Supervision Guidance
Information regarding supervisions for Churchill College can be found below, including deadlines for CamCORS reports, expectation guidance, safeguarding information, and relevant contact details.
If you have any queries regarding the processing or payment of your CamCORS reports, please use the College’s supervisions email address.
If you are a Churchill College postgraduate student on a student visa, please contact the Postgraduate Office before you plan to begin supervising as you will need to complete some paperwork and a Right to Work check.
Contact the Postgraduate Office
Date last revised: 10 December 2024
Key Dates and Deadlines
Key dates and deadlines for CamCORS reports
The dates given below are for reports to be approved, and the payment dates for each term. The reports must be approved by the relevant Director of Studies by the below date, and therefore it is recommended that reports are submitted at least 3 days before this deadline.
Michaelmas Term 2024 (Internal Payments)
Report Approval Deadline: 11th December
Internal Paydate: 20th December
Report Approval Deadline: 17th January
Internal Paydate: 28th January
Michaelmas Term 2024 (External Payments)
Report Approval Deadline: 31st December
External Paydate: 7th January
Lent Term 2025
Report Approval Deadline: TBC
Internal Paydate: 26th April
External Paydate: 4th April
Easter Term 2025
Report Approval Deadline: 17th July
Internal Paydate: 28th July
External Paydate: TBC
Long Vacation 2025
Report Approval Deadline: 17th October
Internal Paydate: 28th October
External Paydate: TBC
Internal payments refers to those supervisors paid via the Churchill College Payroll system. External payments refers to those supervisors paid either directly or via other Payrolls.
All reports for any given academic year must be submitted by the end of that academic year.
Key Contacts
Details of a specific student’s Director of Studies or Tutor can be found on CamCORS itself, but if you are unsure who to contact, please email the Tutorial Office.
A list of undergraduate college tutors can be found on the Tutorial Office page.
The college’s Directors of Studies can be found in the Fellowship Directory.
Contact details can be searched for on the University’s Lookup Service.
College Safeguarding Documentation
Churchill College’s policies, including regarding safeguarding and Freedom of Speech, can be found here.
Churchill College’s safeguarding lead is the Senior Tutor, Dr Rita Monson.
University Supervising Guidance
Expectations for Supervisors Guidance Document
University Safeguarding Expectations
(Raven details required)
New Supervisor Training and Payments
New supervisors will be directed to the online training module when they register in CamCORS. Payment for new supervisor training is handled centrally by the Office of Intercollegiate Services and not by individual Colleges. Payments will be made through a bulk process after the submission and approval of reports, and you need not claim for this payment. In the rare instances where a department may offer training, any issues connected to payment should be referred to the Department and not to Colleges.
College Approach for Supervising
Our precise approach to supervisions varies by Tripos, Tripos part, type of paper and sometimes by individual student circumstances. Our core generic advice would be to facilitate student participation in supervisions and not to lecture them; to allow time to respond to students’ questions; and to respond to the particular needs of a given supervision group whilst not losing sight that the process is both an exploration of the subject and part of preparation for Tripos.
We hope that neither supervisors nor students take on more work than is necessary for the system to run smoothly and successfully. If in doubt, or if you have concerns that you may be running beyond such limits, please ask the relevant Director of Studies or the Senior Tutor for guidance. Our student handbook makes clear the College’s expectations of students about supervisions and their work.
In most cases you should already have been briefed by a Director of Studies about students’ names, contact details, any Student Support Document guidance, the number and frequency of supervisions we anticipate should be given, and the volume and the level of work we will require of the students you teach. Please do not vary from these expectations without first checking with the Director of Studies, including if you believe a student would benefit from some extra tuition. Where the relationship is mediated through a departmental role, you may also need to consult course convenors and administrators as well as the relevant Director of Studies on some matters.
