Synopsis of Academic Personnel Manual Section 133
Effective September 1, 2015
I. Calculating the Eight-Year Limit
For an Academic Year (9-month) appointee, the Eight-Year Limit consists of: twenty-four (24) complete quarters; or sixteen (16) complete semesters; or a combination of these two with one semester equal to one and one-half quarters.
For a Fiscal Year (11-month) appointee, the Eight-Year Limit consists of ninety-six (96) months of completed service, including vacation taken.
Separation with subsequent re-employment does not affect the counting of service prior to the interruption. Service in any title for less than full time while in student status on any campus of the University of California does not count.
II. Service in Multiple Titles Counts Toward the Eight Year Limit
Periods of service in multiple titles count toward the Eight Year Limit as provided in the following subsections:[1]
A. Assistant Professor or Assistant Professor-in-Residence
For a person with an above-mentioned appointment, periods of service on any campus of the University of California in any combination of the following titles count toward the Eight-Year Limit:
- Assistant Professor
- Acting Assistant Professor
- Visiting Assistant Professor
- Acting Associate Professor
- Visiting Associate Professor
- Acting Professor
- Visiting Professor
- Assistant Professor-in-Residence
- Assistant Professor of Clinical (X)
- Assistant Adjunct Professor at more than 50% time (see APM 280-16-c)
- Assistant Professor of Teaching at 100% time
- Associate Professor of Teaching
- Professor of Teaching
Except as otherwise noted above, an appointment at any percentage of time including 0% (WOS) counts toward the Eight-Year Limit, unless the 0% (WOS) appointment is also Without Step.
B. Assistant Professor of Clinical (X), or more than 50% time as a: Health Sciences
Assistant Clinical Professor, Assistant Adjunct Professor or Assistant Researcher
For a person with an above-mentioned appointment, periods of service on any campus of the University of California in any combination of the following titles count toward the Eight-Year Limit:
- Assistant Professor
- Acting Assistant Professor
- Visiting Assistant Professor
- Acting Associate Professor
- Visiting Associate Professor
- Acting Professor
- Visiting Professor
- Assistant Professor-in-Residence
- Assistant Professor of Clinical (X)
- Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor at more than 50% time
- Assistant Adjunct Professor at more than 50% time
- Assistant Researcher at more than 50% time
- Assistant Professor of Teaching at 100% time
- Associate Professor of Teaching
- Professor of Teaching
Except as otherwise noted above, an appointment at any percentage of time including 0% (WOS) counts toward the Eight-Year Limit, unless the 0% (WOS) appointment is also Without Step.
C. Assistant Professor of Teaching at 100% Time
For a person with an above-mentioned appointment, periods of service on any campus of the University of California in any combination of the following titles count toward the Eight-Year Limit:
Appointments at 100% time:
- Assistant Professor of Teaching
Appointments at any percentage of time, including 0% (WOS) unless the 0% (WOS) appointment is also Without Step:
- Assistant Professor
- Acting Assistant Professor
- Visiting Assistant Professor
- Acting Associate Professor
- Visiting Associate Professor
- Acting Professor
- Visiting Professor
- Assistant Professor-in-Residence
- Assistant Professor of Clinical (X)
- Health Sciences Assistant Clinical Professor
- Assistant Adjunct Professor at more than 50% time
III. Exclusion of Time from the Computation of Years of Service:
The Vice Chancellor, Academic Personnel may grant "Time Off the Clock" by excluding from the computation of service toward the Eight-Year Limit: (1) certain leaves substantially unrelated to academic career, as set forth in subsection III.A below; and (2) certain periods of service for reasons set forth in subsection III.B below. The Vice Chancellor shall report such decisions in writing to the appointee.
1. The amount of Time Off the Clock must be based upon adequately documented justification.
2. No more than a total of two years of Time Off the Clock during the Eight Year Limit may be granted to an appointee.
3. The timing of a review (and Reconsideration of a Non-Renewal) will not be affected by the exclusion of:
- only one quarter or one semester from the computation of service; or
- a period of time after July 1 of the year in which the promotion review was otherwise scheduled.
A. Leaves Substantially Unrelated to Academic Career
Periods of leave, with or without salary, shall be included as service toward the Eight Year Limit unless, upon the basis of a petition with adequate supporting documentation, the Vice Chancellor determines that the period of leave shall be excluded because the activity undertaken during the course of the leave is substantially unrelated to the appointee's academic career.
1. Childbearing or parental leave with or without salary, provided for in APM 760-25 & -27, shall be excluded from service toward the Eight Year Limit unless the appointee informs the Academic Affairs and Personnel Office in writing, no later than one quarter or semester after the leave, that it should not be excluded.
2. A period of leave, with or without salary, based on a serious health condition or disability, provided for in APM 710 & APM 715, shall be included as service toward the Eight Year Limit, unless, upon the basis of a petition filed no later than one quarter or semester after the leave is taken, the Vice Chancellor determines that the leave shall be excluded because no other accommodation, such as reduction in teaching or service responsibilities, suffices.
3. For all other leaves, the petition shall be filed at the time the leave is applied for. A Sabbatical Leave may not be excluded.
