Mandatory training: Complete the mandatory Work Allocation and Timesheet Practices for Staff Coordinating Casual Academics training module.

Guidance: Review key policies and procedures including:

• Coursework policy
• Assessment procedures
• Academic integrity policy
• Academic integrity procedures
• Employee entitlements for casual academics (Casual Academics Module)
  
• Work allocation and timesheet practices for staff coordinating casual academics (Manager and UoSC Module)

Teaching taxonomy: Consider the teaching activities in a unit of study and ensure they are classified in accordance with the Teaching Taxonomy, which defines the types of activities that can be timetabled and, where a class is taught by casuals, the paycode groups that apply (Paycode Guidelines). Changes to approved teaching activities in a Unit of Study (UoS) need to be approved by your School or Faculty Education Committee.

Planning staff work allocations: If your area is utilising the Online Teaching Allocation (OTA) tool to enter work allocations, consider using the OTA Teaching Framework to identify the staff (fixed term/continuing, casual academics, and affiliates) who will be allocated to deliver/support planned teaching activities. Refer to your School Manager, or equivalent, to confirm if your area is using OTA.

• Entering planned work allocations in OTA

Online Teaching Allocation (OTA) tool assists faculties and University schools in conducting their preparation and work allocations for fixed term/continuing staff, casual academics, and affiliates. Before semester begins, all work allocations are entered into OTA by staff that hold the OTA Allocator role.

The Allocator role’s responsibilities may differ slightly based on processes and requirements in local areas. However, they typically include:

• Monitoring allocation progress and class coverage
• Ensuring allocations are updated in OTA as required
• Communicating local timings and deadlines to academic decision maker
• Submitting allocations for approval.

Refer to the OTA Intranet page for more information on the OTA Allocator role.

• If you will be entering work allocations into OTA as an OTA Allocator, then ensure that these planned work allocations for all staff are entered into the OTA tool, including activities such as tutorial/workshop hours, regular team meetings, and consultation hours. (Please see the Work Classification and Paycode Guidelines for specific definitions of these activities.) Activities with flexible hours, such as marking, should be updated during the semester.

• If you will not be entering work allocations into OTA as an OTA Allocator, then liaise with your area’s OTA Allocators to ensure planned allocations for all staff are entered into the OTA tool, including activities such as tutorial/workshop hours, regular team meetings, and consultation hours. (Please see the Work Classification and Paycode Guidelines for specific definitions of these activities.) Activities with flexible hours, such as marking, should be updated during the semester. Refer to your School Manager, or equivalent, to identify who the OTA Allocators are in your area.

If your planned work allocations change, it is your responsibility to ensure this is reflected in OTA.

There may be changes to work allocations during semester, e.g. tutor swaps, sick leave, addition/removal of classes etc. It is important to maintain work allocations so they reflect the work staff have been asked to complete and, where applicable, they work they have completed.

• Approving work allocations: Allocations entered into OTA must be approved by your area’s OTA Approver. Refer to your School Manager, or equivalent, to identify who the OTA Approvers are in your area. Approvers will review and action allocations to ensure:​ workload completeness​​, all likely work activities and hours entered​​, the appropriate paycodes have been applied​ to ensure we are paying casual academics correctly, and teaching labels/activity names reflects the work being performed. Allocations must be approved to allow casual academics to view these allocations in OTA.

Teaching team management

• Key documents for casual academics: Ensure that prior to the commencement of their work, casual academics are provided with two key documents as part of the onboarding process, which help manage their engagement and remuneration in line with the Enterprise Agreement. These documents are:
  • Contract of employment
  • Offer of work/Work schedule

Please note important work schedule considerations listed on the  Casuals (For Managers) intranet page.

• Need help? Contact Human Resources: +61 9351 2000

Timetabling and your teaching space needs: Expect an email from the Timetabling team regarding details about your teaching space needs, about five months prior to the start of Semester 1 and three months before Semester 2.

Assessments: Refer to the Exams Process Guide for key dates to submit information for in-semester tests and final examinations.

Reading lists: Six to eight weeks before the start of the semester, submit reading lists to to the Library. See the Library's guide for more details.

Timetabling and your teaching space needs:

• Expect a second email with room allocations for the semester. Check the number of seats in your classroom space using the Timetabling website.
• Visit your classroom space or check photos on Resource Booker.
• Check the Lecture Recording Booking System (LRBS) to make sure sessions that need to be recorded are set up to record automatically.

