TEMPLATE 2: HR STRATEGY - ACTION PLAN Name Organisation under review: Universitat de Vic Universitat Central de Catalunya (Fundació Universitària Balmes) Organisation s contact details: Ricard Giramé, Director of Quality Unit ricard.girame@uvic.cat Web link to published version of organisation s HR Strategy and Action Plan: https://www.uvic.cat/hrs4r SUBMISSION DATE: 24/04/2018 1. ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION Please provide a limited number of key figures for your organisation. Figures marked * are compulsory. STAFF & STUDENTS Total researchers = staff, fellowship holders, bursary holders, PhD. students either full-time or part-time involved in research FTE 372 Of whom are international (i.e. foreign nationality) 9 Of whom are externally funded (i.e. for whom the organisation is host organisation) 19 Of whom are women 207 Of whom are stage R3 or R4 = Researchers with a large degree of autonomy, typically holding the status of Principal Investigator or Professor. Of whom are stage R2 = in most organisations corresponding with postdoctoral level Of whom are stage R1 = in most organisations corresponding with doctoral level 67 117 188 Total number of students (if relevant) 5167 Total number of staff (including management, administrative, teaching and research staff) RESEARCH FUNDING (figures for most recent fiscal year) 874 Total annual organisational budget 37.312.248 Annual organisational direct government funding (designated for research) Annual competitive government-sourced funding (designated for research, obtained in competition with other organisations including EU funding) Annual funding from private, non-government sources, designated for research 1.933.683 2.522.998 582.243,76 ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE (a very brief description of your organisation, max. 100 words) 1
University of Vic Central University of Catalonia (UVic-UCC) was created in May 21st 1997, as an independent university with public sector supervision. From its very beginnings, UVic-UCC has promoted academic quality and a student-centred training approach. Our teaching programmes offer academic quality and close contact with students, as required by the European Higher Education Area. The university nurtures a strong commitment to Catalonia - its education system, language and culture as well as to its regional development, by promoting technological innovation, sustainability and strong cooperation with the world of entrepreneurship. 2. NARRATIVE (MAX. 2 PAGES) Please provide an overview of the organisation in terms of the current strengths and weaknesses of the current policy and practice under the four thematic headings of the Charter and Code at your organization. Theme 1: Ethical and professional aspects The university has a policy of research freedom and works on focussing research by strategically allocating resources to 10 different research areas that, in fact, impose very few if any restriction to the current faculty members and allows for the incorporation of new members that can bring fresh ideas and visions to the institution. In terms of ethical principles, the university has in place a Research Ethics Committee that ensures researchers attach to the university Ethics Code and to the Research Good Practices, including. Among them, we follow antiplagiarism strategies. Professionalism in all our internal procedures in ensured by the constant training of the different research support staff units (integrated in the OTRI office): Research and Knowledge Transfer Management, Outreach and Doctoral School. Outreach has evolved in the university but the resources we devote are minimal at this time. This affects the possibilities of actions devoted to Public Engagement and the amount of resources needed needs to improve, as stated in the gap analysis. Thus, both Research Impact Assessment (RIA) and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) approaches have to be put in place in the upcoming years, and we identify this as a weak point to be worked in. The university is bound to contractual and legal obligations and this is provided by both the OTRI and the Secretary Generals of the University and of the Balmes Foundation. The latter two structures are responsible for all legal documents concerning knowledge transfer agreements. In addition, the OTRI protocolizes the signature of all documents in such a way the university managers cover the proper responsibility of researchers and of the OTRI itself. This is particularly relevant in terms of funding justification. The research structure is fully accountable and the number of mistakes that arise from mistreatment of data or projects is absolutely negligible. The protocols are followed in the proper manner and possible misconducts by any of the members of the chain (from faculty to managers) is rapidly detected and corrected. Finally, the UVic-UCC is strongly devoted to promote equal opportunities among all its members. 2
