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Appointment of a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer
in Human Geography (Sustainable
Development)
The school
The University is committed to transforming the lives and experiences
of people and their environments through research that drives positive
change and economic and social benefits. Based in the College of
Life, Health and Physical Sciences, The School of Environment and
Technology is focussed on producing applied, multi-disciplinary
research that informs policy, practice and benefits the student
experience.
Based in the Cockcroft Building on the Moulsecoomb site, there are
49.25 academic, 6.1 research, 7.9 technical and 12.2 administrative
staff within the School covering a wide range of activities within the
two divisions of Geography & Geology and the Built Environment &
Civil Engineering.
Members of staff are active in their professional fields, acting as peer
reviewers, external examiners, validation panel members and HEFCE
assessors. The School is committed to creating an inclusive learning
and working environment. Building upon the achievement of the
University in attaining an Athena SWAN Bronze Award, the School is
now working towards its own application for Bronze.
Research
The School specialises in multi/interdisciplinary applied research
which is grouped around seven broad themes:
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Applied geosciences
Built environment
Ecosystems and environmental management
Environmental and public health
Ground, structural and water engineering
Past human and environmental dynamics
Society, space and environment
Staff within each of these themes are also able to contribute to
multidisciplinary research centres within the University, including: the
Centre for Spatial, Environmental and Cultural Politics, an
interdisciplinary research centre bringing together humanities, social
science and science researchers working on spaces, power and
justice, environmental futures, communication and sustainability, and
embodiment, performance and activism; the Centre of Sport, Tourism
and Leisure Studies, which conducts research to encourage, support
and help develop sustainable futures centred on economic
regeneration, ecological sensitivity, cultural awareness and
preservation; and the Aquatic Research Centre which is an
interdisciplinary centre focusing on resolving key issues associated
with marine and freshwater systems in both the natural and built
environment. The University is located within the Brighton and Lewes
Downs Biosphere Reserve, and staff from the School lead the
Biosphere Partnership’s HE and Research Working Group.
In the 2014 REF, 40% of staff from the School were submitted via 4
Units of Assessment ( B7 – Earth Systems & Environmental Sciences
-12.25 fte, C22 – Social Work and Social Policy – 2.0 fte; C26 – Sport
& Exercise Sciences, Leisure and Tourism – 2.0 fte, D34 – Art &
Design: History, practice and theory – 3.0 fte) and the following quality
profile was generated:4* = 11.2%
3* = 50.9%
2* = 34.0%
1* = 3.6%
U/C = 0.3%
The School attracts around £1 million of external funding each year
from UK Research Councils (EPSRC, ESRC, NERC, AHRC), the
European Union, local and national government (DEFRA, Environment
Agency, South Downs National Park Authority) and industry. In many
cases, staff within the School are leading large multi-partner European
projects and they play a key role in the peer review process (e.g.
RCUK Review College) and in academic societies hosting national and
international conferences.
The school provides an excellent environment to support the
development of early career researchers, with pump priming funds
being made available to develop research activities. The School also
supports in excess of 60 postgraduate research students.
Courses
The school offers a wide range of research-led courses to over 1200
students at Masters and Undergraduate Degree level which cover the
subject areas of archaeology, architectural technology, building
surveying, construction management, civil engineering, environmental
sciences, physical and human geography, geology and environmental
management.
The undergraduate programmes are modular in structure and split into
two semesters of 15 weeks’ duration. All of the courses make use of
fieldwork and work placements and in most instances these are
integrated into the teaching programme. Students are also able to earn
credits for voluntary work through taught modules such as Community
Engagement: Actioning Sustainable Development. Many of the
courses are accredited by professional bodies (ICE, RICS, IEMA, IES,
Geol Soc) and have key transferable skills integrated into the
programme. As a consequence the graduating students have an
excellent record in securing appropriate employment.
Staff within the school also have close links with third sector and
community organisations, industry and relevant professions, with
highly qualified staff offering consultancy, short courses and CPD
opportunities to the South East region.
