Community Archaeology Bursaries Project FAQs

in

FAQ for potential applicants

1. Who can apply for a Community Archaeology Training Placement?

We will aim to encourage anyone who meets the skills requirements to apply for the posts. We will aim to attract individuals with a passion and drive for a career in archaeology as well as a demonstrated interest in community archaeology and working with volunteers. We envisage these individuals as being out of work or at risk of losing their jobs and having difficulty gaining archaeological employment due to increased competition in the job market from more experienced and/or more formally qualified contemporaries, for example those that already have experience of working within community archaeology. Therefore, we see our primary targets as:

  • Professional archaeologists who have lost their jobs in archaeology and who have a lower chance of re-employment because of lack of formal qualifications or because they have only been practicing archaeologists for a short time and so have less experience than some of their contemporaries.
  • New entrants from the voluntary sector to professional archaeology, specifically a-vocational archaeologists, undertaking a career change due to redundancy or returning to work after career breaks and because of lack of professional experience or formal qualifications are unable to secure archaeological employment.
  • New entrants into archaeology from cultural heritage, community engagement, social service, or volunteer management backgrounds, wishing to apply their experience of engagement to heritage, taking advantage of the recognised wellbeing benefits to community members of active involvement with archaeology and other forms of heritage.

2. I don’t have an archaeology degree, does that matter?

No! We will expect applicants to have a good basic knowledge of archaeology, its theory and practice, but this knowledge may have come from formal education; paid archaeological work or voluntary experience. In fact, we would particularly welcome applications from individuals without a HE qualification.

3. I don’t have any experience of Community Archaeology, does that matter?

Not necessarily. We will aim to attract individuals with a passion and drive for a career in archaeology as well as a ‘demonstrated interest’ in community archaeology and working with volunteers.

We will expect applicants to have a good basic knowledge of archaeology, its theory and practice, as they will be learning how to apply this knowledge to support the needs of the community/voluntary sector.

4. Do I get paid to undertake a Community Archaeology Training Placement?

A Community Archaeology Training Placement is a fully funded bursary and as such successful applicants will receive a “salary” in line with IfA recommendations for PIfA grade. For 2011/12 placements this equates to £15,971 per annum.

5. How long does a placement last?

A Community Archaeology Training Placement will last for 12 months; usually commencing at the start of each financial year (April).

6. Where will the placement be?

Each year between there will be approximately 9 Community Archaeology Training Placements available. These will be with host organisations across the UK and applicants can apply for whichever placement they choose.

We aim to move the placement locations around the UK each year in order to cover as wide an area as possible; however organisations must apply to become hosts and applications to host a bursary will be assessed by the Community Archaeology Bursaries Project Board against a set of criteria.

Locations for the 2012/13 placements can be found here.

7. How do I apply?

We aim to advertise the placements in December/January of each year. Individual placement opportunities will be advertised through a number of channels such as

  • The CBA website and social media outlets (e.g. Facebook pages
  • The CBA’s bi-monthly Briefing (which advertises fieldwork opportunities, conferences, day schools, etc. and is aimed at professional and vocational archaeologists alike),
  • The IfA’s weekly Jobs Information Service Bulletin,
  • The CBA’s e-mail discussion lists, e.g. Britarch, Community Archaeology, Bursaries Project Updates
  • The YAC email network,
  • The TORC web-site,
  • and through the CBA’s and IfA’s registered archaeological organisations.

There may also be further advertising of positions through local channels such as local newspapers and host organisation websites.

Advertisements will guide potential applicants as to how to apply for each of the placement opportunities. This will usually be done through an application form, matching the applicant’s skills and abilities to a person specification and role description.

FAQ for organisations wishing to host a placement

1. I am an organisation undertaking Community Archaeology, how do I get a bursary holder placed with us?

An application must be compiled and submitted by all organisations wishing to be considered to host a Community Archaeology Training Placement. Applications for hosting are advertised from February each year.

