Academic Affairs and Personnel

August 31, 2015

DEANS, DEPARTMENT CHAIRS, and DIRECTORS

Re: Submission Deadlines for Academic Actions effective July 1, 2016

Enclosed are the 2015-2016 Submission Deadlines for Academic Actions effective July 1, 2016.

For the academic year that just ended, far too many cases were incomplete as of June 30th.  Despite commendable progress in submitting cases on time, there are still problems in some units.  As a consequence, for 2015-2016 we will be strictly enforcing the established policy regarding retroactive advancement. Cases that are submitted after the applicable deadline that are not completed by June 30th of that year will not carry a retroactive date unless permission has been granted in advance.  This practice is needed, in part, to prepare for implementation of the Opus electronic faculty information system, which will automatically hold late cases for the following year if there is no permissible reason for making an exception (retention and/or illness). In addition, dossiers found to be incomplete will be returned to the Dean’s Office and will be considered late if not forwarded to the Academic Personnel Office by the established deadline. Specifically:

(1) Please adhere to the published deadlines (https://www.apo.ucla.edu/policies-forms/deadlines).

To avoid retroactivity, we do not plan to approve personnel actions - both promotions and regular merits - that are not signed by the Dean or by me (depending on the particular action) after June 30, 2016.  Cases that cannot be finalized by this date will be returned to the Dean's office for resubmission for the next academic year.

(2) Any appeals must be made in writing to me with a strong justification for late submission and for the retroactivity. However, keep in mind that if the salary exceeds the maximum threshold for the campus approval, your request will be denied because the President's Office has told us they will not process retroactive requests.

(3)  To avoid delay, please be sure to adhere to the following:

• You must solicit a sufficient number of independent, external letters early enough so that departmental committees have them available to consider in the review process.

• Faculty need to provide their CVs and selected publications to you on a timely basis so that you can solicit external letters on time.

• Individual faculty must turn in their dossiers according to the time schedule you have provided by your Dean’s Office. Please be sure to remind faculty that they have the right to add material to their file at any time during the process, but it is not acceptable to miss the deadline because they are waiting for another article to be accepted.

• Faculty ad hoc and elected committees must act expeditiously. If they have not turned in a report by the scheduled date, they must be reminded to adhere to deadlines.

• Departments must not delay in discussing these reports. If timely consideration requires additional faculty meetings, you should schedule them as necessary.

• Your Chair's letter should be given the highest priority and sent to the Dean as soon as possible. Deans have been urged to act expeditiously with their letters to the Academic Personnel Office.

(4) Please provide the following materials with dossiers:

• A list of potential UCLA faculty members, including rank and step of all nominees (in alphabetical order) for ad hoc review committees.  Please do not include names of individuals who have been co-authors or co-investigators (e.g. research grants) with the candidate.

• A list of external letter-writers clearly indicating whether the letter writer originated from the candidate’s list, the Chair’s list, or whether suggested by both.

• The candidate’s list of external and internal reviewers who might be biased, including individuals in other UCLA departments.

• Self-statements should be no more than 5 pages.

INTERCAMPUS & AAU APPOINTMENTS

Appointments of faculty members from other AAU and California institutions, as well as intercampus UC recruitment, must comply with applicable policies and deadlines. Offers of appointment to faculty holding positions at any other  University of California campus must be made by April 1st. Offers of appointment to faculty from AAU institutions must be made by April 30th.  Please refer to The CALL, Appendix 22 for more information (available online at https://www.apo.ucla.edu/policies-forms/the-call/appendices/appendix-22-summary-of-recruitment-policy).

FORMS

Forms for advancement and adjustment can be accessed from the Academic Personnel Office website at:

https://www.apo.ucla.edu/policies-forms/forms/datasummary

We hope that moving from a culture of retroactivity to one where faculty are rewarded for their advancements on a timely basis will do much to improve the environment for faculty and ensure that we meet our obligations.  We understand that meeting these deadlines will be a challenge for everyone, and my staff will be available to assist along the way. 

If you have any questions, please contact Marsha Fractor regarding academic review action processing at extension 69515 or Esther Hamil for academic policy at extension 55462.

Sincerely,                      

Carole Goldberg

Vice Chancellor, Academic Personnel
Jonathan D. Varat Distinguished Professor of Law

Enclosure

— 2015-2016 Submission Deadlines for Academic Actions —

Due dates for submission of actions to the Academic Personnel Office from Dean’s Offices for actions effective July 1, 2016

* Accelerated Actions of Two Years or more for Assistant, Associate and Full Professors in Dentistry, Law and Nursing.

Web page updated 11/6/15