Consultancy Opportunities
Staff may also work on consultancy activities, which may be
undertaken in consultation with the Head of School.
Facilities
The School is strongly supported by the university and as a
consequence has seen significant investment (£8.3 million) in new
laboratories and capital equipment over the last five years. The
refurbishment of the Cockcroft Building (£29 million) has provided new
offices, laboratories and social learning spaces as well as providing a
building with a low carbon footprint.
Support Staff
The academic activities are supported by a range of administrative
and technical staff. The laboratories and computer systems are
supported by highly qualified technical instructors who support
teaching and research activities. Similarly the teaching and research
administrative activities are supported by the School Office together
with two Student Support and Guidance Tutors. In addition the school
can call upon support from the Centre for Collaboration and
Partnership which focuses on working with industry (KTPs) and
student placements.
The Division of Geography and Geology
Staff in the Division of Geography and Geology integrate research and
teaching across the full spectrum of geography, earth and
environmental sciences. There is also growing expertise in
archaeology.
Research
The 32.3 staff within the Division are all research active and 60% were
submitted in the 2014 REF. The research is applied in nature and it
has been judged to have outstanding impact with considerable societal
reach. Our staffing policy was viewed positively in REF feedback in
terms of its commitment to equality and diversity and the specialist
support it provides for early career staff. There are currently 35
MPhil/PhD students directly supervised by staff within the Division.
More details on research themes and successes are provided on the
School website http://www.brighton.ac.uk/set/research/ and on the
University website http://www.brighton.ac.uk/research/.
Courses
The Division operates nine highly successful integrated undergraduate
degree programmes which collectively recruit around 170 students in
each academic year. These include honours degrees in BA
Geography, BSc Earth & Ocean Science, BSc Environmental
Sciences, BSc Geography, BSc Archaeology and Geography, BSc
Geography with Geoinformatics, BSc Geology and BSc Physical
Geography and Geology. Each degree is managed by a Course
Leader, with academic staff contributing to the modules which
comprise the individual degree programmes.
The Division also runs three Masters programmes which attract a total
of 30-45 full-time students per year: MSc Environmental Assessment &
Management, MSc GIS & Environmental Management and MSc Water
& Environmental Management.
Full details of all of these courses are available at
http://www.brighton.ac.uk/set/courses/.
Academic staff
The successful candidate will be joining a dynamic team of 32
academic staff supported by 3 postdoctoral research fellows and 3
research assistants. Further details of our current staff, and their
research and teaching interests, are available via the individual staff
web pages at http://www.brighton.ac.uk/set/contact/.
The Job
The School wishes to appoint a lecturer / senior lecturer in Human
Geography with expertise in the area of sustainable development.
Candidates should demonstrate an ability to critically engage with
various themes and debates within sustainable development and its
interface with political ecology, such as (but not restricted to)
governance and Sustainable Development Goals, “green growth”,
climate change and resilience, community engagement and sociospatial justice. The successful applicant will be expected to interact
with staff across the School, and in particular with staff in human and
physical geography, and environmental sciences, to develop
interdisciplinary teaching and research, and support embedding of
sustainability ideas and principles across the taught curriculum.
The range of duties of a university lecturer is extensive and diverse.
The following summary indicates the nature of this range. Almost all
academic staff will be expected to contribute to both teaching and
research activity within their subject area. At Senior Lecturer level
(AC3), staff are expected to be engaged in the planning, design and
leadership of teaching and research activity, and to be making wider
contributions to the work of their school and the university.
Teaching and Scholarship
A Lecturer (AC2) is expected to possess, develop and utilise a range
of teaching methods and ways of supporting student learning. These
may include: lectures, seminars, tutorials, forms of e-learning,
workshops, laboratory classes and individual supervision.
