needed to drive the vehicle)
The minimum age for driving the school vehicle is 21.
Drivers need to hold a valid driving licence. UK/European/International licences are accepted.The School Office will need a copy of the licence.
Drivers need to complete a Driver Declaration Form once and a Vehicle Hire Form for each hire.
To book, contact the School Office: ei@sussex.ac.uk
- Visitor policy
- Website updating
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Please email your requests for updates to the School internal pages to enginf-communications@sussex.ac.uk.
- Workplace Adjustments
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Workplace adjustments are available to those that need them, please check the toolkit online here.
- Workshop facilities
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Please see the workshop facilities page here.