UTS Business School

Marketing Discipline Group

Casual Academic FAQ

See also:

• Official UTS Casual Academics Page
• NTEU (union) Handbook for Casual Academics
• UTS Business School Academics' Handbook (on the G drive: G:\bus_grp\Teaching&learning\Academic Handbook.pdf)
• UTS Business School Casual Academics' Manual (request a copy)

(author, date)

Questions and answers about being a casual academic in the Marketing Discipline Group

• Who can help me in the Marketing administration group?
• What is the sign-up process?
• How are pay rates determined?
• How is marking pay determined and implemented?
• What do I have to do to be paid?
• How do I get access PIN?
• Is there an office where I can work on campus?
• How do I get library access?
• How do I activate my UTS email? (I already have enough email accounts, can I just use one of these instead of activating my UTS email?)
• What is UTS Online and how do I join up?
• Where is the Faculty mail room and Faculty staff room?
• How do I obtain stationery items and do photocopying I need for teaching?
• The classroom lectern takes forever to start up. Can this be fixed?
• How do I get help with the fancy audio-visual technology in my classroom?
• What do I do with assignments and exam scripts when I've finished marking them?
• Where do I obtain a class lists?
• What's the phone number of .....?
• Where are the assignment lockers? How do I get a key to my assignment locker?
• How do I change the UTS record of my bank account
• (or view my payslip, collect my payment summary, change my mailing address, etc.)?
• What provisions are made for parking my car?

Who can help me in the Marketing administration group?

We have four non-casual administrative staff (contact phone numbers). The Marketing Discipline Group (DG) Manager is Stephanie Beckett. Stephanie is involved in aspects of subject logistics as well as higher level DG management issues, especially financial management and full-time employee administration. Stephanie is assisted by Bridget Thornton, Mitchell Osmond and Michael Lee. Mitchell is the Senior Academic Programs Officer and assists Subject Coordinators in managing subject logistics and teaching & learning issues generally. Michael creates the casual academic contracts under the direction of the Subject Coordinators, Head of DG and DG Manager. Other useful contacts are shown on this list.

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What is the sign-up process?

The UTS Business School is accredited by AACSB (Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business), which has quite strict requirements on the qualifications and experience of our teaching staff. Therefore, before any specific discussions with a potential casual academic take place, the candidate's eligibility is considered via submission of an application form for inclusion on the Casual Teaching Staff EligibilityList. The application is reviewed in relation to the AACSB criteria, and approved applications are forwarded to relevant Discipline Groups (DGs), such as the Marketing DG. The DG can then check the candidate's referees' reports and enter into negotiations with a potential casual academic about possible teaching opportunities.

Once an agreement has been reached between a Subject Coordinator and the eligible casual academic, there is a 2-step process to formalise the agreement and achieve employment:

1. Registration on the UTS payroll database system as a casual academic.
   1. The eligible casual academic completes a Casual Academic Employment Request form. New staff also need to submit:
      • a Tax File Number Declaration form (the DG office has a supply of these or you can obtain one from the Australian Tax Office, or some newsagents),
      • proof that they are entitled to work in Australia. Relevant original documents should be shown to Michael, who will copy them, certify the copy, and send the certified copy to Payroll and return the original to you. The documents should either prove Australian citizenship (e.g. birth certificate, Australian passport) or show a foreign citizen's right to work (e.g. residency, appropriate visa).
      • photograph ID (e.g. passport)
      1. Michael sends this material to the Payroll group to register the casual academic, establish a 6-digit employee number, and to create a UTS email account. The casual academic is then available to be contracted to teach anywhere within UTS.
   2. Establishment of a specific contract to teach in a subject.
   3. About two weeks before semester commences, the Subject Coordinator completes negotiations with class teachers (including casual academics) and gives the final teaching details (the class day and time for each teacher) to Michael. Michael prepares specific contracts for the casual teachers, the contract is authorised by the Head of Discipline Group, and the contract is emailed to the casual academic. If happy with the terms of the contract, the casual academic signs it and returns it to:
      1. Marketing Discipline Group
      2. UTS Business School
      3. University of Technology Sydney
      4. PO Box 123 Broadway
      5. NSW 2007
      1. The original signed contract is then sent to UTS-Payroll to enter into the payroll database (to initiate payments) and a copy of the signed front page of the contract is emailed to the casual academic.

