Mandatory Courses for General Staff and Supervisors

General Staff courses

The following compulsory workshops are designed to facilitate new staff members' transition to Flinders as easy as possible and to provide them with information in a timely and accessible form. New staff are required to attend an Induction Information Session and the Equal Opportunity and Occupational Health & Safety course. These courses should be attended during their first three months of employment and are held every month in order to ensure that all staff members can access them.

Supervisors of General Staff

The University recognises that to enhance supervisors’ understanding and capacity to undertake the breadth of their responsibilities, appropriate training should be provided and undertaken.
This is formally reflected in the policy on Supervisors."A staff member who is appointed to a position with supervisory responsibilities will be required to undertake appropriate training unless agreed otherwise on the basis that the staff member demonstrates evidence of recent equivalent training/experience".   

Core courses for supervisors:

Two courses concerning the knowledge-base and skills-base needed for effective staff supervision at Flinders have been developed.

These are "core" (required) courses for staff members who supervise general staff. 

1. Role and Responsibilities of a Supervisor
   This course explores the generic capabilities and responsibilities of supervisors in areas such as understanding and guiding compliance with policy and legislation, duty of care, human resources matters, performance review and development.
2. Managing the Workplace Environment
   This course provides practical advice and information on: the General Staff Performance Review and Development Framework–policy, procedures, documentation and other resources plus advice on undertaking informal and formal performance review; OHS responsibilities; and equal opportunity and diversity responsibilities.

Requirement to complete the core courses:

For newly appointed supervisors, the expectation is that the two core courses will be completed within the first 6 months of appointment, which would normally be the probation term, or within such other period as specified in the staff member’s contract of employment. 

Supervisors who believe their recent training/experience should be taken into account in determining whether they are required to undertake both core courses should first discuss this with their supervisor who, if he/she believes it is appropriate that the staff member’s training/experience be recognised, should forward a brief recommendation and supporting statement to the Cost Centre Head for approval.

Note: Notwithstanding the above, the core courses provide information relevant to Flinders University and in general terms it would be of benefit for all supervisors to attend.