This short post presents my own take on the tutor CDSA, which is now linked to the skills audit. This post should be read from the perspective of a tutor preparing from a CDSA, rather than from the perspective of a staff tutor carrying out a tutor CDSA.
What is the CDSA all about?
The Career Development and Staff Appraisal (CDSA) meeting takes place once a year, after you have successfully passed your probation period. It is all about you and the work that you do with the university. Since everyone is working at a distance, and everyone is busy, it is best thought of a useful process that facilitates a useful conversation between yourself and your line manager. Although you and your work are the focus, it serves a number of related objectives.
Here is a list of points that have been derived from the CDSA resources. The CDSA aims to:
- Recognise your work and your contribution.
- Review workload and work activities.
- Help to build an effective working relationship.
- Determine whether there is anything you need help or support with.
- Provide a space to discuss teaching practise.
- Enable to share information about development opportunities and resources.
- Set standards and expectations.
- Share something about your future plans and career aspirations.
- Help to align individual objectives with organisational and school objectives.
What happens and when?
You line manager will contact you and ask you to complete a CDSA form, which they will usually send to you. They may suggest a date and time for your meeting. If that date does not work for you, do suggest alternative dates. Return the form in advance of the CDSA meeting to give your line manager time to review what you have written.
Your CDSA meeting usually takes place within an MS Teams meeting room, and should last between 45 minutes and an hour.
After your CDSA meeting has taken place, your line manager will let people service know that your CDSA has taken place, or record the date in the current version of the HR system.
How to complete a CDSA form
If you have already had a CDSA, review last year’s CDSA form and revisit the objectives that you have previously set. Reflect on whether you feel they have been met. Ideally, your objectives should be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound.
To help to prepare your CDSA document, do review your Associate Lecturer Activity Review (ALAR) which can be found on your tutor home page. This will give you the date of your last CDSA, provide a summary of your teaching history with the OU, and a summary of some of the professional development activities you have undertaken. You may also like to review the activities recorded in My Learning Centre, which is becoming more important following the introduction of the new tutor contract. It is also a good idea to review your Workload report, which is used to record how your allocated tutor time (your FTE) is being used. If you find any anomalies, or anything that you are not clear about, this could be a useful discussion point within your meeting.
Since your CDSA form is your CDSA form, it is up to you to define your objectives. It is useful to take a practical approach. If you feel that you are providing a high level of service to your students, an objective might be as simple as: ‘continuing to provide effective correspondence tuition for my tutor group’. Do reflect on areas of your practice that you feel you would like to enhance or improve.
Discussions within a CDSA meeting
Although there is no official agenda, the following simple framework is helpful when understanding what may be officially discussed:
- Review of achievements and objectives since the last CDSA.
- Review of skills audit.
- Setting of new objectives.
- Professional development planning.
The CDSA meeting can also be an informal discussion space; the most important point is to have a conversation. It is okay, for example, to share polite grumbles within your line managers. Sometimes grumbles can mask misunderstandings. It really helpful for your line manager hears about the practicalities of tutoring. Change can only get better if issues or problems are shared.
What happens to your CDSA form?
Your CDSA form is for you, and for your line manager – no one else. What is written on your form is confidential and are not shared with others. If your line manager changes, your current line manager may share your CDSA with your new line manager.
Reflections
I always tend to quite enjoy my CDSA. It is rare that I have the opportunity to talk about myself and the work that I do with someone who is actively interested.
I always think of my CDSA meeting as a friendly chat. If you are to ever come away feeling annoyed after a meeting, it is not your fault; it is the responsibility of your line manager to run a helpful and constructive meeting. My final thought is this: there should be no surprises in your CDSA, since you should be the expert in your own workload.