P16 - Postgraduates Who Teach (PGWT) project at the University of Bath

The student responses in the Postgraduate Research Experience Surveys (PRES) for 2015 and 2017 highlighted a range of issues relating to doctoral students’ employment to teach. Following approval by the University Doctoral Studies Committee (UDSC), the Doctoral College established the PGWT Task and Finish Group in October 2017, comprising staff from the Doctoral College, the Centre for Learning & Teaching, the Students’ Union, student representative and UCU student representation. The group sought to examine all aspects of PGWT: from initial recruitment, through pay & conditions, training and support, to final feedback

The group has consulted with the wider staff population in several ways, including through a survey sent to academic departments/School [March 2018], through two stakeholder engagement events [May 2018, January 2019] and through a questionnaire sent to Department Coordinators [November 2018].

Working as a Task and Finish Group, some notable developments with PGWT include:

a. Development of the on-line PGWT Staff Resource wiki which supports staff involved with recruiting and supporting PGWT

b. Revisions made to the central PGWT training, resulting in two separate training sessions: Leading Learning and Assisting Learning.

c. Enhanced web pages for students interested in teaching at the University.