Academic staffing census

From the end of January until the end of May 2019, we are asking all member institutions of the Council of Deans of Health to complete our academic staffing census. We are asking you for detailed information on recruitment, employment and retention of academic staff in your faculties, to establish a clear picture of the national academic nursing, midwifery and AHP workforce across the UK.

Why is the academic staffing census important?

With a good response rate, the census will provide essential information for academic workforce planning, at a level not collected elsewhere, enabling the Council and its members to:

  • provide a UK-wide picture of the academic workforce in our members’ institutions, including risks, challenges and opportunities in recruitment and retention for different disciplines and academic levels
  • improve workforce and succession planning through analysis of the age structure of the academic workforce
  • analyse the current state of the academic workforce by country and region
  • analyse the diversity of the academic workforce in terms of gender, ethnicity and nationality
  • advocate for targeted interventions where needed to ensure the sustainability of the academic workforce in the future

Scope of the data collection

The census collects two forms of information:

  • current recruitment and retention issues within the member faculty/school/department
  • staff census data relating to the member faculty/department/school, as of 31 July 2018

Current recruitment issues could, for instance, include difficulties filling open posts, or recruiting certain academic grades within the member faculty/department/school. Current retention issues may include academic grades for which there is a higher than average staff turnover/attrition.

Staff eligible to be included within the CoDH academic staffing census include:

  • all staff holding a substantive academic contract (teaching and/or research) with the member faculty/department/school
  • with a professional status as either a nurse, midwife or allied health professional (see below)
  • in post on 31 July 2018 (eligible staff will have been returned in the 2017-18 HESA staff record return)

The professions eligible for inclusion within the academic staffing census include those which sit broadly within the nursing, midwifery and allied health professions within the member faculty/department/school (see below). However, we are also interested in understanding the range of different professions and academic disciplines involved in the provision of healthcare education at UK HEIs.

  • Adult nursing
  • Art therapy
  • Children’s nursing
  • Diagnostic radiography
  • Dietetics
  • Drama therapy
  • Learning disability nursing
  • Mental health nursing
  • Midwifery
  • Music therapy
  • Occupational therapy
  • Operating department practice
  • Orthoptics
  • Paramedics
  • Physiotherapy
  • Podiatry and Chiropody
  • Prosthetics and Orthotics
  • Speech and language therapy
  • Therapeutic radiography
  • Other

How does it work? 

We have emailed full instructions to all first named members, asking them to provide a single point of contact in HR who is familiar with the annual HESA academic staff record return, who can submit the census data using our secure online system. You can find more information in our academic staffing census briefing.

Secure data transfer 

We are using a GDPR-approved secure data transfer system supplied by Maytech through which member institutions will transfer their response to us.

Please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions at staffingcensus@cod-health.ac.uk or on 0207 419 5445.