Guidelines for Admittance of Distinguished University Teachers – Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy
The Disciplinary Domain Board of Medicine and Pharmacy specifies below supplementary guidelines in accordance with the Vice-Chancellor’s decision to adopt Guidelines for Admittance of Excellent Teachers (decision of 2011-12-06 and revised Guidelines for Admittance of Excellent Teachers, decision of 2012-05-15 Reg. No. UFV 2010/1842). These supplementary guidelines are a revised version of and replace the Guidelines previously adopted by the Disciplinary Domain (decision of 2012-10-25, revised 2014-06-13 and 2017-08-30).
Application procedures for admittance of Distinguished University Teachers
Definition of Distinguished University Teacher
The term “excellent teacher” is used to denote a teacher who has attained a higher level of teaching and learning skills. This level is clearly distinguished from the base level, just as the associate professor (Swedish “docent”) is distinguished from the degree of doctor.
Assessment panel for admittance of Distinguished University Teachers
The assessment panel for the admittance of Distinguished University Teachers is to consist of three teachers, one of whom represents the Faculty of Pharmacy and the other two the Clinical and Pre-clinical Sections at the Faculty of Medicine, respectively. All the teacher members of the assessment panel are to be Distinguished University Teachers or have other well-documented skills in teaching and learning in higher education, and are to have exercised leadership in teaching and learning, for example as a course coordinator, director of studies, programme coordinator or the chair of a programme committee or first-cycle education committee. The assessment panel is to also include two student representatives, one from each of the two faculties. The chair of the panel and the teacher representatives are to be appointed by the Disciplinary Domain Board for a term of three years. The student representatives are to be appointed by their respective student unions for a term of one year.
Process for admittance of Distinguished University Teachers
The opportunity to apply for admittance as an Distinguished University Teacher shall be provided at least once each year. Applications are considered by the assessment panel appointed for the admittance of Distinguished University Teachers. Only complete applications will be considered.
For each applicant, the assessment panel obtains the opinion of two subject specialists, at least one of whom is an external subject specialist, who have previous experience of assessing teaching expertise. At least one of these subject specialists must have their scholarly expertise in the area of medicine or pharmacy. The assessment panel can obtain suggestions for subject specialists from the committee at the Faculty of Pharmacy for first and second cycle courses and study programmes (GRUFF) and the Committee at the Faculty of Medicine for first and second cycle courses and study programmes (GRUNK).
The appointed subject specialists are to deliver an opinion stating whether or not the applicant fulfils the criteria for admittance as an Distinguished University Teacher. They are thus not to deliver a recommendation as to whether or not the applicant should be admitted.
The assessment panel is to deliver its recommendation for the decision on admittance of an applicant as an Distinguished University Teachers to the Disciplinary Domain Board, who decide whether an applicant may be admitted as an Distinguished University Teacher.
Financial incentive
Any teacher employed by Uppsala University and admitted as an Distinguished University Teacher will have their monthly salary increased by an amount equivalent to the increment that applies for admittance as an associate professor/“docent”. When a teacher employed by another principal is admitted as an Distinguished University Teacher, the Disciplinary Domain will recommend that the said teacher’s pay be equal to that of teachers employed by the University.
Qualified applicants for admittance as Distinguished University Teachers
Teachers carrying out research who are employed in a non-tenure post (lecturer, senior lecturer or professor) at Uppsala University may apply for admittance as Distinguished University Teachers. The Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy may also admit an applicant who is employed by a county authority or other principal but who is highly active in teaching and research in the Disciplinary Domain.
Application for admittance as an Distinguished University Teacher
To apply for admittance as an Distinguished University Teacher, the applicant must submit the following documents:
- A statement (of max. 25,000 characters including spaces) setting out how the applicant fulfils the criteria for admittance as an Distinguished University Teacher.
- A complete curriculum vitae including scholarly production, teaching qualifications portfolio and collaboration portfolio according to Qualifications Portfolios (MEDFARM 2018/277)¹.
- References from leaders in teaching such as directors of studies, programme coordinators, chairs of programme committees or equivalent, attesting to the applicant’s teaching achievements.
- Reference from a head of department and/or operations manager, expressing support for the application.
- Other information of significance for the application.
The application is to be submitted online. Originals of publications or other documents referred to in the application, but not attached to the application, must be presented on request.
