Reforming Academic Career Assessment (ACA): a survey from the CoARA Working Group on ACA

30 January 2024

The CoARA Working Group on Reforming Academic Career Assessment aims to broaden the reflection on academic career assessment, taking into account the full range of work conducted by academics in research, teaching and learning, innovation, management/leadership and service to society.

As part of its activities, the Working Group is launching a survey, open to higher education institutions and research organisations worldwide, to map existing initiatives of academic career assessment in higher education institutions and research organisations. This may include initiatives that aim to broaden the criteria and methods for evaluating the outputs and impacts of academic activities for the purposes of recruitment, performance evaluation and career progression of academic staff.

We would be grateful if you could please complete the survey by 5 April 2024 by following this link. For your convenience, a PDF version of the survey is available for consultation.

More knowledge on the challenges, enablers and change processes in your institution can greatly help other higher education institutions across the globe as they navigate their own reform initiatives. Indeed, the data collected by this survey will inform the development of an online repository of case studies on academic career assessment and a collection of lessons learned. It will also be used to inform the development of an adaptable toolbox for academic career assessment that will cater for different institutional profiles and national contexts. Therefore, we would greatly appreciate it if you would also share the survey within your extended network.

Please note that the survey should be filled out by the people who have an overarching view of setting-up and implementing academic career assessment procedures and practices for academic staff (recruitment, performance evaluation and career progression), at your institution. Due to the comprehensive scope of the survey, it is possible that input from different colleagues will be needed (e.g. research, human resources, international affairs). However, only one response per organisation should be submitted.

Should you encounter any technical difficulties with the survey, or should you require further information, please contact coara.wg.aca@gmail.com.