Peer Assessment Contract: Cancer Research

BA (Hons) Communication, Advertising and PR
Communication Management
Cancer Research UK
Peer Assessment Contract

Introduction

The 'Peer Assessment Contract' (PAC) is a document stating the guidelines and regulations that the Account Executive (AE) group has agreed to follow. The PAC will also contain information on the group’s overall strategy for the successful completion of the project. The purpose of this contract is to provide evidence of the agreed acceptable standards of work and level of professionalism that the AEs should adhere to as well as encouraging a positive and pro-active attitude. By signing the PAC, Scott Browning (SB), Fiona Macdonald (FM), Ross Naylor (RN), Nina Camara (NC), Chris Mitchell (CM) and Johan Gerdin
(JG) have agreed to all of the terms and conditions included within the PAC.

The PAC is to be used as a key tool within the group and will be reviewed throughout the semester.
Any Peer Assessment (PA) issues that are brought to the group’s attention must be addressed immediately and if assistance is required, Account Managers (AMs), Account Directors (ADs) or the Managing Director (MD) will be consulted for guidance.

If any changes are thought to be necessary to the PAC by any AE; a group vote will take place, with the majority over-ruling. Again, if further assistance is needed, the decision will be taken to the AMs, ADs or finally the MD for guidance.

AE role and responsibilities

The role that AEs have in the macro team is to provide support to the AMs and AD’s. The main responsibility that AEs have towards the macro team is to complete and hand in the various tasks that are set by the AMs. The work shall be handed in on time and shall meet the standard of quality as stated in the AE PAC.

One ongoing task for AEs throughout the project is to produce an accurate set of minutes from the full group meeting every week.

AEs must attend and be prepared (see below) for the full group meeting which will take place every Wednesday at 9am or as amended by full group (FG).

This
involves: • Arriving 10 minutes prior to the start of the meetings. • Reading every agenda before the meeting. • Discussing any issues that the AE may have with the agenda, allowing points to be brought up in the meeting. • Reading all necessary documents required including any agenda points. • Preparation of minutes. • Updating each set of minutes for macro group meeting • Updating each set of minutes and agenda for the micro group meeting.

If there is an issue any individual would like to discuss at the FG meeting, this must be added to the agenda by 5pm the day before the meeting or the deadline for amending the agenda as set by the AMs.

The AEs should maintain a positive and proactive attitude towards the AM’s and ADs and the setting of tasks. They should also actively seek to problem solve should a problem arise and find useful and workable solutions.

Roles

Within the AE group, certain roles have been assigned to each AE. These include: • Administration. This includes Email account maintenance, and AE group portfolio of work. This role is assigned to FM, NC and JG. RN, CM and SB are extra support if needed. • Scheduling. Creating and maintaining the AE group schedule. The schedule includes all members of the AE group and clearly shows their academic timetable, as well as any work commitments and/or any other times of unavailability. Scheduling role assigned to RN with FM as support. • AM liaison. This AE will communicate to the AMs on behalf of the AE group. This may be questions or updates on tasks, general support or any problems or matters arising regarding the project. AM liaison role assigned to SB - NC support • AD liaison. This individual will be the link between the AE group and the ADs. Any problems or otherwise would usually be transmitted to the AMs first, however, should the AE group have any problems with the AMs, the ADs would need to be notified. This role also includes keeping the ADs up to date with AE progress. AD liaison role assigned to CM – JG support

Confirmation of Assessment Dates

Assessment One -

Individual Assessment. This assignment is worth 40% of the Communication Management (CM) module final mark. Due in week 8 and it is to be 2,000 words in length. The assignment is reflective work- analysing and critiquing the individual AEs performance to date relative to their contribution to the micro group with appropriate recommendations

Assessment Two -

Group Presentation with Written Documentation, worth 60% of final CM grade and due in week 14.
Presentation shall last 20 minutes, and a report of 5,000 words shall be prepared. The presentation and report will provide a detailed critical analysis of the individual, micro and group performance across the project.

Quality of Work

The basic standard for quality of work is outlined in the School of Arts and Creative Industries (SACI) handbook which is available online or in the Program Handbook. All group members must take into consideration each point set in the handbook when submitting work. Any submitted work that does not comply with the SACI handbook will not be acceptable and will be expected to be amended and resubmitted within 12 hours and the individual shall be Peer Assessed accordingly. Should the second submission still not meet desired standards the individual will be peer assessed accordingly again.
The group expects all grammar to meet the standard set out in the SACI handbook including spelling, structure of sentences, discourse, referencing, and relevance to topic through appropriate research and adheres to agreed format guidelines. All group members are expected to have a copy of the SACI handbook as a reference when undertaking work and to refer to it when group work is being conducted.

