Candidate Development Plan: Guidelines for candidates
All candidates are expected to complete a Candidate Development Plan (CDP) twice a year;
in May and November. These reports are completed online using ResearchMaster.
CDPs (previously referred to as progress reports or six-monthly reports) are a requirement
for candidature at Victoria but also help to ensure candidates receive quality supervision,
make suitable progress with their research, receive access to resources and have plans in
place for the subsequent six-month period.
Below are guidelines for candidates for completing the CDP:
1. Accessing the system and creating your form:
a) Log into ResearchMaster at https://rme.vuw.ac.nz/RMENet
i. Use your normal Victoria login and password (this could be either your student
or staff login)
ii. Contact [email protected] if you have trouble with your login
b) Hover over Postgraduate Forms at the top of the page
c) Click on Progress Reviews
d) Click on Create Progress Review
This will open a new form for the current round, in the draft stage. Your supervisors will not
be able to access this form until you indicate that you are ready for a meeting.
2. Completing the candidate section:
a) Read through the instructions
b) In the menu on the left, click on the Candidate Information page or click the green arrow
at the bottom right of the screen
c) The Candidate Information page includes read-only information which shows the
information currently held in our central record. If any of these details are wrong,
please contact your Faculty student advisor, who will be able to update these for you.
Please check your supervisor details thoroughly as they will be contacted once you
submit to the meeting stage.
d) Complete questions on this page, compulsory questions are indicated with *
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e) In the menu on the left, click on the Resources section (or the green arrow at the bottom
of the page) and complete the section
f) In the menu on the left, click on the Self-review section (or the green arrow at the bottom
of the page) and complete the section
g) In the menu on the left, click on the Documents section (or the green arrow at the
bottom of the page). You can upload your CV and any other documents you would
like to include, then save the page.
h) When you are ready to meet with your supervisor, click the Action tab at the top left of
the screen, and then Ready for meeting. Your supervisors will then receive an email
letting them know you are ready for a meeting. Note: You won’t be able to make any
changes to your section once you click on ‘Ready for meeting’.
3. Emailing the form to someone else (or yourself):
You may wish to share your form with others who do not have online access to it. To do this,
follow the instructions below:
a) Go to the Action tab and click on Email Form
b) A dialogue box will appear showing you in the list of recipients. Tick in the checkbox
to the left of your name to ensure you receive the email.
c) Add any other recipients you want to include. You can add other recipients if you
want to before clicking on Ready for Meeting. You can’t send the email directly to
anyone who is not included in the ResearchMaster database, but you can send it to
yourself, and then from there, forward it to anyone you like.
d) Ensure that anyone you want the form to be sent to (including yourself) has a tick in
the checkbox to the left
e) Click on Send (or Zip and Send if you have included documents)
4. Meeting:
The next step is to arrange a meeting with your supervisor(s), and anyone else who either
you or your supervisor(s) think should be involved.
Only one supervisor has to complete the meeting form, although you might decide that more
than one participates. Supervisors need a Victoria login and password in order to access the
form.
Candidates and supervisors work on the Meeting section together. This can happen at the
meeting while you discuss progress, or at another time e.g. following the meeting. However,
only one person can be using the form at the same time, so you will need to log out after each
use and coordinate with your supervisor(s) about timing.
Work through the questions in the Meeting section of the form. When complete, the
supervisor clicks on the Submit button (candidates do not have access to this button).
Once the supervisor has submitted the form, you will receive an automated email asking you
to sign off on the form. To signoff the form:
a) Go to the Signoff – Student Signoff and tick the box confirming that the form is ready for
submission
b) Click on the Action tab and click sign-off
c) If there are any issues which prevent you from being able to sign off on the form, email
[email protected].
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Once you have signed off, you’ve completed all the required steps. Thanks for participating
in this round and please send any feedback to [email protected].
5. Comments:
Comments can be added by candidates and supervisors while the form is in the ‘Meeting’
stage. For instance, if you think of something you forgot to add to your section before the
meeting, you could add a comment to explain. Also, supervisors not attending the meeting
can add their comments to the form.
To add a comment:
a) Click on the Meeting page
b) Click on the third icon from the right on the horizontal row of icons on the top right of
the screen (it looks like a page with a speech bubble at the top)
c) Click on New Comment
d) Type your comment and (IMPORTANT) click on the small green tick below
e) Click on Save and Close
Please note that any comment you or others make can be seen by anybody with access to the
form, including the Head of School, Associate Dean (PGR), and Dean (FGR). You can delete
any comment you have added, by clicking on the speech bubble icon and clicking on the
delete icon to the right of your comment.
6. Printing the form:
To print the form, open it and click on the ringbinder ( ) icon on the horizontal row of
buttons at the top right of the page. Select whether you want to view the form as a PDF or
HTML, and click on OK. You can then download and save a soft-copy or print a hard-copy.
If the form doesn’t print, ensure you don’t have a pop-up blocker active.
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