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How are pay rates determined?

There is a workplace agreement between the staff unions and the UTS management which specifies the minimum pay rate for the variety of academic activities (lecturing, tutoring, etc), as well as the duties which are expected to be performed (preparation, student consultation, certain cases of marking, etc.), in addition to the actual delivery of the lecture or tutorial. You'll find the agreement details here:

http://www.hru.uts.edu.au/manual/2ea/index.html

A standard hour of tutor-level academic activity is paid at ~$44 (~$52 for a lecturer-level academic, ~$61 for a senior-lecturer-level academic) Therefore, marking or other duties (eg attending compulsory meetings) are paid at $44/hour. (The Marketing DG pays at the $52 rate for PG marking).

• A tutorial is said to involve three hours work by a tutor-level academic: one hour of delivery and two hours of outside-class activity. Pay is therefore ~$44 x 3 =$132 for each tutorial.
• An undergraduate lecture is also said to involve three hours work: one hour of delivery and two hours of outside-class activity; but paid at the "senior-lecturer" level ($61). Pay is therefore ~$61 x 3 = $183 for each UG lecture.
• A postgraduate lecture or workshop (called a "developed" lecture) is said to take more work: one hour of delivery and three hours of outside-class activity. Pay is therefore ~$61 x 4 = $244 for each PG lecture or workshop.

The Head of DG has decided that we will continue the DG's past practice of paying above the minimum rate for classes which are repeated within a 7-day period. Although the agreement provides for a "repeat rate" which is about 2/3 of the standard rate, it has been decided to pay all classes at the higher standard rate. Postgraduate workshop facilitators will be paid at the "Developed Lecture" rate, and postgraduate marking will be paid at the "Subject Coordinator Marking" rate.

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How is marking pay determined and implemented?

Marking could be of two types:

1. Marking of an assignment or examination
2. Marking of work which is just associated with one particular class which you present.

The second category of marking is rarely, if ever, required for subjects presented by the Marketing DG. However, if it were to be required, then up to 20 minutes of this marking is included as part of the duties covered by the normal pay for presenting each 1-hour class (see workplace agreement for more information).

Where marking in the first category (assignment and examinations) is to be part of your duties (as discussed with the Subject Coordinator), there is a separate contract for the marking component which normally covers marking for the entire semester. In such cases undergraduate class tutors are paid 30 minutes per semester per tutorial student. Marking of all the subject's assessments (e.g. an assignment, a mid-semester exam and an end-semester exam) is covered by this 30 minute allowance. Postgraduate workshop facilitators are paid 60 minutes per semester per workshop student. The student class numbers (and hence the total payment for this marking) are determined after the HECS census date, typically week 5 of semester, and the marking contract is sent to you at that time. You won't be paid for teaching or marking the work of students who aren't officially enrolled in your class, so it's a good idea to obtain a class list from the Subject Coordinator and ask any students who aren't officially enrolled in your class to attend their correct class.

Although the marking is done in different weeks of the semester in each subject, all the DG's marking payments are paid over a standard period regardless of when the work is actually done. This period is usually the last few weeks of teaching. The contract will state that:

• the number of weeks of marking is 1,
• marking is done on day 8 of the week,
• marking is done from time 00:00 to 00:00.

This information is just a set of arbitrary numbers designed to ensure that the software treats the payments differently from normal teaching. The total payments will actually be spread over the pay periods between the "Start Date of Appointment" and the "End Date of Appointment" which are shown on the contract.