Criteria of quality that is expected: 1. Work submitted must be of the AEs highest possible standard. 2. Work must be handed in by the set deadline. 3. All content must be referenced to the used source. At least one piece of referencing material must be used for research in each piece of work. 4. Referenced material must be set out in the correct format as shown in the student handbook. 5. Work must meet the correct formatting and text as shown below.
The correct guidelines as shown in the SACI handbook can be found in the appendices

Formatting and Text

Any formal document must comply with the agreed formatting and text of the full Communication management (CM) group to insure continuity throughout all group documentation.

The agreed format for text will be;
Main Body Arial 12pt.
Headings in Arial Bold 14pt.
Subheadings in Arial Bold 12pt.
1.5 line spacing.

Submission of work with the incorrect format will be treated as incomplete and will be expected to be resubmitted before the deadline if applicable or in the negotiated time set by group if after deadline.

Submission of Work The group members are obliged to submit any work required by the deadline agreed by the AMs or ADs.

Any piece of work submitted after the agreed deadline and for the reason that is not in compliance with the conditions stated below will be penalised and Peer assessed accordingly.

The deadline for the submission of work can be changed under the following circumstances:

a) Following the group vote the group members agreed on amendment of the deadline
b) A group member is unable to submit the work in compliance with mitigating circumstances Professionalism

The group members should at all times conduct themselves in a professional manner. This includes a professional attitude, approach to work and speech during official meetings. Group members should also be professional in their interaction with other group members and colleagues within the Full Group structure.

To act in a professional manner includes:

• Being up to date with the project. • Checking your e-mail on a regular basis. • Not having your mobile phone on when a meeting is in session. • Communicating in a clear and professional manner. • Positive and appropriate body language. • Sufficient contribution to macro discussions.

Attendance

Full attendance is compulsory for all lectures, tutorials, AE and FG meetings.
Only mitigating circumstances will be accepted as a valid reason for absence, however, for circumstances outside of mitigating circumstances, a group vote shall be used to decide upon validity. Penalties will be incurred as stipulated in the points table (see page 13) If an AE requires leaving a meeting early then prior warnings should be given as soon as possible and should have an appropriate reason. The beginning of the meeting shall not be accepted as a prior warning however any time before an hour of the meeting commencing shall be tolerated along with an appropriate reason as long as a suitable method of contact (see page 10) is used. An appropriate reason would be a reason which the majority of the group agree is satisfactory from a vote or one of the mitigating circumstances shown in the mitigating circumstances section further on in the PAC. (see page 9)

Lateness / Timekeeping

All group members are expected to arrive at the meeting or lecture location ten minutes before the meeting starts. However PA will not begin until the meeting has actually begun. Reasons for lateness must comply with mitigating circumstances. In the case of lateness, all members must use the correct procedures in terms of notifying the group. If the AE is late for more than a third of the meeting then they will be deemed as absent. For every ten minutes late prior to the calculated third of the meeting, a point
will be deducted. See penalty table (page 13)

Appointments

Any medical, dental or personal appointments that fall on the same day as a meeting will not be deemed as an acceptable excuse for being late or for missing a planned meeting. However if a meeting is re-planned to be on the same day of an appointment planned before re-plan was announced, it is acceptable to be absent, as long as the group agree, as long as it is of some urgency or due to limited appointments that the AE cannot cancel. Only emergency appointments such as emergency dental or emergency medical appointments will be acceptable for lateness or absence. In these cases, AEs must try and notify the group if possible by any means possible.

Retrieval of Deducted Points A group member can retrieve any deducted points provided that he or she agrees to do additional work for the group and does it to the set standards.

The retrieval of points is possible as long as it meets the above conditions and if it is approved by a group vote. In case the group members fail to reach an agreement or in case the individual has objections against the group decision, AMs/ ADs or the MD can be consulted.

Group vote

In the case of any of the issues mentioned within the PAC, specific PA issues or any case that that an AE feels the PAC should be changed or added to, a group vote may be used to decide upon a majority rule. Each group member will count as one vote with the exception of the member in question if specific to one AE. In the event of a tie the AMs and ADs will be consulted for assistance, and then failing this, the MD shall be approached and will have a final say in the outcome of the decision.

Mitigating circumstances

Mitigating circumstances are defined as circumstances that are severe, unforeseen and outside an AEs control. They occur immediately before or during the assessment period in question. They would normally adversely affect a student’s performance in an assessment or for a significant period of time in a semester/trimester.