The role requires the ability to: identify the learning needs of students
and to define appropriate learning objectives; ensure that the teaching
content, methods of delivery and learning materials are appropriate;
develop own teaching materials, under guidance; select appropriate
types of formative assessment; seek ways of improving teaching
performance by self-reflection and the gathering and analysis of
student feedback, and teach as a member of a team within the
framework of an established course. An understanding of equal
opportunities issues with regard to academic content and teaching
delivery is also expected.
In addition a Senior Lecturer (Ac3) is expected to be able to design
teaching materials, identify areas where current provision is in need of
revision or improvement, supervise student projects, field trips and
placement activity.
Research and Scholarship
A Lecturer is expected to: continually update their disciplinary and/or
professional knowledge and understanding; develop personal (and,
where appropriate, collaborative) research objectives; write up
research work for publication; translate new subject knowledge into
teaching content; and reflect on their own practice as a higher
education teacher. Engagement in continuous professional
development with regard to disciplinary/professional and pedagogic
expertise is required.
In addition a Senior Lecturer should: disseminate research findings
and outputs at conferences and similar events and identify and seek
sources of external funding for their own scholarly activity.
Communication
A Lecturer should be able to: deal with routine communication using a
range of media; communicate complex information orally, in writing
and electronically and communicate material of a specialist or highly
technical nature.
In addition a Senior Lecturer will be capable of: routinely
communicating complex and conceptual ideas to those with limited
knowledge and understanding, as well as to peers, and preparing
proposals and applications to external bodies, e.g. for funding and
accreditation purposes.
Liaison and Networking
A Lecturer is expected to: liaise effectively with colleagues and
students; build internal contacts and participate in internal information
exchange networks, and join external networks to share ideas.
In addition a Senior Lecturer will be able to develop external networks
in such areas as: identifying sources of funding; student recruitment;
student placements; outreach and marketing activity, and obtaining
consultancy projects.
Managing People
A Lecturer will be able to agree and largely self-manage teaching,
research and administrative activities.
In addition a Senior Lecturer will be expected to: advise and support
less experienced colleagues; in certain circumstances supervise the
work of others in research teams or as a research supervisor, and
coordinate the work of colleagues, for example when acting as a
module leader.
Teamwork
A Lecturer is expected to: collaborate with academic colleagues on
course development, curriculum changes and the development of
research; attend and contribute to subject group and similar meetings,
and collaborate with colleagues across the university to identify and
respond to students’ needs.
In addition a Senior Lecturer may be required to act as a team leader
in a small scale project.
Pastoral Care
A Lecturer/Senior Lecturer will be expected to: act as a personal tutor;
use listening, interpersonal and pastoral care skills to deal with
sensitive issues concerning students, appreciate the needs of
individual students and their circumstances, and to refer students as
appropriate to the specialist services which can provide further help.
Initiative, Problem-solving and Decision Making
A Lecturer will be able to: develop and apply initiative, creativity and
judgement in the conduct of teaching and research; respond effectively
to pedagogical and practical challenges, and contribute to decision
making on, and share responsibility for, the academic content, delivery
and assessment of modules.
In addition a Senior Lecturer will be expected to: take responsibility for
the design and delivery of individual modules and their assessment;
identify, and make proposals regarding, the need for change in
individual modules; disseminate and apply the results of research and
scholarship; develop ideas on income generation; provide advice on
student recruitment and marketing approaches and contribute to the
successful implementation of quality assurance requirements, internal
and external.
Planning and Managing Resources
A Lecturer will be able to plan and manage their own teaching and the
use of teaching and research resources, including laboratories and
workshops, as agreed with relevant senior colleagues. An awareness
of risks in the work environment and their potential impact will be
expected.
In addition a Senior Lecturer will be able to act as a module leader,
coordinating administrative and academic staff as necessary, and to
undertake academic related roles related to areas such as admissions,
examinations and student support. Depending on the area of work the
conducting of risk assessment may be expected.
Knowledge and Qualifications
Appointment to either the Lecturer/AC2 or Senior Lecturer/AC3 grade
will be dependent upon the role to be undertaken and the skills,
knowledge and experience of the successful applicant.
It is expected that the criteria below regarding knowledge and
qualifications will be met by the successful candidate.