Evaluation protocols are followed internally, but and External Evaluation process needs to be implemented. Thus, we plan to ask external agencies like EUA s Institutional Evaluation Program or alike to help design such process. Theme 2: Recruitment There is a professional career document that regulates the incorporation of almost all teaching and research staff. From the announcement, the selection, incorporation, and its initial evaluation (two or three years, depends on the post) and half way (five years later). In the case of research profiles not all are included in this Standard recruitment includes open calls, a selection committee and means for evaluating the applicants (e.g. face-to-face interviews, public presentations) but a document, which clarifies the process in all kinds of different research profiles, as well as a document which helps new incorporations, is needed and will be addressed with actions four, five and six. Theme 3: Working conditions Working conditions cover a wide range of topics, which are addressed by several different ways in our institution. For example, flexible working arrangements, such as part-time or leave of absence due to research periods have been made accessible to our employees. Salaries and gender balance are notably regulated within collective agreements. In the last few years, we increased the women proportion in the organization, especially in responsibility posts and the research management positions. Additionally, the office of Prevention of occupational hazards works following regular standards in other universities. In terms of weaknesses of working conditions, the relatively young orientation to research of the institution makes some procedures initially put in place for only teaching staff still too cumbersome for the necessarily more flexible needs of researcher oriented recruitees. This is particularly relevant in terms of working spaces in offices and labs, but also in terms of the actions taken to deal with these groups from the human resources perspective. The ICT tools should also be moved towards a more ambitious paradigm in which research will be considered as a central element of the work of the university. In addition, the development of proper research environments in engineering and biosciences, two of the most demanding areas in this sense, needs strong commitment by the university managers and to be included in the annual investments budget as well as in the pluriannual strategic plan to be revised by the new rectorate team. We propose to incorporate an analysis of the needs of the different research groups and chairs and to develop an investment plan that takes into account the evolution of the research areas in which the university aims at excelling. Theme 4: Training UVic-UCC has a training unit entirely dedicated to managing, organizing and promoting advanced training. This unit offers different courses (multidisciplinary, international, technical ) in a learning environment suitable for researchers. Specific actions are dedicated to provide careers advice and guidance for researchers. Nevertheless, UVic-UCC should focus on increasing the means of postdoctoral career development which will be made through actions one and seven. 3
In addition, the training of research support staff in different aspects to cover the needs of a research-oriented institution need to be put in place. The latter refers, among others, to train research management office staff in projects justifications and project support in general, human resources staff in dealing with international research recruitment and mentoring, infrastructures staff in providing better working conditions to boost research by reduction of paperwork during acquisition of research material or by conditioning of research facilities, or the ICT staff in orienting their work towards an integration of research into the mainstream digital processes of the university. 3. ACTIONS Please provide a list of all actions to be undertaken in this HR strategy. The list must be accompanied by an extended version in which the actions are described in more detail. The overview must contain at least the following headings: Title action Timing Responsible Unit Indicator(s) / Target(s). Title action 1 A1. Specific training in: accreditation processes, career guidance, exploitation of research results (R1- R4) and any others as needed. A2. Improvement in supervision process between doctoral students and supervisors. A3. Development of a policy to promote technology and a regulation for business creation. A4. Definition of the OTM Hiring Policy. A5. Definition of the document on the policy to attract talent. A6. Development of the onboarding plan. A7. Expansion of the Professional Career document to the research Timing (at least by year s quarter/semester) Responsible Unit Ongoing Office of the Vice-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer Ongoing Doctoral College 1 st semester 2020 Research Transfer Office (OTRI) 1 st semester 2019 Talent Management Unit (AGT) 2 nd semester 2019 Office of the Vice-Rector for Teaching Staff 2019 Talent Management Unit (AGT) 1 st semester 2020 Talent Management Indicator(s) / Target(s) Min. 2 training courses on offer per term Min. 2 training courses on offer per term. At least 2 tutorials between a doctoral student and their supervisor (recorded in the degree tracking report degree). Continuous monitoring of effect: increase of positive evaluations from PhD students. Approval of the proposal and inclusion of the text within the Academic Time Plan (PDA). documents. Number of cross-curricular competencies incorporated into the OTM Hiring Policy. Number of days elapsed between the publication of the place and the hiring of the researcher. Approval of an onboarding guide. Number of mentors. 1 Extended version on the appendix 1. 4
