Good practice and other ideas about PG Supervision – generated through discussions in an open community meeting on 24th June 2020

During the spin-off meeting about PGR Supervision in the COVID-19 crisis, we asked the 43 attendees to discuss four key questions. The attendees joined randomised break-out rooms and reported their answers back to the collective.

Below you will find a short summary report of the good practice and other ideas shared by and with the community.

Report by Dr Helen Vaughan & Dr Tom Stallard

Q1. How do you run meetings with your students online and what online networks are students accessing students?

Ensuring clear communication is key to good supervision, and that helping students maintain their social networks provides an essential wider support structure that prevents students from becoming isolated.

Good practice distilled from the meeting about running your supervisory meetings:

Stay in touch via video conferencing or even call (if there are issues of bandwidth); the system used is dependent on your institution but those with chat or messaging features were highlighted as useful as you could send messages that could be picked up at a convenient time.
Don’t just talk about work – some places reported having fortnightly 1-2-1 welfare check-ins which included asking about progress and plans in both work and the student’s social life and an important question “What can we do to make life better?”
When you do talk about work – consider how you will communicate those complex ideas: screen sharing, an online whiteboard, co-creating a shared document? Don’t be afraid to move your camera and share drawings of complex diagrams as you would with a blackboard.
Encourage your students to do the talking and reflect on the meetings.
Acknowledge anxiety during postgraduate studies as it’s a difficult time as it is.
Be mindful that each student’s circumstances are different.
Keep a few notes so you can track progress. (One department reported recording the video meetings. Some departments have a formal system for making sure meetings take place with expectations that supervisors will have meetings at a certain frequency and record notes to make sure they have happened.
Explain your limitations. E.g. home schooling may mean you are less flexible.

Some ideas about networks for PGR students:

Encourage participation in internal and external online networks to reduce a feeling of isolation– whether it’s kick starting the departmental network, going to a conference (all online) or suggesting that they set up a series of seminars. The nuclear physics community were reported to have a student and staff led set of seminars attended by researchers and postgraduates – really building a community of practice.
There is also a new Physics PGR network being set up by Bethan Cornell – maybe your students can build a similar network in your department or discipline.

Q2. How do you ensure you have time with your students, balanced against your other staff commitments?

We are all being pulled in different directions at this challenging time. Whether it’s been the closure of schools, an unexpected increase in UG related teaching, taking on new covid-19 related projects or becoming ill, it could be that PG supervision that has taken a back seat. There is also a real concern that as soon as the new academic term starts, then the balance will shift again.

Some ideas from the meeting that might help increase the effective time you have with students:

Speak to your department how much time you need to complete your supervision, especially if those that would be involved are now unavailable (e.g. your post-docs have been furloughed).
Many departments have a policy of a second or co-supervisors; make sure your students know who to contact should you become unavailable or if they need to discuss something privately.
Share the load: peer support from the rest of your group or post-docs can go a long way. Try using a platform where peer-support is possible – if a student posts a question, maybe someone else from your group can answer.
Create a timetable for meetings and where possible, stick to it to make sure.
Make a decision about whether you want a “bridge” or a “moat” between social aspects and your work. A bridge can be as narrow as “coffee meetings” with your group or as broad are Friday night socials or exchanging mobile numbers. It’s up to you and you shouldn’t feel like you have to be available all the time.
Encourage your group to take the lead on organising social events – pub quizzes can be a lot of fun.
Make sure you and you students take a holiday this summer.

Q3 How do you ensure the wellbeing and welfare of your students?

Keeping students from burn-out and focussed on their project is a common problem. But it is made all the more difficult as the time left on their PhD gets shorter. Students may feel that they should work longer hours which may not be possible with the new on-campus policies.

Some suggestions from the meeting that might help student’s welfare and wellness:

Be (or appear) empathetic. Being open and honest about the difficulties in our current working conditions will help reassure students. Remember that some students live alone or far from their usual support-networks and may need an extra support if they have to self-isolate.
Make sure you know what the mechanisms are so that you know who to get support form or when and where to redirect students – this could be a website or regular emails with links to support providers e.g. careers service, student support or external providers.
Look at ways to catch welfare and wellbeing problems before the student reaches out or drops off your radar. Some places may have a well-being survey every month but it may be more appropriate to have drop-ins with 2^nd supervisors or the student office. There might also be a place where students can raise concerns anonymously or via a second supervisor.
Manage expectations to avoid anxiety and rule-breaking: The return to on-campus is slow and may result in shift-work as fewer people will be able to work in specialised locations (e.g. labs, studios) and for shorter periods. It may mean some year groups return late. Find out as much as you can and communicate with the your students.
Think of alternatives for the short- medium and even-long term: Can computational work be used to keep morale up while waiting for the labs to reopen?
Build a community between new and existing students. Have some student-led social spaces and look into establishing a peer-mentoring system across year groups.
Group emails don’t always work so personalise your emails if you want a response.
Be aware that, if your student becomes sick and starts to quarantine, they may not have a strong social support network available to them, especially if they recently moved to start their studies with you – it’s important to find practical solutions to these issues

Q4. How do you share best practice with others within your community, and how do you act to protect students that are currently not receiving adequate supervision?

In a busy on-campus department there are often may people who may be able to spot “things going wrong” but online this is made more challenging. Poor practice may become the norm unintentionally and it is important to work with peers to share good practice to help them support students.

Ways that can help improve best practice across your institution include:

Try running a virtual staff room with colleagues to discuss case studies of good and poor supervisory practice. The UKCGE was highlighted as a good network to provide case studies that could be discussed.
Share what you know and don’t assume that your director of postgraduate study knows what you do. Use existing networks and connections to spread good practice to your colleagues. (Physicists could join the? IOP PGR supervisor network? Details here<http://www.iop.org/education/higher_education/index.html> )
Have some “in-reach activities” where staff and students from the same institution interact. Student only meetings often don’t happen unless there is a seminar attached. Perhaps offer to give short talks at other institutions in exchange for a talk at yours.
Is there a mechanism by which students can raise concerns privately? Make sure this is well advertised too.

Other outcomes

At the end of the meeting, we asked for feedback about the meeting and what we should be doing next.

The meeting was highlighted as providing really useful examples of good practice

It was highlighted that we needed a longer time for discussions, as 10 minute discussions are just too short

There was a clear interest in more PGR themed meetings, to help address the changing situation – suggestions for these meetings included:

Asking questions before the meeting to provide better avenues for discussion
There was a lot of interest in a postgraduates who teach meeting – we will have to look into that one!
Perhaps multiple meetings through the summer, with a meeting later in the summer to discuss how we will ensure good supervision once the academic year begins in October
Perhaps a joint meeting to discuss network building within the student cohort

The importance of a networking space for PGR students was highlighted

Bethan Cornell described a new PGR student network, with its first meeting on the 29^th June, and supervisors were encouraged to tell their students about the meeting, and that they should contact Bethan if they are interested in being involved

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