The academic appointments board task is relatively strictly circumscribed by national and local rules and regulations. The Higher Education Act (HL) and the Higher Education Ordinance (HF) make up the frame of reference and norm at the national level. Furthermore, all of the institutions shall have a stated Appointments Procedure
(HF 4 Chapter 14§). The Appointments Procedure is a local application of the Higher
Education Ordinance and differs from institution to institution depending on the type of organisation, courses and research areas, tradition and size of the institution. In the document the requirements for qualification for appointment to different positions and for promotion are specified and stipulated. The appointments process has in that way, to a greater extent than the text in the advertisement for the position, an important role as instructions to the experts in their task. Another central document at
13
Mälardalen University’s Council for Course Strategy made up the steering group for Career Ladder Pilot Project. The steering group consisted of deans, two representative from the
the institutional level is the Delegation Procedure14 that the vice-chancellor decrees. In this document it says which instance is to fix the profiles for the appointment when positions are advertised, who is to appoint the expert, who takes decisions in cases of appointment and promotion, who decides if an appointment case is to be terminated, etc.
When it is a question of qualification for appointment to professor the Higher Education Act (3 Chapter 2 §) states: “Only persons who have shown academic and
pedagogical competence may be appointed as professor.” The qualifications for
appointment as lecturer specified by the Higher Education Act (4 Chapter 7§) are a PhD or the equivalent, courses in pedagogy for higher education and demonstrated pedagogical competence. Furthermore, it states that for both professors and senior lecturers: “Just scientific proficiency15.16 (HF 4 Chapter 5 §) The qualification for being employed as a lecturer is a bachelor’s degree and demonstrated pedagogical competence. The Higher Education Act and the Higher Education Ordinance lack definitions for both scientific proficiency and pedagogical competence. Scientific proficiency ought to be somewhat established at the disciplinary level within the scientific community. The meaning of demonstrated pedagogical competence leaves room for different interpretations, primarily due to the absence of a definition
In the revised Appointments Procedure for Mälardalen University laid down by the Board of Higher Education in October 2009 the requirement for pedagogical competence was sharpened in several ways. For appointment as professor it is stated “that pedagogical competence shall have been demonstrated in both a graduate and a
doctoral programme. Furthermore, the applicant shall have taken a relevant course in pedagogy for higher education, if there is not a special reason.” (Appointments
Procesdure, 2009, p. 6) For employment as a senior lecturer and lecturer in higher education “the applicant shall have participated in at least 10 weeks of courses in
pedagogy for higher education or in another way acquired the equivalent knowledge.” (Appointments Procedure, 2009, p. 7) Finally pedagogical competence
is defined in a paragraph of its own in the Appointments Procedure with the main message: “/…/ the ability to in the best way support and facilitate student learning/…/” (Appointments Procedure, 2009, p.10)
The academic appointments board has the faculty’s mandate to prepare appointments, promotions, and docent cases.17 At Mälardalen University preparing cases within the framework of the Pedagogical Career Ladder (Vice-chancellor, 2008) has also been
14 In connection with Mälardalen University introduced a new academic organisation 1
January 2008 the vice-chancellor stipulated a revised Delegation Process (Vice-chancellor, 2007d.).
15
For lecturers “examination of scientific proficiency” is replaced with “examination of other qualification giving conditions.”(HF 4 Chapter 7§).
16 There seems to be a general misunderstanding that scientific and pedagogical competence
should always be weighed together 50/50. The weighting is decided by the profile that is considered suitable for the employment. In the Higher Education Ordinance (4 Chapt. 17§) it is stated in the following way “/…/which different grounds for assessment and how they shall be weighted against each other.”
17 Applies to professors, senior lecturers and research assistans (HF 4 Chapter 20 §). Note
included since 2008. One of the prerequisites for enabling the academic appointments board to carry out its tasks in a satisfactoryway is that the members are familiar with the relevant legislation, rules and regulations, guidelines, and instructions on the national and the local level. The instruments that are normally applied are expert assessment by an external assessor, an interview of the applicant and in certain cases trial lectures. In addition to that, the taking of references has received increased importance over time.18
The official report of the expert has taken on a central role in the academic appointment board’s handling of cases which has resulted in a greater demand being put on its quality. The foundation for presenting a good expert verdict, is laid already at the establishment of the appointment profile19 when it is a question of an advertised post. Moreover, the instructions20 to the applicant, whether it is an advertised post or a promotion, are of great importance. Pedagogical competence is normally best demonstrated via the portfolio of pedagogical competences which is attached to the applications. When experts are appointed by the faculty they receive the advertisement21, the application documents, and the university’s appointment procedure.
The academic appointments board at Mälardalen University regularly carries out interviews in cases of appointment or promotion. The idea behind the interview is that the members of the academic appointments board shall have the opportunity to meet the applicant and vice versa and in that way avoid having the case be merely written exercise. The main purpose of the interview is to illuminate any indistinctness and comments of the expert in the formal report before the proposed decision is taken by the academic appointments board.
A trial lecture is often used in those cases where the applicants who have been short- listed for a post are assessed and ranked differently by the experts. In cases where pedagogical competence is poorly documented in an applicant’s papers, a trial lecture can be motivated. As a rule scientific proficiency can not be assessed by members of the academic appointments board, since the faculty’s breadth of the subjects means that the members do not often have competence in the discipline in question. However, representatives of the subject usually express their understanding of the teacher’s competence in the subject after a trial lecture. The conclusion is usually that the experts’ assessments of scientific proficiency weigh very heavily. Pedagogical competence is about the practice of demonstrated teaching skill22 during a specific trial lecture.
18
The instructions for taking references are laid down in the revised Appointment Procedure that has been stipulated by the Higher Education Board, 2009-10-12.
19 The appointment profile shall contain: The subject area for employment, primary job
description, qualification requirement, grounds for assessment and their relative weight and in occurring cases encouraging representative of the under-represented sex to apply for appointment (Appointments Procedure, 2009).
20
Qualification for appointment, Personnel section, Mälardalen University.