HDR Annual Review - Information for Supervisors

The annual review is a record of all HDR candidates’ progress for the past year. Candidates are required to report on any period of study between October 2007 and September 2008. Re-enrolment and continuation of scholarships (where applicable) are dependent upon a satisfactory annual review. This is the fifth year that the annual review has been completed online and it is now conducted solely online. Alternative modes of completion are only available for candidates with disabilities.

The annual review commences in the month of September every year.

This year, the annual review system will OPEN on:
Monday 15th September 2008
It will remain open for three weeks and will CLOSE on:
Friday 3rd October 2008

There are no extensions to this deadline as the Head of School, Dean and Chair of the Higher Degrees by Research Committee also need to provide comments after candidates and supervisors have completed their sections. As the annual review is linked to re-enrolment for 2009, candidates may incur the $200 late re-enrolment fee if their annual review is not completed by Friday 3rd October. Information in this document will assist in planning for completion within this time frame.

All HDR candidates are required to complete the annual review including:

• candidates who are currently on intermission
• candidates who have taken some period/s of intermission since the last annual review
• candidates who have submitted their notification of intention to submit

The only HDR candidates who are NOT required to complete the 2008 annual review are:

• candidates who commenced their studies on or after 1 July 2008
• candidates whose thesis is under examination
• candidates whose thesis goes under examination before the close of the online annual review system on Friday 3rd October 2008
• candidates who are revising their thesis for resubmission
• candidates who have been on an approved continuous intermission for the entire reporting period (October 2007 to September 2008)

If one of your candidates has been on intermission for much of the past year they must still report on any period of study as well as their plan for the forthcoming year.

Navigating the annual review system, access issues, log-in or password queries
Email: hdr-annual-review@deakin.edu.au
Phone: 03 5227 2633

Procedural questions (eg- candidate progress issues, content queries)
Email: research-hdr@deakin.edu.au
Phone: 03 9251 7124

The online annual review is accessed through the Research Services website. The webpage for the review is: http://www.deakin.edu.au/research/admin/hdradmin/annual_review.php Click on the link at the top of the page which reads: Access the 2008 annual review/re-enrolment system You will be asked to enter your staff user name and password. Once you have entered these details you will enter the online annual review main menu page from which you are able to navigate the review pages.

Yes. If you are a candidate’s Principal Supervisor you are required to review your candidate’s details including what your candidate has written in Section 1, and complete Section 2 (Supervisor’s Comments). If you have not already discussed the annual review with your candidate please raise the matter with them as early as possible. Supervisors are asked to provide honest comments on their candidate’s progress. Where problems have been experienced outline any action that has been taken or proposed action to be taken. Also ensure that your candidate’s plan accurately represents their progress to date and provides a detailed timeline for completion.

If you are a candidate’s Associate Supervisor you are not required to actively participate in the review unless the Principal Supervisor has asked you to complete Section 2 on their behalf. Associate Supervisors have the same level of access to the annual review system as Principal Supervisors so they are able to read comments made by the candidate and Principal Supervisor or can key comments for Section 2 if this is required.

To assist candidates who may be on leave, at a conference etc., during the annual review period, the topics covered in the candidate's section of the annual review (Section 1) have already been posted and emailed to all candidates so that responses may be discussed with supervisors in advance.

Topics covered in the candidate's section of the annual review are:

• Outline of work completed to date
• Specific achievements (e.g., seminar presentation, publication of a paper etc. If a paper has been published, please give the full bibliographic details. A full copy of any publications should be sent to the appropriate faculty research administrator.)
• Any difficulties experienced during the period since commencing candidature or the last annual review
• Detailed plan of remainder of candidature with milestones to be completed each month.
• Occupational Health and Safety matters
• Average hours of paid employment per week (if any)
• The Completion Checklist for students who plan to submit by 31 December 2009

As the annual review is conducted solely online both candidates and supervisors will be able to complete their sections of the review from anywhere in the world during the review period if the above topics have been discussed ahead of time.

Similarly, if you are the Principal Supervisor of an HDR candidate and are going to be away during the review period, you may wish to consider your responses to the Supervisor's section, Section 2 ahead of time.

Topics covered in this section are:

• A rating of your candidate's progress on a scale of: Satisfactory, Generally satisfactory (problems have received attention), Progress affected by problems which are receiving
attention and Unsatisfactory
• Comments on candidate's progress
• Likely submission date of thesis
• Whether ethics and/or biosafety approvals are required and have been obtained

If the candidate also has an Associate Supervisor you may wish to discuss the above topics and have the Associate Supervisor key responses into the online system on your behalf if you are unable to complete comments during the annual review period (Monday 15th September to Friday 3rd October). The annual review can be accessed online from anywhere in the world.

Yes, you are able to complete your comments at any time once the system is open. An automatic email will be sent to your candidate to inform them that you have entered your comments and that the system is awaiting their comments. You may wish to log-in at a later date to peruse Sections 1 and 3 once your candidate has completed them.

Only candidates required to complete the annual review are given access to the system. Candidates who are not required to complete the annual review will not be listed in the system.

If your candidate has a disability they may have elected to complete the review in an alternative way, and their name will not be listed in the online system.

By the time the review opens on 15th September, all HDR candidates will have received by post and email detailed information about the review, including contact details for any queries. Candidates are then sent a reminder by post and email when the review is about to open. Candidates are emailed two further reminders during the review period if they have not already accessed the system.