Academic Trainees (ATs) must teach and lecture at least 200 contact sessions during the academic year. In a face-to-face format, one contact session is a 45-minute lecture and tutorial that includes all the required preparation to present the session and respond to students’ questions afterwards. In an online space, one contact session (unless otherwise indicated) is the preparation for developing the equivalent of a 45-minute lecture. All contact sections, irrespective of the course and level, are weighted as 1.

Contact sessions must include at least one week of lecturing or equivalent (e.g. workshops), which vary per section. These contact sessions may consist of hours allocated to meetings and tutoring on courses outside the section.

Trainees are required to manage and track their time allocation. The academic trainee and section head should check and monitor contact sessions allocated during the academic year.

Should the annual contact hours allocated exceed 200 contact sessions, this should be motivated by the course convenor to the section head with approval from the Head of the College (HoC).

Important guidelines that all academic trainees must adhere to: 

• All ATs must attend tutor training at the start of the year.
• All ATs must attend academic trainee training at the start of the year.
• All ATs must be on time for lectures and tutorials. All lecture and tutorial material must be prepared in time and released on the due date.
• Face-to-face lecture periods should run for the full 45 minutes.
• Tutorials should run for between at least 1h30m and 1h45m
• Trainees must liaise with course conveners regarding tutorial policies, etc.

• There is a minimum of six hours a week of student consultation. 
• Trainees must aim for consulting times that are unlikely to change weekly. These times should be posted on Amathuba.
• Consultation times should be set in liaison with the respective course convenor.
• Consulting includes hot seat (liaise with course conveners regarding which courses ATs are involved in the hot seat) in the weeks you are on hot seat duty. The hot seat roster will be arranged and circulated per course as applicable.

Responsibilities regarding setting and writing assessments include:

• Setting assessments (ranging from objective tests, projects, and assignments to tests/exams) – agree on content, etc. and deadlines with course conveners.
• Writing of assessments prior to the assessment date for purposes of checking, reviewing and giving feedback on assessments (ranging from objective tests, projects, and assignments to tests/exams) – agree on deadlines with course conveners.

Important to note:

• The assessment setting process is confidential.
• It is inappropriate for ATs to give hints or areas to focus on (or similar).

Responsibilities regarding marking include:

• Minimum of 80,000 marks per academic year, ideally only on courses where no student tutors/markers. (Marks are based on the number of scripts marked x the maximum number of marks for the question).
• May be exceeded (subject to approval. See point 1)
• The above marking allocation includes PGDA Saturday tests. 
• Review of scripts for remarks. These do not count towards marking allocation.
• Prepare detailed marker comments relating to the sections marked.
• Assist with tick counting, adding and checking for completeness of marking irrespective of the course.

NB: Trainees should always remember the importance of upholding the integrity of the marking process (elaborated on here).

In this regard, trainees must liaise with course conveners to: 

• Agree on manageable marking deadlines.
• Obtain guidance regarding marking and marking plans.
• Mark a test batch of scripts and confirm the marking with the convenor before continuing.
• Ensure consistency and completeness in marking and ‘marking keys’ used, etc.
• Exercise due care to minimise errors and a number of remarks.
• Take responsibility for the security of scripts in your possession.

Two vital points to remember concerning setting and marking:

• The importance of ensuring confidentiality over marks and mark plans and implementing appropriate access controls to safeguard sensitive information.
• Taking on additional marking loads may be required to meet any (unexpected) operational need of the College. This is subject to approval by the section head, and you having the capacity, taking into account your other commitments to the College and your research-related commitments.

You are required to invigilate at least 75 invigilation hours during the year, comprising of tests/projects/exams. This excludes the May/June and Oct/Nov exams, i.e., these invigilation hours are in addition to the minimum. These hours comprise any courses in the College, i.e., undergraduate and postgraduate.

You are required to attend and, where necessary, participate in formal and informal events arranged by the College from time to time. This includes, among other things, staff meetings, academic forum discussions, presentations by visiting academe, etc.

