Monitoring and progression

As supervisor, you have a key role in ensuring that you:

• have regular meetings with your student
• to comply with UKVI requirements, ensure you regularly meet with your international student in person
• with your student, identify clear work plan and milestones
• encourage the student to raise any concerns immediately with you
• step in at an early stage if the student is demonstrating any progression issues
• where issues are not resolved, to seek guidance from the Director of Studies and the Doctoral College - and contact the Student Immigration Service if your student is a visa holder
• ensure that all progress reports are completed in a timely manner
• support the student in preparing for progression points e.g. Confirmation for PhD students
• in the event of you or a member of the supervision team leaving or is unable to supervise, you MUST ensure arrangements are made for alternative supervision.

Details of responsibilities can also be found in QA7 (Sections 10 & 11 and Appendix 1).

• Plan for difficult conversations using the University of Sheffield’s difficult conversation planner for supervisors.
• Advice through the Postgraduate Research Supervision Network
• Vitae have some quick tips to supervisors ongiving effective feedback to your student

It is important for you to have an overview of the academic milestones (written for doctoral students) and to discuss these with your students so they know what to expect. See also this guide for students approaching the end of their studies - it gives step-by-step advice on the different stages that students need to go through. The Doctoral College monitors data on the completion of these academic milestones and any events which are not completed will be escalated to an appropriate person where required.

You are required to undertake a formal review of your students’ progress every six months throughout the research phase of their degree. Progress reports are initiated by you as supervisor and are completed by yourself, your student and your Director of Studies through a task in SAMIS. Please note: the 6-month report is triggered by an email to you as the supervisor to complete the first part of the form, after which the student is automatically asked to complete their section, and then it is returned to you for further comments before going onto the next stage.  You need to ensure that the progress reports are completed on time and submitted to the Board of Studies (Doctoral). If progress is not satisfactory, you are expected to raise this with your student at the earliest point in order to resolve issues promptly (QA7 Appendix 1). You may also wish to raise this with your Director of Studies.  A step-by-step guide to completing the Progress Report Form in SAMIS is given in the SAMIS manual.

Most doctoral students, apart from those on a Professional Doctorate, are required to undertake Confirmation. The Confirmation process is one of the principal ways in which the University determines whether a student is progressing well with their research and that their project is appropriate for a PhD. It is a key milestone; obtaining Confirmation can be a condition of continued funding for researchers in receipt of studentships.

Confirmation normally happens 12 months after initial registration for full-time students or 18 months for part-time students. Students have a maximum of two attempts at Confirmation.

At Confirmation, the Progression Board of Examiners will assess:

• the Confirmation report or other written work produced in support of the Confirmation application
• the student's performance in an oral examination which may involve a presentation
• the student's progress to date as determined by their supervisors
• the student's skills training record

If your student is required to complete Confirmation, you will need to support them through the process, see QA7 section 11. As per QA7 Appendix 1, it is your responsibility as supervisor to ensure that you have read, and that the student is aware of, the various departmental/School/Faculty/Doctoral College guidance regarding the Confirmation process. For Confirmation, it is expected that you will:

• read a draft of the Confirmation Report / and or chapter (where applicable) and provide constructive feedback
• seek formal approval of the membership of Progression Board of Examiners
• complete your part of the Confirmation Form in liaison with both your student and Director of Studies (where necessary)

The Doctoral College have developed Confirmation Guidance for Students which you may wish to direct your student to. There is also staff-facing Confirmation Process Guide to provide information on the requirements of staff. QA7 Appendix 5: Confirmation of PhD registration also provides advice to your student on how to prepare for the process. You will also be required to nominate Examiners for the Progression Board of Examiners. This is done through a task in SAMIS and you will be sent a reminder near to the deadline for Confirmation to complete this task.

There are a number of student-facing forms and forms which are supervisor-led that you may be involved in completing. These are are required for student progression (some of which are for official progression points and others are for changes in circumstance).