Guide for members of expert committees

Part 1 Use of an expert committee

1 General information

Appointment and promotion in teaching and researching positions must be based on an expert assessment: see Section 7-2 (2) of the Act relating to Universities and University Colleges.

The objective of the expert assessment is to form the basis for the further processing of the appointment case in the university¡¯s bodies. The expert assessment becomes part of the overall basis on which the recommending authority bases its recommendation to the appointments body.

The committee bases its assessment on the information submitted. The committee must assess applicants¡¯ qualifications in accordance with the University of Oslo¡¯s competence profile and the requirements set out in the text of the call for applications. The experts must provide an indicative assessment in which at least three of the applicants deemed qualified are ranked.

Rules and guidelines to be followed:

•  Regulations for the Act on universities and colleges chapter 3 (lovdata.no) (Norwegian). 
• Rules for employment and promotion for teaching and researching positions
• Rules for practising the requirement for basic university teaching competence
• Text of the call for applications/job description
• National/faculty guidelines

2 Assessment procedure

The Faculty designates, by appointment, an administrative leader of the committee. An internal coordinator may also be appointed. The administrative leader manages the work of the committee and is responsible for ensuring that the work gets started and is delivered on time.

The experts¡¯ assessment should normally be available within three months from their appointment. Shorter deadlines may be agreed. If the assessment cannot be submitted within the deadline, grounds for this should be given to the Faculty.

2.1 Equal treatment

Applicants are entitled to fair and unbiased treatment at all stages of the administrative procedure, which includes the assessment by the expert committee.

The members of the expert committee should be aware of how bias and stereotypes can influence the assessment of applicants and try to counter this. If emphasis is placed on something in respect of one of the applicants, there is an obligation to also assess this in respect of the other applicants.

2.2 Delegation of work

The experts usually work as a committee and provide a joint assessment. It is common for members to distribute the applications amongst themselves, so that each of the committee members bears overall responsibility for certain applicants and records the discussions on these in writing. This should not result in applicants being assessed according to different standards and criteria. The committee can decide for itself whether the committee¡¯s chair should record the entire document in writing on the basis of input from the various members. Nevertheless, a unanimous assessment will be a collective product. The minority must formulate its position in the event of dissent.

2.3 Basic screening

The expert committee must initially identify a limited number of applicants who hold higher qualifications than the others: see Rules for employment and promotion for teaching and researching positions, Section 16.

The expert committee must give an opinion as to what differentiates the selected applicants from the rest. That is why all applicants and their qualifications must be discussed briefly. This discussion should be concise. In the case of an applicant who is not included in the ¡°limited number¡±, the expert committee has no obligation to decide whether the person in question is qualified for the position.

2.4 Discussion of a limited number of applicants

The discussion of the limited number of applicants who hold higher qualifications than the others must be a more extensive and comprehensive assessment and include the various qualification areas.

The expert committee should first - for each individual applicant - decide whether the person concerned satisfies the scientific and educational requirements, cf. Rules for employment and promotion for teaching and researching positions at UiO, Section 12. 

The committee must state its opinion on the applicant's competence in each of these two main areas, and state explicitly whether the applicant documents having met the requirements for basic university pedagogical competence.

Thereafter, the committee should form a picture of the qualifications, beyond the basic competence, that the individual applicant has documented within the different qualification areas.

Exceptions to the defined requirements for educational competence may be made upon appointment, provided that the institution facilitates the attainment of the competence within two years of the date of appointment. This exception does not apply to applications for promotion.

It is the applicant¡¯s responsibility to document their own competence in a manner that provides the best basis for an unbiased, qualitative assessment. Similarly, the expert committee is required to provide an explicit statement of the basis for the assessment, criteria and conclusions in accordance with this guide.

2.5 More information about the assessment

The expert committee must perform a full assessment of the academic qualifications and an initial assessment of educational qualifications, applied knowledge and qualifications in academic management and administration: see paragraph 4 on competence profile. The committee does not assess personal qualifications.

When assessing the qualifications, emphasis must be placed on quality, i.e. how good or strong the qualifications documented by applicants are. This must also be viewed in relation to the requirements laid down in the call for applications.

The assessment of academic qualifications must be based on the quality and originality of the academic work. Appropriate use of bibliometric indicators may be an additional element in the assessment.

Basic university pedagogical competence can be achieved by completing UiO's university pedagogical programme, or by documenting equivalent competence in accordance with UiO's rules for the practice of basic university pedagogical competence. With this, the applicant fulfils the formal requirement for educational competence at the first competence level in accordance with the regulations ¡ì 3-8 first paragraph, last sentence (lovdata.no) (Norwegian). 

¡°Basic skills¡± means that individuals can adopt the most common teaching and supervision methods and have the skills required for good planning and necessary further development, as well as being able to understand, justify and assess their teaching based on their own and others¡¯ experiences, preferably with reference to relevant research.

