The Responsibilities of Committee Members

Each committee should be mindful of the existence of unconscious biases – both in themselves and others - and consider how these biases might affect how assessments are made and how they affect objective decision-making.  Committee members should constructively challenge any potential implicit or explicit biases they observe in the assessment process, whether in themselves or others, to ensure fairness and promote inclusion.

Whilst it is important to ensure a fair and consistent approach is taken to evaluating excellence, the University recognises that certain metrics, such as student feedback and bibliometrics, have their limitations. Committees should, therefore, be mindful of the importance of judgement and be aware of the limitations of metrics when making their assessment.  By signing the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) the University has acknowledged that intellectual content is more important than publication metrics or the identity of a journal.  Terms such as ‘high quality research’ or ‘influential research’ should be preferred to the words ‘impact’ and ‘impactful’, which may be misinterpreted as denoting ‘journal-impact factor’. Committees are directed to the University’s guidance on the Responsible Use of Metrics in Research Assessment, and are expected to follow these principles.

The University aims to be a leader in driving an inclusive and respectful culture and in promoting a positive working environment for all in its community and high standards of conduct are expected from all employees.