B. "Time Off the Clock" During Periods of Service
A request to exclude periods of service from the calculation of the Eight Year Limit should be made as soon as the need becomes apparent and must be justified, as to reason and duration, with adequate documentation. The Vice Chancellor may grant such a request for a justified period of time for up to one year, for the following reasons:
- Childbearing and Childrearing (See APM 760-30)
The care of a child who is or becomes part of the appointee's immediate family, provided that the appointee certifies that s/he is a primary caretaker responsible for at least 50% of the primary caretaking of a minor child:
under five years of age [2]; or
at least five years of age who has medical needs, disabilities or other special circumstance requiring substantially more time for care than typical of a school age child, when supported by adequate documentation from an appropriate professional.
For care of a child under five, the Vice Chancellor shall grant all such certified requests for one year off the clock, provided that the appointee gives Notice of Intent to stop the clock within two years of the birth or adoption/placement of the child or within two years from the start of an appointment at UCLA, whichever is later. A combination of childbearing and childrearing leave and "time off the clock" may not exceed one year; and the birth or adoption/placement of more than one child at the same time constitutes a single event for purposes of this section.
- Serious Health Condition including Disability
A serious health condition or disability that significantly disrupts the ability to perform essential functions of the appointment, (1) if supported by adequate documentation of a health-care professional and (2) if the Time Off the Clock is a reasonable accommodation and another accommodation (such as reduced teaching and/or service) will not suffice.
- Care or Bereavement of Child, Spouse, Domestic Partner, or Parent
The need to care for a child, spouse, domestic partner, or parent (or in exceptional circumstances another close family member) who is seriously ill, or bereavement as a result of their death, which disrupts the ability to perform essential functions of the appointment, when supported by adequate documentation from a health-care professional.
- Significant Circumstance Interfering with Research or Creative Activity
A significant circumstance beyond the appointee's control that disrupts the ability to pursue duties, such as a natural disaster or significant delays in the provision of research space, facilities, or resources necessary for research as promised in writing (such as an offer letter).
C. Appointees shall not be arbitrarily disadvantaged in their promotion review (or compensation) because they have elected to take a childbearing or parental leave, or sought to stop the clock for reasons listed above. A review deferred due to a family accommodation under APM 760 should be treated procedurally in the same manner as other promotion reviews; and the file shall be evaluated without prejudice as if the work were done in the normal period of service and that shall be so stated in the Department Chair's letter unless otherwise requested by the candidate.
D. Forms: To apply for an extension of the probationary period under sections III.A.2 & 3 and III.B.2, 3 & 4, use: Request for Extension of the Eight-Year Probationary Period (Other Than Child Care). To notify APO with respect to childbearing leave or child care under III.A.1 and III.B.1 (or to notify APO not to extend the probationary period) use: Notification of Eligibility for Extension of the Eight-Year Probationary Period Due to Childbirth or Adoption (Time Off The Clock).
IV. Timing of the Submission of a Dossier
Review of a dossier for promotion is required no later than in the seventh year of service, followed by its submission to the Academic Affairs and Personnel Office no later than the posted deadlines for Academic Year and Fiscal Year appointees.
A. In determining the seventh year of service for an Academic Year (9-month) appointee:
- two (2) or three (3) quarters or one semester of service in an Academic Year count as one year;
- one (1) quarter of service in each of two academic years counts as one year.
Example: Assistant Professor X, an Academic Year (9-month) appointee, is appointed in the Spring Quarter of 2016-17. That quarter of service counts toward the Eight-Year Limit; but 2016-17 does not count as a year of service in scheduling the 7th year promotion review.
B. In determining the seventh year of service for a Fiscal Year appointee:
- 6 months or more of service (including vacation taken) in an Academic Year count as one year; and
- less than 6 months of service (including vacation taken) in each of any two or three academic years that total 6 months or more count as one year.
V. Restrictions on Re-employment (APM 133, Appendix A)
If, in an Eight-Year Limit review, the Chancellor decides not to continue a person's appointment in a series, that person may not be appointed on any campus of the University to any faculty series or title listed below for a period of five years:
- Professor
- Supervisor of Teacher Education
- Acting Professor
- Lecturer, Senior Lecturer
- Visiting Professor
- Assistant Professor of Teaching
- Professor-in-Residence
- Associate Professor of Teaching
- Adjunct Professor
- Coordinator of Field Work
- Professor of Clinical (X)
- Field Work Supervisor
- Health Sciences Clinical Professor
- Field Work Consultant
- Supervisor of Physical Education
- Lecturer
This limit does not prevent appointment as Lecturer in Summer Session or in the Clinical Professor Volunteer Series.
VI. Eight-Year Limit on Service Funded from General Funds
In addition to the Eight-Year Limit, when an appointment in any of the series listed below is supported by state funds for more than 50% time, the total period of such state support shall not exceed eight years:
- Professor-in-Residence
- Professor of Clinical (X)
- Adjunct Professor
- Health Sciences Clinical Professor
[1] Academic Senate Bylaw 40.3C mandates that: "An Assistant Professor who has completed eight years of service in that title, or in that title in combination with other titles as established by the President, shall not be continued after the eighth year unless promoted to Associate Professor or Professor. By exception, the President may approve appointment of an Assistant Professor beyond the eighth year for no more than two years."
Unlike APM 133-0, UCLA does not count any Instructor or Acting Instructor titles toward this Eight-Year Limit; and some titles listed in APM 133 as counting toward the Eight-Year Limit are not used at UCLA or are no longer in use by the University.
[2] This is UCLA's requirement in applying APM 760-30-a.
Revised 1/18/17
Web page updated 06/24/24
