Academic Staff Rating Index

Academic staff rating index (AR Index) is an interactive platform for supervision management. It is designed to enhance the student-supervisor relationship while also providing a rating index for supervisors. AR index aims to improve transparency and quality of academic student supervision by providing information on the quality of supervision within higher education institutions. For prospective students, this platform will provide a point of reference when seeking a supervisor. University management and HR can use the rating system to screen candidates for recruitment and to identify the training gaps required for supervisors. Academics (lecturers, teachers, and key personnel) can use the system as a reflective or training diagnosis tool to help improve weaknesses and the quality of supervision. Further, it can be a measurement tool for incentives and for measuring supervisors with good performance.

The relationship between research students and their supervisors is of crucial importance both as a channel of intellectual knowledge and for the success of the students as an academic. However, the process of supervision can be complicated by multiple elements resulting in students not completing their qualifications. While universities face a challenge of empowering both the supervisor and the student, the traditional model of supervision is known to disempower the student as it focuses on technical aspects of the supervisory relationship without factoring the process used to shape the student. AR index aims to empower the student by providing a platform where they can access insight into the type of supervision they are likely to receive prior to selecting the supervisor. The platform also allows university management to gain access to the nature of supervision that the students require to improve services.