Serious Academic or Pastoral Concerns
If you have serious pastoral or academic concerns please alert the College promptly. We greatly appreciate the role that our supervisors play in supporting students but do not expect them to take on the duties which Directors of Studies, the Tutors, the Wellbeing Coordinator and the College Nurse provide in managing serious academic or pastoral / wellbeing concerns. Please refer such matters to us rather than seeking to deal with them yourself.
The College’s confidentiality policy is very clear that we cannot give guarantees of absolute confidentiality regarding student welfare. If a student suggests that they wish to tell you something in total confidence, you may wish to report any such request informally to a member of our welfare team. It is often a sign that a student needs additional support. We can then advise and support you appropriately on how to respond to the student.
Supervisors are not expected to become pastoral advisors to students. Their role is an academic one.
Missed Supervisions
Students are expected to attend all supervisions unless they have a good reason for missing them and, unless there are extenuating circumstances, all absences should be communicated in good time.
The Student Handbook states:
“You must attend all supervisions arranged for you without fail unless excused by your Director of Studies. In the case of ill–health or other emergency you should contact your supervisor, in advance if at all possible, explaining the reasons for your absence. This is a matter of courtesy and respect as well as practicality. Undergraduates are expected to make full use of the teaching and learning provision made by the University and the College. If you do not do so, the consequences are likely to be significant. You will under–perform academically and the College may be forced to take disciplinary action against you.”
If a student persistently misses supervisions or fails to hand in work, please treat this as you would any other serious academic or pastoral concern.
How the College Uses Supervision Reports
Supervision reports should be thought of primarily as feeding back to the College (DoS and Tutor) on a student’s work during the term. They are, of course, also visible to the student and thus can be used to reinforce feedback that has been given in writing or in supervisions. Reports are discussed at end of term meetings and help us to support students. We would prefer third person reporting rather than reports addressed to the student.
The College values an effective assessment, even a brief one, of a student’s strengths and weaknesses; aptitude, attitude and progress, their work rate and their participation. We would encourage supervisors to be as honest as possible, including both positives and negatives in their reports. Directors of Studies will have the opportunity to read reports before they are released them to students, and they can suggest changes if needed.
Reports are particularly useful when things go wrong for a student. All supervision reports must be submitted as part of any case made to the Examination Access and Mitigation Committee (EAMC). The EAMC may see blank or extremely brief reports as unhelpful to a student’s case compared to one that speaks to effort, engagement and aptitude.
A report is used in the following ways:
- It informs DoS and Tutorial conversations with students regarding their attendance, commitment, participation, and achievements in supervisions.
- It helps students to see an assessment of their work and monitor their progress.
- It assists in planning revision, consolidating work or honing study skills.
- It helps to manage students’ expectations.
- Where a student may be struggling personally or academically, reports provide invaluable detail. Discussions of capability to study are enhanced by reports that give an early clear and balanced account of how a student has been doing.
Tutors and Directors of Studies may also use supervision reports when they write references. These are sometimes requested years after graduation and being able to use material from reports can be helpful. Please note that supervisors are not required to provide personal or academic references for students. Occasionally a supervisor may be happy to do so, for example, in relation to dissertation work. However, please do not feel obliged to do this and do feel free to liaise with the student’s DoS or Tutor if approached.
Multiple supervision reports from one supervisor are not necessarily better than single ones. Even if you use draft reports as an aide-memoire with detailed accounts of supervisions, please do not feel obliged to submit separate reports on every supervision. In some ways it can be preferable to have a single, shorter report that summarises the student’s strengths and weaknesses and makes suggestions on how best to consolidate and improve their work. The key aspects to include are as follows:
- Completion of the fields for industry, progress, interest, and estimate of work.
- An account of what has gone well and areas for improvement.
- Brief commentary on work rate and participation.
- Advice for the DoS and Tutor to pass on to the student.
- Comments looking forward to revision and preparing for the Tripos examinations.
If you feel there is a need to write at greater length, please email the Director of Studies and/or Tutor via the links provided on the report form.
College Room Bookings
If you wish to book a room in Churchill College for your supervisions, please contact our Conferencing Office, or visit our Room Bookings intranet page.