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Staff record 2015/16

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Notification log

This document summarises all communications associated with the 2015/16 Staff record, starting with the publication of known changes to the record in April 2015 all the way through to collection closure in November 2016. Please refer to the Revision history document for full technical list of changes to the specifications.

HESA issue regular communications during the life of a collection:

  • Circulars: announcements to interested parties concerning or issues relating to the collection. Circulars are always made available on the HESA website for later reference, and emailed out to the mailgroup for the collection.
  • Coding manual release overviews: these document iterative changes to the technical documentation that define the form of the data to be submitted, as well as being a place to host resources associated with collecting that data.

2016-10-18 Coding manual release - version 1.6

Version 1.6 of the coding manual includes two label changes to valid entry labels in Person.NATION, reconciling the names of Suriname and Burkina Faso with the National Statistics Country Classification. In addition, the guidance has been updated in Person.STAFFID.

2016-07-28 Coding manual release - version 1.5

Version 1.5 of the coding manual includes:

The guidance has been amended in Person.DISABLE.

2016-06-23 Coding manual release - version 1.4

Version 1.4 of the coding manual includes:

2016-04-28 Coding manual release - version 1.3

Version 1.3 of the coding manual includes the File structures for downloadable files containing information on both the Data supply and Expected contract population files output from the data collection system.

The HESA XML data entry tool and accompanying guidance on its use have been added to assist HEP's in producing XML data in the format required for submission.

Additional guidance added to Contract.ACEMPFUN.

2016-02-25 Coding manual release - version 1.2

Version 1.2 of the coding manual includes the downloadable Validation kit for 2015/16. The kit includes Quality rules rolled-on from the previous year's collection. This allows data to be tested against quality rules during preparation, prior to submission. A supporting Quality rules web page - FAQ and Validation overview have also been provided.

A minor change has been made to the schema to assist in the internal validation carried out against the data submitted. This change adds a constraint to the schema, which enforces the uniqueness of Person.STAFFID across all members of staff in each submission. This requirement was previously enforced through Business Stage validation.

The Data collection schedule detailing of the key dates and deadlines for the Staff collection is also included in version 1.2 of the coding manual. Furthermore, a guidance update has been made to the field Person.PARLEAVE, whilst the coverage has been updated in Contract.LEVELS together with an increase in the minimum number of occurrences to 1.

2015-11-12 Coding manual release - version 1.1

Version 1.1 of the coding manual includes the full technical specification of the record for the 2015/16 reporting period. The schema, field specifications, valid entries, and guidance are all now available.

The changes announced previously for this collection have been implemented in the specification. Atypical non-academic staff are no longer included in the Coverage of the record. It is anticipated that the removal of atypical non-academic staff will reduce the complexities that higher education providers (HEPs) face in collecting data from these members of staff. The coverage statements and minimum occurrences for Person.BIRTHDTE and Person.SEX have changed as a result.

Addition of valid entry 4 'Shared parental leave' to Person.PARLEAVE as per the 'Notification of changes for 2015/16' documentation, to accommodate changes to parental leave legislation in the United Kingdom. The maximum number of occurrences has been increased to 2 in order to accommodate the addition of shared parental leave, additional guidance has also been added to the Notes section.

References to 'cost centre' have been replaced with 'HESA cost centre' for clarity of definition.

A Template exit survey webpage has been released, the downloadable template has been designed to assist Staff record contacts with the collection of staff leaver information and share good practice.

Additional guidance has been added to Contract.ACEMPFUN, clarifying when code 3 'Academic contract that is both teaching and research' should be returned.

Also new for this collection is this page itself - the Notification Log. This page replaces the previous coding manual 'Release Notes' functionality, highlighting the changes made in each successive documentation release. The Notification Log will also record all communications issued with regard to a particular collection, allowing you to see all key messages in one place. We have implemented it following positive feedback for the concept earlier this summer, and hope you find it useful. Further feedback is welcomed: please contact our Institutional Liaison team via email at [email protected], or call 01242 211144.

As always, the full details of changes in comparison to the 2014/15 record may be found in the Revision history.

2015-04-30 Coding manual release - version 1.0

Version 1.0 of the coding manual publicises the Notification of changes for 2015/16. This includes additional information about the changes to parental leave legislation in the United Kingdom. The full technical specification will be published in November 2015.

2015-04-28 Circular release 15/02 - April

This circular provides information on the Annual update of the Staff record.

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Contact Liaison by email or on +44 (0)1242 388 531.