Assessment of educational qualifications is based on the applicant¡¯s educational portfolio. An educational portfolio should include the following items: 

• An ¡°educational CV¡±, which provides a concise description of the applicant¡¯s experience in planning, implementation and evaluation and development of teaching and supervision, including scope and level
• Documentation of cited conditions
• Be able to reflect on their own role as a teacher, and discuss and justify their own choices in planning, implementation and development of teaching and supervision

The educational portfolio should not be too comprehensive, and as a rule, a scope corresponding to 3-6 pages plus attached documentation will be sufficient. If a different scope requirement is specified in the announcement text, this requirement will apply. Also the attachments should be limited to cover the most central points with representative examples. 

The University of Oslo assesses academic qualifications based on criteria set out in Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, SoTL:

• Focus on student learning
• A clear development over time
• A researching approach
• A collegial attitude and practice

The various qualification areas must essentially be assessed in the same way. All areas require documentation and assessment in respect of explicit criteria. It is important for the assessment committee to explicitly clarify its own criteria and their use. The University of Oslo¡¯s assessment matrix ¨C see paragraph 6 and part 4 ¨C may be of assistance in this work.

2.6 Further details relating to the language requirement

It is the applicant's responsibility to document their qualifications. This also applies to the language requirement.

The requirement will be relevant for those who do not have Norwegian/Scandinavian as their mother tongue/first language and where there is doubt as to whether the person concerned can speak Norwegian (Scandinavian) at the level requested. The language requirement is documented Norwegian skills at level B2, cf. the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. Competence in Swedish or Danish is equivalent to Norwegian.

Language requirements can be documented through

• Norwegian language test from the Norwegian Directorate for Higher Education and Skills with at least B2 in all four skills
• Bergenstest with result Passed
• Upper secondary education diploma from a Scandinavian country

Exceptions to the requirement for Norwegian language skills at a minimum level B2 upon employment may be made if the institution facilitates that the competence is achieved within three years from the date of employment. This exception does not apply to applications for promotion.

Part 2 Competence profile, assessment and weighting

3 The university of Oslo's competence profile

A competence profile has been adopted at the University of Oslo that aims to demonstrate the breadth of qualifications to be assessed and to clarify the weighting of the various qualifications: see Regulations on employment and promotion for Professor and Associate Professor positions, Sections 10 to 14.

3.1 Qualification areas to be assessed

Norwegian language at B2 level (or other Scandinavian languages) must be documented no later than 3 years after commencing the position and is a criterion for promotion. 

3.2 On appointment

The entire breadth of qualifications will be included and assessed explicitly in the ranking of applicants. The experts undertake a complete assessment of the academic qualifications in paragraph 1 and an initial assessment of the qualification requirements in paragraphs 2 to 4. The qualifications in paragraphs 2 to 4 may be subject to additional assessment and elaboration by means of a trial lecture, interview and reference interview.

Personal qualities are assessed by the recommending authority later on in the process.

3.3 On promotion

The experts undertake a complete assessment of the qualification requirements in paragraphs 1 to 4. Personal qualifications are not assessed in the case of promotion.

4 Qualification requirements

UiO sets qualification requirements for the individual positions, see Rules for employment and promotion in teaching- and researching positions Section 12:

• ¡ì 12.1 Qualification requirements for university teacher
• ¡ì 12.2 Qualification requirements for lecturer
• ¡ì 12.3 Qualification requirements for senior lecturer
• ¡ì 12.4 Qualification requirements for docent
• ¡ì 12.5 Qualification requirements for associate professor
• ¡ì 12. 6 Qualification requirements for professor

4.1 Additional requirements for professorship

For professorships, in addition to basic university pedagogical competence, the following are required to be documented:

• A wide range of skills in planning, implementation and evaluation of teaching
• Broad experience from academic supervision, preferably at Master/PhD level
• A wide range of competencies in systematic development work related to teaching and academic supervision
• Efforts, leadership and cooperation in own academic environment related to work on education quality

A "wide range of competencies" suggests both a greater scope and a higher level of competencies than "basic competence". However, the range of competencies must be seen in the light of the tasks available over time in the academic environment in which one is employed.

Substantial academic production in excess of that which is required for a doctoral degree is required. The research must be of high quality and demonstrate both breadth and depth. The production shall reflect an independent research profile and demonstrate the ability to address new problems. Sustained research activity is a prerequisite for the granting of professor competence. 

For professorships, the applicant is also required to document qualifications beyond the customary performance of responsibilities at the associate professor level, within either the application of knowledge or the qualifications in academic management and administration. "Beyond" will, in this context, demonstrate that the scope of such activity is greater than that which is considered usual for intermediate group positions in the academic environment and that the quality of the activity and the results from it are clearly higher than usual. This assessment must be based on a certain discretion and a knowledge of the academic environment with which the position is associated.

