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Supervision reports: CamCORS

You are expected to fill in a supervision report for each student. In October 2002, the old paper system was replaced by an online integrated system which should save you and the college office a great deal of time. It should, for example, mean that you do not have to fill in separate claim forms for each of you students in order to be paid. The new system is called CamCORS (Cambridge Colleges Online Report System) and documentation can be found on http://camcors.cam.ac.uk/.

You will need a University Computing Service user ID (this is your cam.ac.uk e-mail address if you have one) and a password. The college or department for whom you are supervising will arrange the ID if you haven't already got one; you can e-mail camcors-registration@ucs.cam.ac.uk if you have no password.

In the new system, supervision reports are intended primarily for students. Most colleges will allow students to log into CamCORS and see what supervisors have written about them. The reason for this shift of emphasis is partly the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts, under which students have the right to see what has been written about them and partly a response to the recent trend towards student-accessible feedback. It is, however, possible to include in your report a passage for the Director of Studies only; and, of course, you can always e-mail the Director of Studies at any time if you, for example, are concerned about the progress of your supervisees.

The most helpful report is one that is specific and encouraging: details of strong or weak points (including presentation of work, punctuality and whether the work is handed in on time) are immeasurably more useful than general comments such as `Decent work' or `A bit feeble'. It is always a mistake to try to be funny or clever.

Remember that even the mildest criticism can be very hurtful. That should not prevent you from criticising where appropriate, but it is always wrong to make statements such as `X is not very good at mathematics' or `X is not a natural mathematician'. Even a comment like `X does not work hard enough' can be very upsetting to X if he or she thinks she has been working hard but not making much progress.

You may also be asked to predict an exam class. Your guess is probably as good as anyone else's, but do not fill this box in if you feel uncomfortable about supplying observational data with error bars the width of the sample space.

You should always take the business of writing supervision reports seriously. You should remember that you may well have seen more of the student than the Director of Studies has, so he or she will have to rely on your report. Reports may well be used at a later date as a basis for a reference for the student or, if the student is in difficulties, as evidence either for the appropriate college committee or even a university committee.