• ATs should be registered for a course/programme with a research component that requires engagement, development and production of a measurable research project output. Below are examples of appropriate research components:
  • An Honours research course (e.g. ACC4050W)
  • An Honours degree; or
  • A Masters degree in a Commerce related discipline; or
  • A relevant higher diploma (a research component must be included) or
  • Two modules of the Postgraduate Diploma/Masters in Education Higher Education Studies Specialisation
• It is each AT’s responsibility to manage workloads concerning teaching and student-related commitments and the chosen academic qualification. Note that in all instances, duties concerning teaching and student-related obligations take preference over your chosen academic qualification.
• You should communicate any due dates of case studies/projects/essays and test dates, etc., with your course convenor and ensure that these do not clash with your obligations as an AT (set out in points 1 to 4 above).
• All ATs must present their research component (at the proposal stage) for constructive feedback, which will assist in their research process. Depending on the qualification chosen for research, the presentation may only take place in the year(s) following the year in which the academic traineeship occurs.
• Refer to point 10 below for details of study leave to complete the research component.

Student support initiatives that trainees are expected to participate in:

• Course-specific (recordings, annotated suggested solutions, workshops, etc.)
• PGDA/Thuthuka mentoring
• Mentoring bursary students (FASSET)
• Money Mentoring programme

Social and Community Engagement

All ATs must participate in community engagement and any other social responsiveness engagement activities that the College is involved in from time to time. ATs involved in social responsiveness activities outside the College are encouraged to share information and report on these.

Administrative responsibilities

• While ATs may be required to tutor across various courses, each AT will likely be assigned administrative responsibility, including managing tutors, scheduling tutorial meetings, distributing tutorial folders and other resources, uploading resources to Amathuba, answering discussion forum queries, etc. These vary per section and course.
• Liaise with course conveners regarding, among other things, Amathuba/Vula-related responsibilities, tutorial administration, test/exam admin, and appropriate responses to student queries.
• UCT Open Day
• AT information session
• Other activities that ATs may be required to be involved in from time to time:
  • SAICA events
  • Social Committee
  • Newsletter committee
  • BAG Sector Night and Finale
  • PGDA events
  • Any other ad-hoc administrative responsibilities expected in an academic institution.

• All external/outside work is subject to final approval by the HoC.
• Taking on the above is subject to your capacity, considering your commitments to the College and your research-related commitments, and avoiding any conflicts of interest. In all instances, your responsibilities concerning teaching and student-related commitments take preference over external/outside work.
• Private tutoring of UCT-registered students, irrespective of the subject, is not allowed.

Enquire when you must attend any training or other sessions with your firm. These should be discussed with the course convenor and included in the 2024 “work allocation” plan. Consent is required from course conveners, and these arrangements must not clash with UCT commitments. Note that SAICA’s Academic Traineeship Programme requires you to attend training when required by your firms. Should your firm need you to do “vac work” during the June/July break, you should apply for annual leave (see point 11 below).

• Leave must be confirmed with the respective course convenor and section head before applying for leave. The standard HR140 should be completed, signed by the course convenor and section head, and submitted to the HoC for approval. Leave is granted subject to the operational requirements of the College. See attached College policy (see the section below).
• ATs get 15 days of annual leave annually, accrued over the period, using the HR140 leave form. If you are not contactable, you must inform the course convenor and section head and submit a leave form. Your Section Head and the HoC should confirm this.
• ATs get an additional five days of study leave a year, depending on the academic programme registered for in 2024. This leave is to be used for performing work related to the research component that the AT is undertaking, such as attending classes, working on dissertations, and completing assignments.
• If an AT will be engaged in work relating to their research component during work hours, it is required that annual and study leave be taken for this time unless other arrangements are made and approved by the course convenor and section head.
• ATs must be at work until Friday, 14 December 2025 (provisional date) to assist course convenors with any additional activities required, such as mark checking, etc.
• Should you wish to take leave before Friday, 14 December 2025, these days form part of your allocated 15 days. You will need to complete a leave form per the process described above. The course convenor and Section Head must confirm that all tasks are completed before approving such leave.
• Not all ATs can take leave during late November and early December - leave will be granted on a first-requested basis. No more than five days' leave may be taken in late November / early December except in exceptional circumstances.