4.2 Elaboration of requirements for docent

For docents, in addition to basic university pedagogical competence, the following are required to be documented:

• a wide range of skills in planning, implementing, and evaluating teaching  
• experience with various forms of supervision  
• a wide range of skills in systematic development work related to teaching and supervision  
• efforts, leadership, and collaboration within one's own academic environment related to work on educational quality

A "wide range of competencies" suggests both a greater scope and a higher level of competencies than "basic competence". However, the range of competencies must be seen in the light of the tasks available over time in the academic environment in which one is employed.

5 Weighting of qualifications

The Rules for employment and promotion for teaching and researching positions stipulate that the full range of qualifications must be included and assessed.

For regular professor and associate professor positions, scientific qualifications are weighted more heavily than other qualifications unless otherwise stated in the job announcement. Educational qualifications will be given precedence over qualifications in the areas of knowledge in use and academic leadership and administration, unless otherwise indicated in the job announcement.

For lecturer and docent positions, educational qualifications are weighted more heavily than other qualifications, unless otherwise stated in the job announcement. Contributions to development work are weighted based on their relevance to the position.

Employment is based on a comprehensive assessment of all qualification requirements for the position, including personal qualifications. It is important to be aware that personal qualifications after a comprehensive assessment may be of crucial significance in the appointment case. This must be based on facts related to personal qualities indicated in the call for applications. However, personal qualifications are assessed after the expert committee has submitted its assessment.

6 Use of the University of Oslo's assessment matrix

Universities Norway (UHR) has prepared a toolbox known as NOR-CAM for assessing academic results, competence and experience. Based on this, as well as UiO-KVM, this guide includes a custom matrix for assessment based on the needs of the institution. The assessment matrix contains three columns for each of the areas in the University of Oslo¡¯s competence profile, with examples of results/competence, documentation and reflection. This allows the matrix to make clear what aspects may provide an advantage. This list is not exhaustive. The information added to the various dimensions must be adapted to the context in which it is to be used. The units may have local matrices adapted to their subject areas.

Results/expertise, documentation and reflection should demonstrate what one has done and achieved in the various areas as well as quality, development and breadth in the activity and results. If an applicant were to relate their qualifications to the University of Oslo¡¯s commitments in the relevant areas, this would be positive.

Results and skills: The matrix has been compiled especially for Professor and Associate Professor positions. It is flexible, however, and can be adapted to suit different purposes, activities and positions. What should count, and to what extent, may vary depending on the type of position to be filled and the profile with which the position is advertised. This column contains examples of what may be of relevance.

Documentation: The assessment of the various qualification areas will be based on documentation that makes it possible to take a position on their quality. The matrix includes a detailed description containing examples of relevant documentation relating to the various qualification areas. Emphasis is placed on formulating the examples so that they relate to activities and results of such qualifications, not to ¡°capabilities¡± or ¡°prerequisites¡±.

Reflection: This column relates to the applicant¡¯s own reflection on the various points. The idea is for this column to provide the applicant¡¯s subjective assessment of their own results and skills. The aim is to achieve good interaction between the documentable and/or measurable elements and the applicant¡¯s own qualitative assessment of these. Reflection can show whether the applicant relates to the different competence areas in a manner characterized by systematic investigation and reflection linked with the conscious use of academic and experience-based knowledge.

Part 3 Further process

The assessment from the expert committee is sent to the applicants, with a 14-day deadline for comments. Any comments will be submitted with the case during further processing until a decision is made to appoint a candidate. The expert committee  will be sent any comments and shall provide an additional statement based on the comments. Any comments and additional statements from the expert committee  will be submitted with the case until a decision is made on appointment.

The work of the committee is complete when the assessment has been submitted to the recommending authority and responses have been given to any comments.

The University of Oslo practices public access to government papers for assessments from the expert committee. This means that access to the expert assessment will be granted upon request for parties other than the parties to the case. Access will be granted only after the deadline for the period for comments.

The expert assessment forms part of the overall assessment before the recommending authority submits its recommendation to the appointing authority. The recommendation is based on a broader foundation than the assessment by the expert committee. Appointment/promotion is finally discussed by the appointing authority.

Part 4 Matrix for assessment of qualifications

This matrix exemplifies results/skills, documentation and reflection for all areas in the competence profile. It is emphasized that the matrix contains a lot of points because it has to exemplify opportunities for various elements that can be incorporated, not because each individual point should be covered.

As with examples adapted to the subject area, the units may have established local matrices. More information is available about museum dissemination skills for the university museums (norwegian).

Results/expertise, documentation and reflection should demonstrate what one has done and achieved in the various areas as well as quality, development and breadth in the activity and results,