• A good (1 or 2:1) degree, in geography or an appropriate social
science
• ideally a completed PhD or one near completion.
• Up-to-date, critically-engaged and sound knowledge of sustainable
development and the range of generic skills required.
• Understanding of academic and award standards and the range
and level of knowledge and skills, both subject-specific and
generic, which the programme is intended to foster.
• Competent IT skills and effective use of IT for teaching and
learning.
Hours of work
This post is full-time. The nature of teaching posts is such that staff
are expected to work such hours as are reasonably necessary in order
to fulfil their duties and responsibilities. It would therefore be
inappropriate to define the total hours to be worked in any week. A
reasonable norm for full-time staff, however, having regard to the
contractual position of other senior staff in the institution, would be
thirty-seven, although this should not be regarded as a minimum or
maximum.
Direct teaching responsibility for full-time staff should not exceed
eighteen hours in any week or a total of five hundred and fifty hours in
the teaching year. This provision will not, however, apply in subject
areas where the nature of the curriculum and teaching style make it
inappropriate. In such cases, separate arrangements apply. The
university has currently identified the following academic areas where
teaching methods or modes of delivery make the 18 hour per week
limit inappropriate at certain times of the year:
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art and design
business/management
health - clinically related subjects
construction management
The 550 hour annual maximum will not, however, be exceeded except
by mutually agreed overtime.
The salary
The salary will be in accordance with the Lecturer (AC2)/Senior
Lecturer (AC3) grade, which ranges from £33,242 to £39,685 per
annum (at Lecturer/AC2 level) and £40,847 to £47,328 per annum (at
Senior Lecturer/AC3 level).
Salaries are paid monthly in arrears through the BACS System
directly into the bank or building society account of each member of
staff. The university must pay salaries through the BACS system.
They cannot be paid by cheque. It will therefore be important to
supply account details in order to ensure prompt payment.
Professional development
Four part-time courses are run within the university for staff new to the
teaching role. They are:
The Postgraduate Certificate in Learning and Teaching in Higher
Education (run by the Centre for Learning and Teaching, and
designed for staff in all schools and faculties)
The Postgraduate Certificate in Health and Social Care Education (run
by the School of Nursing and Midwifery, for staff within the school)
The Postgraduate Certificate in Clinical Education (run by the School
of Health Professions, for staff within the school)
The Postgraduate Certificate in Medical Education (run by Medical
Education Unit)
All new lecturers with little or no previous experience of teaching in
higher education, who have not undertaken an equivalent course of
study and training, are expected take one of these courses in their first
or second year in post. The courses provide opportunities to explore
a range of practical approaches to supporting students’ learning, and
to reflect upon the process of developing as a teacher. By negotiation
with the relevant Head of School, teaching timetables are adjusted to
enable the new lecturer to participate effectively in the course. The
course is accredited by the Higher Education Academy, the national
professional body for teachers in Higher Education, and successful
completion normally leads to professional recognition as a Fellow of
the Higher Education Academy.
The successful applicant will be provided with further information
about these Postgraduate Certificate courses at the time of
appointment.
In addition to these courses for staff new to the teaching role, the
Centre for Learning and Teaching offers a wide range of courses,
events and consultancy to experienced lecturers and to course teams
and academic schools across the university. Further information is
available from the CLT’s website: http://www.brighton.ac.uk/clt/
Holidays
The annual leave entitlement is 35 working days, pro rata for
proportional full-time staff. This is in addition to the statutory holidays
applicable in England, local discretionary holidays and days when the
university is closed in the interests of efficiency.
Terms & conditions In determining terms and conditions of employment, the university has
regard to recommendations made through the appropriate national
negotiating framework. These terms and conditions of service can be
varied by local agreements reached through the university’s local
negotiating framework which comprises a Joint Negotiating
Committee supported by two Common Interest Groups. These
groups bring together representatives of the university and its
recognised trade unions, which are:
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UCU – University and College Union
UNISON