community (R1-R4) in terms of stabilisation and consolidation of the IPD: Individual Development Plan. A8. Definition of a plan to improve the specific spaces and infrastructures for the research community. Unit (AGT) 2 nd semester 2020 Generals Infrastructures and General Services Unit (AISG) / ICT Unit (ATIC) Number of non-salary recognition systems incorporated. Number of square metres devoted specifically to R&D. Number of updated machines. Number of software programmes acquired to manage research. A9. Definition of an institutional scholarly dissemination plan. 1 st semester 2019 Research Transfer (OTRI) Office As the establishment of an Open Recruitment Policy is a key element in the HRS4R strategy, please also indicate how your organisation will use the Open, Transparent and Merit-Based Recruitment Toolkit and how you intend to implement/are implementing the principles of Open, Transparent and Merit-Based Recruitment. Although there may be some overlap with a range of actions listed above, please provide a short commentary demonstrating this implementation. The UVic-UCC will develop a new hiring regulation based on the OTM principles and following the three phases identified in the toolkit: - Advertising and application phase - Evaluation and selection phase - Appointment phase Each of the specific actions in each phase will be analysed in order to adapt them to the new hiring policy of the UVic-UCC. Action A4 specifically calls for this analysis of the OTM-R Toolkit system and for it to be contained in the new hiring policy, as well as the way to implement it. If your organisation already has a recruitment strategy which implements the principles of Open, Transparent and Merit-Based Recruitment, please also list the web link where this strategy can be found. Actions addressing the implementation of Open, Transparent, Merit-Based Recruitment principles: The process of defining the OTM hiring policy will be based strictly on the following OTM-R principles: - It will bear in mind the existing policies and procedures on hiring. - This policy will be subjected to internal quality control. - An internal guide will be made that contains the hiring processes and procedures for all research profiles (R1-R4). - The profiles of the members of the hiring committee will match the requirements of the job offered. 5
- E-recruitment resources will be used. - Once approved, it will be made public and will be accessible in a visible place. The OTM-R policy will be defined based on the following sub-actions: - Publication of the job: As specific and accessible as possible. - Simplification of the process to apply for the job. - Communication with the applicants throughout the entire process. - Selection and evaluation of the candidates following specific, transparent and accessible criteria. - Suitability of the hiring committees. - Personal interview and assessment of the candidate s merits and potential. - Transparency in the results. - Feedback to all candidates. - Appeal mechanism available during the process. 4. IMPLEMENTATION (MAX. 1 PAGE) Please provide an overview of the expected implementation process. You can use the following questions as a guideline in your description: Do you have an implementation committee and/or steering group regularly overseeing progress? The development of the HRS4R proposal has helped defining the need for such committee. The steering committee for the overseeing of the HRS4R implementation will be composed by the current promoter committee (Vice-Rector for Teaching Staff, Vice-Rector for Research and Knowledge Transfer, director of the quality office, responsible for policy unit at the human resources office, and responsible to the research management at the research and technology transfer office). In addition to these members, the steering committee will incorporate external members. How do you involve the research community, your main stakeholders, in the implementation process? We will use the same participatory strategy to monitor and evaluate the implementation of the actions undertaken in HRS4R. So in the short and medium term we will use the same participatory strategy where we will include the same actors as in the initial consultation part. How will your organisation ensure that the proposed actions will also be implemented? 6
The UVic-UCC governance, as a public foundation, is organized around a board of trustees that appoints the rector who, in turn, appoints the general manager and his team of deans, department directors and academic responsible staff. It is thus such board of trustees who takes the institutional responsibility to enforce the implementation of the policies. The government commission of the university (CGU), which acts as the leading academic structure will submit this document to the Foundation s board of trustees. Finally, and external advisory committee will be created to account for the process. Is there evidence of any alignment of the HRS4R with organisational policies? For example, is the HRS4R recognized in organisation s research strategy, overarching HR policy? The HRS4R has been discussed in several CGU meetings and the whole institution is already aware about its importance. In fact, in 25/10/2016 a previous report to obtain the HRS4R recognition was discussed in the CGU before being sent to 14/11/2016. Despite such first attempt was not entirely successful (the 10/02/2017 requested additional work on developing the participative process presented herein), the commitment of the institution was clear. The current process has been extremely useful to align all the internal stakeholders for the UVic-UCC in the need to establish the HRS4R as the central strategic tool to improve the quality of our recruitment and professional development processes. How will you monitor progress? The steering committee will meet in a three-month basis meeting to collect the different indicators established for each of the actions proposed. Such meeting will produce reports that will be presented to the next CGU in order to be approved or for changes to be introduced to ensure the success of the actions implementation. How do you expect to prepare the internal and external review? Internal reviews will be the result of the trimestral reports. The external review will be carried out on a year basis including the external advisory committee approval. 7