In other words, they must be circumstances which you could not have prepared for or predicted, for example, ill health, bereavement and emotional or practical problems. The severity of the impact is also crucial; minor sickness and minor disruptions are not accepted.

Examples of mitigating circumstances: • You are seriously ill e.g. flu, tonsillitis, severe stomach illness. • You have experienced some family problems e.g. a death in the family, separation of parents, and illness of a family member. • Serious transport problems e.g. unannounced travel cancellations, serious road accident. • Unexpected circumstances e.g. burglary, fire etc.

Conditions which would not be acceptable as mitigating circumstances are those in which a student could reasonably have avoided the situation, made arrangements to address the problem, taken action to limit their impact, or be able to comfortably work through them. These circumstances would be seen to be within an AEs control.

Examples that would not be accepted (as decided by group): • Bad transport: Failure to make alternative travel plans when a student knew about disruptions in advance. • Light illness e.g. a cold, hangover, sore head etc. (something that the student could continue to work through without too much strain.)

Notification of mitigating circumstances

Any reason for lateness or absence should be notified to the rest of the group at the earliest convenience possible however it is understandable that this is not always possible to notify in extreme circumstances, such as the mitigating circumstances.
As much notice as possible should be given if there is known absence or lateness which cannot be avoided. Unforeseen absence or lateness should be notified to the rest of the group as soon as it is encountered.

Suitable methods of contact are: • Face-to face • Phone call or answer machine message

Non- Suitable methods are: • Text Message • E mail
By signing the below I agree to the terms of this Peer Assessment Contract and understand these form my conduct and performance as a member of the Communication Management group. Signed by ........................................................... Date .................................................................

Signed by ........................................................... Date .................................................................

Signed by ........................................................... Date .................................................................

Signed by ........................................................... Date .................................................................

Signed by ........................................................... Date .................................................................

Signed by ........................................................... Date .................................................................

Appendix 1

Penalty Tables
Table of Penalties-Absence

|Week |valid excuse with |Valid excuse, no |No valid excuse with |No valid excuse, no |
| |notice |notice |notice |notice |
|2 - 4 |0 |0 |1 |2 |
|5 - 8 |0 |1 |3 |4 |
|9 - 13 |0 |2 |4 |5 |

Table of Penalties- Lateness

|Week |valid excuse with |Valid excuse, no |No valid excuse with |No valid excuse, no |
| |notice |notice |notice |notice |
|2 - 4 |0 |0 |0 |1 |
|5 - 8 |0 |1 |1 |2 |
|9 - 13 |0 |2 |2 |3 |

Table of Penalties- Minutes or AE Task Late Submission

|Week |valid excuse with |Valid excuse, no |No valid excuse with |No valid excuse, no |
| |notice |notice |notice |notice |
|2 - 4 |0 |0 |0 |1 |
|5 - 8 |0 |1 |1 |2 |
|9 - 13 |0 |2 |2 |3 |

Minute Taking and Chairperson Rota

Minute Taker/Backup Chairperson

Week 3 Ross/Chris Nina

Week 4 Scott/Fiona Johan

Week 5 Fiona/Johan Chris

Week 6 Johan/Nina Ross

Week 7 Nina/Ross Fiona

Week 8 Ross/Chris Scott

Week 9 Chris/Scott Nina

Week 10 Scott/Fiona Johan

Week 11 Fiona/Johan Chris

Week 12 Johan/Nina Ross

The following is an idea of roughly what an agenda would look like. Please note that this is fairly generic and some meetings may have specific items unique to them and they will not be shown here. A description of each item is provided below the related title.

1. Introductions, if Appropriate, and Apologies for Absence

2. Declarations of Interest
(Members must declare any personal and prejudicial interests in the items on the agenda.)

3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting
(The Members examine the minutes of the previous meeting and either agree them or ask for changes to be made)

4. Matters Arising
(If there are any subjects in the minutes of the previous meeting where updated information is available it will be dealt with here.)

5. Action Points

6. Any Other Business
(If there is any other business that arrived too late to be included on the agenda it may, at the Chair's discretion, be discussed here. The procedure for dealing with late business changes depends on the meeting concerned.)

7. Date of Next Meeting
(Finally, the date of the next meeting, if known, is announced.)

Contact Details

Ross Naylor
Mobile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Chris Mitchell
Mobile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Scott Browning
Mobile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Fiona MacDonald
Mobile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Johan Gerdin
Mobile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]

Nina Camara
Mobile: [phone]
Email: [e-mail]