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What do I have to do to be paid?

Nothing! When your signed contract (teaching or marking) is received by Payroll Branch, they set up automatic payments on the assumption that you will perform the contracted duties. You do not have to complete a timesheet or claim form. These automatic payments occur every second Thursday between the start date and the end date of the contract. The actual pay dates can be found on page 5 of the Finance Procedures Manual - Payroll Management Procedure. If for some reason (e.g. illness) you will be unable to perform the contracted duties, you need to contact your Subject Coordinator to arrange a replacement and contact Michael Lee to implement a Variation of Contract to stop the scheduled payment.

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How do I get access to the Marketing office area?

When you are registered on the payroll and a staff ID has been allocated, Michael will request that you are granted access to Building 8.

Newer buildings such as Building 8 where the UTS Business School is located ( and all those completed in 2014 or later) use a swipe card access control system. A swipe card can be obtained at one of the Student Centres.

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Is there an office where I can work on campus?

Your swipe card will allow you to access the computers on levels 10 and 11 in Building 8 that are set aside for Marketing casual academics.

Level 10. The five workstations that are already available for shared use are WS10.01601 - WS10.01605. Two of the workstations have a computer and the remaining workstations can be used for marking, if you bring your own laptop, etc.

Level 11. There are five workstations with WS11.01701 and WS11.01702 having a computer on each desk for use by casual academics. These are located outside office 11.16.

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How do I get library access?

To enter and use the library (Blake Library in Block A of Building 5, or at Kuring-gai) you need a UTSStaff ID (swipe) Card

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How do I activate my UTS email? (I already have enough email accounts, can I just use one of these instead of activating my UTS email?)

A UTS email account is automatically created for each new employee (if you don't already have one). This account must be activated before it can be used. Activation of this account is essential because it creates a password to go with your 6-digit staff number. Your 6-digit staff number (Employee Number) is given on the top line of your contract. When you activate your email account you will create a password to go with this 6-digit Username, and a method for re-setting your password if you ever forget it. (Note: It could take a few days from the time your 6-digit staff code is allocated until the time the email account is created and is ready for you to activate, but there's no harm in trying as soon as you find out your staff number). Go to this URL to perform the activation:

https://email.itd.uts.edu.au/webapps/myaccount/activation/

Your 6-digit staff number is your "Username" or "User ID" for most UTS computer systems, including email, Neo, UTS Online, and the classroom lectern software (so you can't use the lectern until your email account is activated!). The email account password you create when you activate the account also applies to the other UTS systems (Neo, lectern software, etc).

If you have another email account which you use regularly and would prefer to use, you can set up your UTS email account to automatically forward your UTS emails to your regular account. You should do this because important information (namely your employment contract) will be sent your UTS email address. To set up mail forwarding you need to open Webmail using Microsoft's Internet Explorer (not Firefox, Chrome, etc):

https://email.itd.uts.edu.au/email/

Select Options (top right corner), and then click Rules in the left hand menu to set an appropriate forwarding rule.

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What is UTS Online and how do I join up?

UTSOnline, a modified version of Blackboard, is the web-based teaching resource which is utilized by most subjects. Log in at https://online.uts.edu.au/webapps/login/ . About 24 hours after you have activated your email account, you will be able to log in to UTSOnline using your email username and password. When you have logged in, your subject may appear on a "My Courses" menu. If the subject does not appear, contact your subject coordinator - he/she can enroll you into the UTSOnline subject. Note that because you cannot be enrolled until after your UTS email account has been created and you have activated the account, for new staff members it may not be possible to be enrolled into your subject in UTSOnline until week 2 or later. Mitchell Osmond can help with many UTS Online issues.

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Where is the Faculty mail room and Faculty staff room?

Ask Michael if you would like to receive snail mail. There is a Faculty Staff Room for you to use on level 8 of Building 8.

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How do I obtain stationery items and do photocopying I need for teaching?

