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Information and FAQs for AL Recruitment

All those applying for and accepting an Associate Lecturer role should note that:

New and enhanced Associate Lecturer terms and conditions of employment were negotiated and agreed with the Trade Union in Autumn 2018. Associate Lecturer union members confirmed their acceptance of these New Terms when balloted in January 2019. All employed Associate Lecturers moved to the New Terms in August 2022

ALs are now contracted as permanent employees rather than appointed on fixed term contracts as they were previously. This change has provided AL colleagues with job security and financial certainty and has incorporated additional paid time for increased annual leave and increased time for staff development and maintaining academic currency.

Existing employees can see more about the new New AL Contract (sharepoint.com).

  • To view this information in Welsh click here
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External courses and further development

Associate lecturers can apply to the Development Fund that may provide financial support for attendance at events such as external conferences

Family Friendly Policies

As part of the University's family friendly policies, you will be entitled to maternity, adoption, and paternity and shared parental leave.

Pensions

Associate lecturers are eligible to join the Universities Superannuation Scheme. Full details are provided on appointment.

Salary

As a newly appointed AL you serve a two-year probation period.

Your annual salary will be based on your total FTE value (full-time equivalent) multiplied by your salary spinal point value. E.g., using salary scales for October 2023:

  • An AL on salary spinal point 34 (£41732) working at 0.25 FTE would receive an annual salary of £10,433 (£41732 x 0.25).
  • The salary is paid in 12 equal instalments, so in this example the AL’s monthly salary would be £869.42.
  • The salary includes pro-rata pay for staff development, academic currency and annual leave..

Newly appointed ALs are appointed to scale point 30 on the AL salary scale, and progress automatically up the AL salary scale each year on 1st October until point 36 is reached, provided that you have been employed on or before 1st April in that year.

Your annual workload is expressed as a Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) value. FTE of 1.0 is the equivalent of a 37-hour working week. Your working pattern over the year will vary to accommodate student support, tuition and assessment. If your workload falls below the level of your total FTE, the University will find you other work to maintain your FTE workload level. Your FTE value is made up of the following components:

  • Total module delivery
  • 5 days (pro-rata) allocated for staff development
  • 6 days (pro-rata) allocated to academic currency
  • 27 days (pro-rata) holiday (annual leave)
  • Variable days (pro-rata) bank holiday depending on your UK nation of residence
  • 1 day (for each AL) allocated for staff development

Maximum FTE for ALs

The University has a maximum FTE level for ALs (including colleagues with an AL role in addition to other OU work) of 1.3FTE. This is the equivalent of a 48-hour working week as set out in the 1998 Working Time Regulations. This enables the University to prevent excessive workloads to ensure that the quality of our student experience and the health, well-being and safety of our employees is not compromised.

Q: Am I suitably qualified to apply?
A: You need to demonstrate on the application form how you meet the requirements of both the generic person specification and the module person specification.

Q: I live outside the UK or Republic of Ireland, can I apply to tutor with the OU?
A: Applications from overseas candidates are permitted provided the candidate intends to move to the UK or Republic of Ireland to take up the position. Any offer of employment will be made subject to proof of UK/RoI residency along with standard pre-employment checks, including Right to Work (RTW). If you are applying from outside the UK/RoI please state your intentions on the application form, otherwise it may not be considered.

Q: There is a vacancy in one part of the country but I live in another. Can I still apply for it?
A: Yes, you can apply for any vacancy advertised on our recruitment site providing that you live in the UK, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Man, or the Republic of Ireland. For modules taught entirely online all applications will be considered which are received by the published application close date. However, selection for modules with any face-to-face tuition may be defined by your proximity to the vacancy.

Q: How do I know if a vacancy is still open?
A:
The close date for a vacancy is the final date that we will accept applications. We will not accept any late applications that are received after 12 noon on the close date.

Q: Can I send a CV instead of completing a form?
A: No, CVs will not be considered in the selection process. We will only accept completed AL application forms.

Q: I’m experiencing a problem submitting my form to the mail address.
A: Please e-mail us at AL-applications@open.ac.uk if you have any problems submitting your form.

Q: I didn’t get an acknowledgment to my e-mail, should I be concerned?
A: If you do not receive an automated acknowledgement soon after sending us an e-mail then it means that we have not received it. Check your Spam folder for error messages before trying again. If you are an existing Associate Lecturer, use your university mail account. If you still do not get an acknowledgement, then please contact us at AL-applications@open.ac.uk

Q: I applied for a vacancy last month. I now need to change my qualifications/name/referee. How can I do this?
A: Please amend your form and resubmit it to AL-applications@open.ac.uk with a message of explanation.

Q: I want to speak to someone to get feedback on my application. Who should I contact?
A: You should e-mail your request to the appropriate AL Services team, you can find contact details here.

Q: I’ve not heard anything since I applied?
A: We do not contact unsuccessful applicants. If you have not heard anything by a month before the module is due to start and wish to have some feedback on your application, you can email the relevant team using the contact detail here.

Q: How do I know if I am an Internal or External Member of staff?
A: You are an external applicant if you do not hold an AL contract of employment with the OU or if the only work you are carrying out for the OU (i.e. where you hold no other work with the University) is short-term work, such as residential school work, scriptmarking, external examiner duties or are working as a self-employed contractor. Collaborative tutors and Research Students are also classed as external for these purposes.

Q: What is an area of expertise?
Within the Skills Profile, your Area of Expertise can be defined as the subject knowledge you hold which has been acquired by training, study, or practice. The Skills Audit process will provide the opportunity to focus and develop a conversation with your line manager to enable greater understanding of your academic and/or professional background, aside from specific modules on which you tutor. The ‘Area of Expertise’ should only be a headline word or phrase and must follow the guidance from the relevant school

Q: I am an internal member of staff, can I apply to an AL vacancy to increase my FTE?
A:If you are an Associate Lecturer (AL), we recommend that you complete/update your Skills Profile if you wish to increase your FTE.

Q: How do I access and complete my Skills Profile?
A:Guidance and information on how to complete the Skills Profile is available via Skills Profile

Q: What is a module code?
A: The OU's module codes are made up of letters and numbers. The letter identifies the faculty or school that the module belongs to, and the numbers identify the specific module. The first number in the module code indicates the particular module level. Some modules relate to more than one academic area and have more than one letter in the module code (e.g., DB123, You and your money is owned by the Faculty of Social Sciences and by the OU Business School).

It is a requirement of the role to have access to a personal computer (PC) and you will be expected to have basic PC skills, basic digital literacy and be able to use standard office software e.g., word processing and e-mail. However, for modules which use specialist software it will be provided, and online training will be made available. Please be aware that some of this software will only operate within a Microsoft windows platform. All modules taught by Associate Lecturers require access to the internet as you will be required to regularly access information from a website, for example information relating to your student group.

You will be required to use your OU email account for administrative purposes and to make contact with and respond to your students and faculty colleagues. The OU's primary mechanism for communicating administrative and some module information is via email.

As an Open University Associate Lecturer, you have three options for ICT equipment provision:

  1. Request an Open University (Managed) Windows laptop
  2. Purchase a personal laptop using the OU ICT Allowance
  3. Use your existing personal device (OU security software will need to be installed. The OU uses Mobile Device Management (MDM) as their security software).

Contact us

If you have any queries or questions about the recruitment process, or regarding your application, please contact: AL-Applications@open.ac.uk.

Feedback on recruitment process

Any comments or concerns about any stage of the recruitment process should be sent to Resourcing-Hub-Feedback@open.ac.uk