Applications to host a bursary will be assessed by the Community Archaeology Bursaries Project Board against a set of criteria. This will help establish and evidence a proven track record of effective, high quality community work. If selected, this provides an esteem indicator for hosts as recognised centres of best practice for community archaeology and engagement skills.

The key aspects of applications are:

  • Checklist of documents/supporting material to demonstrate meeting of selection criteria (a pro forma provided to applicants)
  • Statement of why your organisation wishes to be involved in the Community Archaeology Bursaries Project; briefly summarising the key benefits and experiences that your organisation can offer to a bursary, as well as the particular benefits and experiences that your organisation would gain from hosting a placement.

2. What sorts of organisations are eligible to host a Community Archaeology Training Placement?

Any archaeological organisation that has a proven track record of effective, high quality community work is eligible to apply for host a placement. This can range from government bodies, to field units to museums, to charitable trusts. Organisations will however need to demonstrate their suitability as a host, through their compliance with the management requirements outlined below and via evidence provided through their application.

Summary of management requirements:

  • a designated Line Manager and Mentor within the organisation,
  • staff supervision/line management time, disclosure check (if needed),
  • desk space,
  • allocation of appropriate equipment (including a computer),
  • stationery,
  • and any other general overheads.

If you are aware of another organisation in your region that is also interested in contributing to the placement experience, you are welcome to submit a joint application. For this, you will need to include an additional document specifying how the placement would be split in terms of timescale, location of placement holder and management and mentoring arrangements. You would also need to specify how financial arrangements would be made and dealt with – for example, if a lot more travel would be involved due to the partnership we are unable to increase the placement holder’s travel budget.

It may be useful to have a look at who our current and former host organisations are.

3. How much will it cost us to host a placement?

Unlike some other bursaries programmes, the CBA’s Community Archaeology Bursaries Programme does not require hosts to make a direct financial contribution to the bursary. The host organisation will be the placement holder’s employer and the salary will be paid through the host organisation, with reimbursement claimed quarterly and retrospectively from the CBA.

Hosts are required to provide a minimum ‘in-kind’ contribution to each bursary. This can be in which ever form is appropriate to the host and can take the form of staff supervision and line management time, Disclosure check (if needed), desk space, allocation of appropriate equipment (including a computer), stationery, and any other general overheads.

Hosts are expected to provide the highest quality of management; including training, support for learning and constructive feedback. It is expected that there will be a line manager, a mentor and one or more supervisors, including specialists, made available to the placement holder.

Each placement holder is entitled to a budget during their placement of £300 to cover travel and subsistence, equipment and out of pocket expenses. This can be claimed by the host organisation through the same process as placement salaries and proof of expenditure for the full amount spent, in the form of receipts, must be submitted.

4. How long would a bursary holder be placed with us?

Community Archaeology Training Placements last for 12 months.

5. Is there any support for host organisations?

Additional support will be provided, both to the host organisation and the placement holder, by the CBA. This support will be provided primarily by a Bursaries Coordinator (BC), employed at the CBA office in York. The BC will guide both the host organisation and the placement holder in collating the necessary paperwork for the project. The CBA is also closely involved with the recruitment process – providing template application packs, support in putting together person specifications, and through attendance on interview panels. The BC will also co-ordinate project evaluation, assist with planning and delivery of events by the placement holder, and, if necessary, liaise in instances of dispute.

There will be training support offered either by the Bursaries Coordinator or by an appropriate individual that will aim to ensure that the trainers within host organisations develop good understanding and application of appropriate training skills for archaeologists with responsibilities for training others, e.g. coaching and mentoring.

Support will also be provided to encourage the Trainers (inc Line Managers) and Mentors to review their own Personal Development Plans so that they can focus upon the development of specific structured learning programmes.

During their period of participation on the project, there will also be annual opportunities for individuals to attend conferences and/or other networking opportunities, facilitated by the CBA, as necessary.

Due to the disparate nature of host organisation locations the CBA will set up online networks for hosts to share their experiences with each other, through use of social networking sites such as Linked In.