Criteria for assessing applications for admittance as Distinguished University Teachers
To determine whether the applicant has attained a higher level of teaching expertise that is clearly distinct from the basic level, the subject specialists, assessment panel and Disciplinary Domain Board shall together, and on the basis of the supporting documentation submitted, assess whether the applicant fulfils the criteria outlined under the following headings:
- Teaching skills
- Teaching development work
- Scholarly attitude
- Leadership in teaching
- Quality work
- Wider community perspective
Teaching skills
The ability to:
- Teach in a high-quality, engaging and esteemed way at different levels of the teaching system and within a broad field of knowledge
- Pay attention to gender and diversity perspectives and take into account and accommodate students’ differences and varying experiences
- Provide support for students to attain their educational goals through a well-founded choice of teaching methods and forms of examination
- Work progressively in teaching and with constructive links between learning objectives, teaching and examination
Teaching development work
The ability to:
- Revitalise or develop teaching materials and methods, and select apt course literature
- Investigate, evaluate and reflect on one’s own teaching and its effects and to apply the results to one’s own teaching practice
- Acquire and spread good examples and results of developments in teaching and examination, in both internal and external contexts
Scholarly approach
The ability to:
- Maintain up-to-date and comprehensive competence in the subject area based on their own and/or others’ findings
- Continuously put current knowledge in the subject area into practice in teaching through conscious strategies for relating research to teaching
- Apply current research in pedagogics and didactics in the development of one’s own teaching practice
Leadership in teaching
The ability to:
- Exercise leadership in teaching in roles such as programme manager or director of studies that have an impact on courses and study programmes beyond one’s own teaching
- Participate in and contribute to expert positions or positions of trust in educational matters in national and/or international forums
Quality work
The ability to:
- Lead systematic and continuous efforts in quality development and quality assurance within the programme concerned
- Reflect on and relate to an outside interests perspective in quality and development work
- Implement the conclusions from quality work in the affected activities
Wider community perspective
The ability to:
- Connect teaching to current research, current social issues and the students’ future professional roles
- Develop and continuously revisit the content as well as course and programme learning objectives in relation to changes in society and the labour market
Checklist for assessing the criteria for admittance of Distinguished University Teachers at the Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy
Based on the supporting documentation, the subject specialist is to mark for each line if the applicant fulfils the criteria or not. Any further comments may be written in the box at the end of each criteria category, and in the comments box at the end of the document.
1 Teaching skills | ||
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The ability to: | Fulfils the criterion based on supporting documentation | Does not fulfil the criterion based on supporting documentation |
1.1 Teach in a high-quality, engaging and esteemed way at different levels of the teaching system and within a broad field of knowledge |
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1.2 Pay attention to gender and diversity perspectives and take into account and accommodate students’ differences and varying experiences |
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1.3 Provide support for students to attain their educational goals through a well-founded choice of teaching methods and forms of examination |
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1.4 Work progressively in teaching and with constructive links between learning objectives, teaching and examination. |
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Comments on the category Teaching skills |
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2 Teaching development work | ||
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The ability to: | Fulfils the criterion based on supporting documentation | Does not fulfil the criterion based on supporting documentation |
2.1 Revitalise or develop teaching materials and methods, and select apt course literature |
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2.2 Investigate, evaluate and reflect on one’s own teaching and its effects and to apply the results to one’s own teaching practice |
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2.3 Acquire and spread good examples and results of developments in teaching and examination, in both internal and external contexts |
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Comments on the category Teaching development work |
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3 Scholarly attitude | ||
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The ability to: | Fulfils the criterion based on supporting documentation | Does not fulfil the criterion based on supporting documentation |
3.1 Maintain up-to-date and comprehensive competence in the subject area based on their own and/or others’ findings |
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3.2 Continuously put current knowledge in the subject area into practice in teaching through conscious strategies for relating research to teaching |
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3.3 Apply current research in pedagogics and didactics in the development of one’s own teaching practice |
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Comments on the category Scholarly attitude |
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4 Leadership in teaching |
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The ability to: | Fulfils the criterion based on supporting documentation | Does not fulfil the criterion based on supporting documentation |
4.1 Exercise leadership in teaching in roles such as programme manager or director of studies that have an impact on courses and study programmes beyond one’s own teaching |
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4.2 Participate in and contribute to expert positions or positions of trust in educational matters in national and/or international forums |
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Comments on the category Leadership in teaching |
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5 Quality work |
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The ability to: | Fulfils the criterion based on supporting documentation | Does not fulfil the criterion based on supporting documentation |
5.1 Lead systematic and continuous efforts in quality development and quality assurance |
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5.2 Reflect on and relate to an outside interests perspective in quality and development work |
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5.3 Implement the conclusions from quality work |
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Comments on the category Quality work |
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6 Wider community perspective |
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The ability to: | Fulfils the criterion based on supporting documentation | Does not fulfil the criterion based on supporting documentation |
6.1 Connect teaching to current research, current social issues and the students’ future professional roles |
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6.2 Develop and continuously revisit course and programme learning objectives in relation to changes in society and the labour market |
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Comments on the category Wider community perspective |
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7 General comments | ||
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The space here is provided for comments on aspects that have emerged in addition to the criteria requested and which are judged to be of relevance for assessing the applicant. However, subject specialists are not to make any recommendation as to whether the applicant should be admitted or not. |
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¹ Qualifications portfolios, Instructions for lists of qualifications and guidelines for the assessment of qualifications in the recruitment of teachers, Disciplinary Domain of Medicine and Pharmacy (MEDFARM 2018/277), adopted by the Disciplinary Domain Board on 2018-06-07, https://regler.uu.se/dokument/?contentId=721164