AV services offer a 15-minute AV orientation to familiarize academics with technology in a new space. This must be requested seven days prior; see other conditions on the Audio visual services intranet page, as well as other AV training options.

Unit of Study Outline and Canvas: No later than two weeks before the start of the semester, your Canvas site will need to be published. (Canvas is the university’s Learning Management System.) Working backwards, please allow ample time for this four-step process:

1. Publish your unit of study outline, including your assessment schedule, in Sydney Curriculum.

• The Learning and Teaching Procedures (Section 10) notes required elements of a published unit of study outline.
• On your outline, please double check that the mode of delivery, learning activity types, assessment types, and assessment due dates are correct.

2. Wait for approval from your faculty.

3. When approved, go into SEAMS, which serves as the connection between student enrolment information and Canvas. Click “Preview and Publish.”

4. Once the Unit outline’s status has changed to “Published,” you can publish your Canvas site.

Students

• Take a look at your Knowing Your Student Report, to get insight into your student population. (VPN may be needed to access.

• Get acquainted with student support resources, which include:
  • Student distress and wellbeing
  • Learning support
  • Special arrangements:
    • Special Considerations and Special Arrangements
    • Academic Plans prepared for students registered with Disability Services

Other important resources on these topics are included in the Unit of Study Coordinator Guide. To access, please sign up here:  https://canvas.sydney.edu.au/enroll/8T39KN

Weeks 0 or 1:

Send a welcome email to students using the Student Relationship Engagement System (SRES), which you will use frequently as a UoSC. To learn SRES, sign up for an Educational Innovation workshop, or this knowledgebase article offers self-paced instructions.

Week 3:

By the end of Week 3, unit coordinators who oversee 1000- and 2000-level units must run an Early Feedback Task and send emails to students who do not pass or complete it using SRES. (Note that there is an exception for zero-credit and exchange units.) 3000- and higher-level units should include a substantive activity or assessment before census date, such as an early feedback task, and contact students deemed at risk.

Check the census date for the semester.  Census date is the last day to drop a unit without incurring financial or academic penalty. (Some students may need to be reminded of the deadline.)

Week 4:

On Week 4, follow up emails using SRES should be sent to students who have not submitted the Early Feedback Task or who have an unsatisfactory result. See Early Feedback Task guidance for more information about this process and faculty links for questions.

Team management:

• Casuals’ hours: Enter casuals’ flexible hours into the Online Teaching Allocation (OTA) tool, for activities such as marking. Note that casual staff who are employed on a regular and systematic basis are eligible to claim up to four hours per year for completion of mandatory University training in Workday. These hours do not need to be entered into OTA; casuals should select ‘GEN-EA CLAUSE 68’ in the ‘Unit of Study’ field when claiming these hours. However, other faculty/school/UoS required training needs to be entered into OTA and will be paid for by that respective party.

• Maintaining work allocations: Ensure that changes to work allocations are accurately reflected in OTA. This supports the university's correct record keeping and prevents discrepancies delaying casual academic staff payments. Refer to your area’s specific CAAO team for more information regarding maintaining work allocations.

• Timesheet submission: Encourage your staff to submit their timesheets regularly.
  • Review of timesheets: Prior to the submission of their timesheets, encourage your casual academics to regularly view their work allocations in OTA to ensure it accurately reflects the work they have performed. Particularly during timesheet submission periods, this supports the timely review and approval of these timesheets. Instructions for casuals to maintain their work allocations, complete timesheets, and get support are available on the Sydney Intranet page, Casual Academics.
  • Resolving timesheet variances: If there is a variance between the timesheet and work allocation record, you may be contacted to resolve it, e.g. units or paycode records do not match. It is imperative that these queries are responded to in a timely fashion to ensure that we meet our obligations under the EA to pay our people in a timely manner.

Classroom support: For AV-related classroom issues, if anything is broken or not functioning correctly, please report to ICT (urgent 9036 4888) so that the issue can be addressed.

Adjustments to assessment due dates: Please consult carefully the Special consideration and special arrangements page, which includes information about processes for simple extensions and special considerations.

• Unit of Study surveys typically open in the last two weeks of each teaching period.

• Check with your faculty or school about the last day to submit final grades. Marking options at the University of Sydney are described on this Guide to Grades.