A quarterly publication of AQU Catalunya

85

April 2017

The main aim of the Serra Hunter Programme is the recruitment of high quality contract teaching staff, regardless of their country of origin, by public universities in Catalonia.

At the request of the Serra Hunter Programme, support was provided by AQU Catalunya's Research Assessment Commission (CAR) in the 2016 call for applications with the pre-selection assessment of the CVs of candidates who applied for places. Applications received under the Serra Hunter Programme were assigned to the same review procedure as applications for pre- and non-career grade (tenure track/lector) teaching staff and the assessment of research by senior lecturer staff in the second call for applications in 2016. Support had previously been provided in 2013 and 2015 (there was no call for applications under the Serra Hunter Programme in 2014).

Aside from the assessment and selection procedure for places under the Serra Hunter Programme, and in accordance with prevailing legislation, candidates for contract positions as pre- and non-career grade teaching staff (tenure track/lector), senior lecturer (agregat) and professorial (catedràtic) staff must already be in possession of accreditation. AQU Catalunya therefore carried out the simultaneous assessment of all CVs, including those submitted under the Serra Hunter Programme (without prior accreditation), as well as CVs submitted according to the general pathway.

The Serra Hunter Programme has had an important pull (or knock-on) effect, as there has been a considerable increase in the number of applications compared to normal. Coordination mechanisms between the Serra Hunter Programme and AQU Catalunya were set in place at the outset to ensure the smooth running of the project.

RESULTS

The following applications were received in calls for applications made in 2016:

 General pathway Serra Hunter Programme

Applications made according to the general pathway differ from those made through the Serra Hunter Programme, and the Serra Hunter Programme is authorised to process applications for accreditation.

The following table shows the results according to gender:

The following table shows the results according to age:

Summarised table showing the nationality of candidates:

*Spanish nationals resident in the provínces of Barcelona, Tarragona, Lleida and Girona

ASSESSMENT RESULTS

In the case of pre- and non-career grade (tenure track) teaching staff:

N: total number of applications
CNR: closed/no resolution
NB: the number of cases that were closed with no resolution were not included in the calculation of the percentage of favourable outcomes.

In terms of the success rate at tenure track level, there were no significant differences between general pathway applicants and those applying through the Serra Hunter Programme.

In the case of senior lecturers:

N: total number of applications
CNR: closed/no resolution
NB: the number of cases that were closed with no resolution were not included in the calculation of the percentage of favourable outcomes.
 

The success rate for senior lecturer level applications was 20 per cent higher for the general pathway than for those applying through the Serra Hunter Programme. It should be noted however that a significant number of applications from candidates applying through the Serra Hunter Programme were closed with no resolution. This was due to the fact that many of these candidates did not fulfil the stipulated requirement under the prevailing regulations of three years post-doctoral experience. Many of the CVs submitted by these candidates also did not meet the requirements for assessment and there was also a considerable number of duplicates.

CONCLUSIONS

With regard to the profile of the candidates:

• Broadly speaking, it would appear that the level of attractiveness for candidates from abroad was low: three out of every four applications were from Spanish nationals. This figure is very similar to that of the 2015 call for applications.
• The call for application's capacity of dissemination is quite remarkable, with applications being received from 48 different nationalities in the case of pre- and non-career grade (tenure track) teaching staff and 42 different nationalities in the case of senior lecturer staff. Compared to 2015, this represents a considerable increase in the number of different nationalities.
• The data shows that the majority of those applying for assessment were Spanish, with the majority of these being Catalan. In the case of those just applying through the Serra Hunter Programme, the proportion was considerably lower.
• In terms of the quality of the applicants, or the percentage of favourable assessments, there were slight differences between those applying through the Serra Hunter Programme (64.7% for pre- and non-career grade tenure track) teaching staff and 47.8% for senior lecturer staff) and those applying through the general pathway (65.3% pre- and non-career grade tenure track teaching staff and 69.7% for senior lecturer staff). Candidates applying through the general pathway obtained better qualifications in the case of senior lecturer staff, whereas for pre- and non-career grade tenure track teaching staff the results were practically the same.
• In terms of the results, there were no great differences although the best results (70.5% and above) were obtained by candidates of the Serra Hunter Programme.

In terms of the programme management:

• It is important to point out the additional effort put in by the reviewers of the Research Assessment Commission in assessing the CVs of Serra Hunter candidates. Necessary information that should have been enclosed with the publication data (IF, quartile, etc.) was missing in many of the CVs submitted, as free format CVs were submitted which often did not state all of the merits that were being assessed.
• It is clear that applicants from abroad were unfamiliar with the Catalan system. This was evident from the considerable number of cases where submitted applications were way below the required standard. A formula is needed to accurately inform applicants abroad who are unfamiliar with the Catalan system, in particular those applying for the accreditation of research, regarding the assessment criteria followed by the Research Assessment Commission.
• The fact that applicants through the Serra Hunter Programme do not pay any fees, which are covered by the Government of Catalonia (Generalitat), may lead to certain inequalities for those applying through the general pathway, especially considering that they may all apply for the same places.

As was already recommended in 2015:

• Improvements need to be made to the format of the CV form. At the request of the Research Assessment Commission, the possibility of adopting the CV format used by AQU Catalunya has been referred to the management of the Serra Hunter Programme, which would provide for a more equitative treatment of all those being assessed, together with the corresponding supporting documentation for specific merits.
• Provision should be made for the possibility of the processing of all applications and document management for the Serra Hunter Programme through the Generalitat de Catalunya's on-line applications website. This would lead to a significant time-saving and help cut down on administrative checks and errors and would help to reduce the time required for both processing and publishing the results of calls for applications.