Stationery. Call in and ask for what you need. We're usually open from very early and don't close until at least 16:30.

Photocopying - Building 8. Multi-function printers are available for printing and scanning.

Photocopying & Printing - Library. To have your library (Kuring-gai or Haymarket) printing & photocopying billed to the Marketing DG, you need to obtain a Staff ID card and complete this form and then send it to Michael Lee (who will arrange authorization by the DG Manager and then send it to the library). Then follow this procedure when you're ready to photocopy.

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The classroom lectern takes forever to start up. Can this be fixed?

This has been an issue but it was addressed to some extent in 2012. Start up takes quite a while because a lot of software is loaded. Further, the lecterns are set up so that when the previous teacher selects "log off", the lectern computer removes all temporary files to improve stability. This process of startup or logging in might take up to 3 or 4 minutes, which seems like "forever" if the previous teacher was running late and you're waiting to start your class! It should never take more than 5 minutes. Please contact Michael if the login times seem excessive and he will test the lectern and if it takes longer than 5 minutes he will follow up with the IT team which manages the system.

If you have a major problem in the middle of a class you can contact the local AVS office for help (Broadway - ext 1978; Markets - ext 3573; or if calling from a mobile or external phone add 9514 before the extension number).

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How do I get help with the fancy audio-visual technology in my classroom?

If possible, contact the relevant campus AVS office for any demonstration you require before your first class. To book in a demonstration, the preferred method is to use the AV Bookings system on https://av-bookings.itd.uts.edu.au, using your staff number and UTS webmail password as login credentials. If AVS staff resources permit, it is also possible to arrange for someone to come 5 minutes before a class to get the technology running and show you how this is done. You should contact the local AVS office if you have issues or get stuck (Broadway - ext 1978; Markets - ext 3573; or if calling from a mobile or external phone add 9514 before the extension number)

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What do I do with assignments and exam scripts when I've finished marking them?

You should return all student work to the Subject Coordinator. He or she will arrange for appropriate storage to occur. We need to ensure that this material is available in case of student appeal, and it is confidentially destroyed at the end of the appeal period.

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Where do I obtain a class lists?

Your Subject Coordinator can obtain the current class list through "My Subject Activities" (MSA+). Note that the class lists don't stabilise into their final form until a few weeks into semester (after the HECS Census date).

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What's the phone number of .....?

Some handy contacts are:

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Where are the assignment lockers? How do I get a key to my assignment locker?

If you need access to assignment lockers, contact Mitchell Osmond to discuss your needs.

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How do I change the UTS record of my bank account, view my payslip, collect my payment summary, change my mailing address, etc, etc?

You do this yourself by logging in to "Neo" ( http://www.neo.uts.edu.au/index_REMOTE.html ) using your staff number and UTS-email password. Before the first time you use Neo you will need to set the Neo password to be the same as your email password by going to this page: http://www.neo.uts.edu.au/about/accindex.html

Bank Account. To change your bank account details (from outside UTS) follow this procedure:

1. Login using the remote connection (http://www.neo.uts.edu.au/index_REMOTE.html) using your staff number and UTS-email password.
2. Select the "Neo" option….you will have to enter the (same) login information again!
3. Select: UTS Employee Self-Service > Payroll Information > My Bank Accounts
4. Click on the pencil Icon under the heading "Updates". This will take you to the bank account information which you need to edit.

Payment Summary. At the end of the financial year you download your Payment Summary from the Neo site.

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What provisions are made for parking my car?

City

Two adjacent car parks (Harbourside car park and Market City car park) offer "student" rates. You can get the student rate by validating your parking ticket at the validation machine at the IT Help Desk on level 1 of Building 5, Block C - See photos below.

Help desk on level 1

Validation machines at help desk

Enter your ticket into the appropriate machine

You can also use Citigate Central car park, managed by Novotel. UTS staff rates are available if you show your staff ID card

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Last updated by Michael Lee, 01 October 2015