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Pinnacle Selection Criteria

Pinnacle is intended to help people make the transition from research student to academic in charge of a course. A few things follow from that, which will be taken into consideration when determining the outcome of an application.

1. Pinnacle is probably of more use to students in the second half of their candidature, since they will be closer to an academic position.
2. As many new academics are given the larger classes to teach in their departments, preference will probably go to people working on a course with over 100 enrolments over someone whose course has 10 students.
3. By the same reasoning, preference will be given to Pinnacle applicants whose course is for undergraduates rather than graduates.
4. A lot of what you learn will be from your guide. Choose your guide carefully, and by reputation. We will look at your guide's track record. A student with a reputable guide is more likely to succeed than one whose guide has little experience or hasn't a reputation for good teaching.
5. We expect that pinnacle participants will have taught before. In particular, preference will be given to those applicants who have completed the GTP.
6. In order to reduce the risk of withdrawals from the program, preference will be given to people who do not intend to submit during the semester.
7. While not one of the selection criteria, feedback from previous guides suggests that it would be wise to have taught for your guide before (eg, taken tutorials or laboratories for their course). That way, they will feel more confident about working with you for Pinnacle.

Other matters may be taken into consideration when determining the outcome of Pinnacle applications. All issues are a matter of degree, and don't necessarily sit in isolation from each other. Of course there's also the matter of everyone else's applications.