110.500 - Overqualified Candidates

A. APPOINTMENT CONSIDERATIONS

In the event that an Associate Professor or Associate Research __________ applies for an Assistant Professor position, or a Professor or Research __________ applies for an Assistant or Associate Professor position, and the department is interested in pursuing their candidacy, the department chair should contact the dean to discuss whether so senior an applicant can appropriately be considered further. The dean may wish to consult with the assistant vice chancellor for academic personnel, concerning the equal employment opportunity and affirmative action implications of such further consideration before making a decision.

If the dean decides continued consideration of the senior applicant is appropriate, the department will inform the candidate that any appointment will be at the advertised rank, with no explicit or implicit promise of an accelerated review for promotion to tenure or promotion to Professor. The only exception to appointment at the advertised rank will be to meet a competing offer, in which event, an offer may be made at one-step above the advertised range, or at Step 1 of the next rank, if the competing offer includes promotion. Further review may be required for offers made at the next rank.

B. FUTURE ADVANCEMENT

If the more senior candidate is selected for appointment, future merit actions will be considered on an incremental basis, i.e., work completed since appointment will provide the justification for movement through the steps at UCSC. Promotion to Associate Professor will continue to be based on the faculty member's record of achievement since award of terminal degree; promotion to Professor, on the record since promotion or appointment to Associate Professor; and movement from Professor, Step 5 to 6, on the faculty member's career as a full Professor.

A review for promotion to tenure or promotion to Professor will not normally occur until after at least one positive merit review at UCSC. Truly exceptional cases may be put forward earlier, but the file would have to provide ample documented evidence of excellence on this campus in teaching, service, and research and creative activity, appropriate to the proposed rank and step.