The necessary skills and competencies acquired during the academic training are recorded using SAICA’s Electronic Assessment Tool (EAT). ATs are each assigned to a course convenor who also acts as their reporting officer for the academic training year.

ATs should familiarise themselves with the required outcomes expected during the academic training period (refer to Annexure 1 in the RULES FOR THE ACADEMIC TRAINEESHIP PROGRAMME (October 2021) and are responsible for monitoring their acquisition of these skills and competencies in liaison with their reporting officers. As per SAICA’s requirements, Learning Outcome Reviews (LORs) should be completed monthly, and Professional Development Summaries (PDSs) should be completed every six months.

ATs and reporting officers should meet regularly (at least once per semester) to discuss their progress regarding meeting the skills and competencies identified for the academic trainee programme.  All submissions on EAT should be made promptly to ensure that your assigned course convenor has adequate time to review the submission and propose any changes, if necessary.

As a member of the CoA staff, ATs are always required to act professionally. These include being a responsible citizen, trustworthy and taking due care in any endeavour or circumstance.

As ATs, you have transitioned into a professional working environment – it is understandable that you will have friends who are students and will interact with those students and other students outside of the UCT environment. Be aware of how these relationships and interactions are managed and perceived by others. (Please refer to extracts from the University policy on the next page).

• The remuneration of ATs excludes contributions to medical aid or pension funds. 
• AT should be in the office during teaching hours, depending on the courses allocated. Ensure you are contactable when not in the office/at work or on leave. Working from home is only allowed in exceptional circumstances, with permission from the course convenor.
• In addition to these guidelines, UCT policy documents may be accessed on the UCT website. IT policies may be accessed on the ICTS website.
• UCT Mental Health Policy: This may be accessed via this article on UCT News.

• Confidentiality and Security
  • A staff member may not disclose or communicate to any unauthorised person any information relating to the work entrusted to them or the work of any other staff member or UCT student. Neither may information obtained during employment at the University and relating to any staff member, student or University activity be communicated.
  • A staff member may not use information obtained during employment at the University for personal gain or the benefit of any other person or organisation without written authorisation. 
  • It is a dismissible offence for any staff member to communicate information as defined in point 1 above to the South African Police Service or any other state or private security agency without written authority. 
  • Staff members are responsible for University property issued to them.

• Special Relationships between staff and students
  • In formulating rules about relationships between academic, PASS, or contract staff and students, the University is concerned with protecting the integrity of the academic process and providing an environment in which all students may reach their full academic potential and in which all university members may perform at the highest levels of competence, integrity, and security. 
  • Special relationships between academic, PASS, or contract staff and students (including, but not limited to, romantic relationships, sexual relationships, kinship, and relationships with a history of serious interpersonal conflict) may undermine this integrity, and they may compromise fairness or objectivity, or be perceived to do so.
• Rules
  • A member of the staff who has a special relationship to or with a student in the department of which he or she is a member or with whom he or she has job-related interaction shall disclose the relationship to the Head of Department or senior line manager; the HOD or senior line-manager shall keep a confidential written record of this and report this to the Dean. A Head of Department or senior line manager with a special relationship with a student shall disclose this to the Dean, who shall keep a confidential record. If possible, a Dean in such a position will disclose this to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor.
  • The HOD, senior line manager, or Dean shall take necessary steps to ensure that the academic process is not compromised and that fairness in access to resources, opportunities and services is not damaged. That bias or perceptions of bias in dealing with students are avoided.
  • Failure to report such a special relationship to, or with, a student in terms of these rules constitutes a breach of conduct. Any staff member who contravenes the rules is liable to disciplinary action.
  • To withhold a right or grant special privilege to a student based on a special relationship, disclosed or undisclosed, is a contravention of these rules.
  • No academic staff member may supervise a student's research with whom they are in a special relationship.
  • Contraventions of these rules should be reported to the RO and handled within the University’s broad disciplinary procedures as they apply to academic and PASS staff. Where there are allegations of sexual harassment or sexual offences within the complaint of contravention, these must be handled in conjunction with the University’s policies on sexual harassment or sexual offences.