This is part of a series of curated insights for Reformscape, a new tool from Project TARA.
Utrecht University (UU) and Utrecht University Medical Centre (UMC) have been steadily developing policies and practices aimed to reward a variety of academic activities in assessments.
Their most recent tool that captured our attention is a set of conversational guidelines. This tool helps to translate high-level commitments to improving assessments into new practices on team and individual levels. It equips leaders and colleagues with better ways to reflect on their achievements and goals.
This tool speaks to the fact that individual academics are embedded in various teams and should be assessed in specific team contexts. They were designed to support more tailored ways of working and evaluating in different parts of the University.
The guidelines can be used to organize structured discussions on themes of team spirit and leadership; team impact; mapping collective activities, competences, and qualities. They also include questions and approaches useful for discussing individual development in annual reviews or for stimulating ad-hoc reflections and feedback.
Curious to know more? Check out the background material that details this and other initiatives undertaken by Utrecht University and Utrecht University Medical Center.