400.220 - Professor Series

UCSC:APO:CAPM rev 12/15

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Definition
Deadlines
Policy References
Titles
Criteria
Restrictions
Terms of Service
Salary
Eligibility for Review

GENERAL PROVISIONS

1. DEFINITION

The Professor Series is used for appointees who are members of the faculty who have instructional, as well as, research, university, and public service responsibilities.

2. DEADLINES

Please refer to the Annual Call and calendar for Academic Personnel Actions, usually issued in May by the Academic Personnel Office (APO). The CALL provides a list of faculty who are eligible for review, and a schedule of due dates.

Department chairs are responsible for ensuring that faculty submit a complete set of required materials no later than the first day of fall quarter or an earlier deadline established by the Department. A candidate's material will be considered complete if all materials listed on the Checklist to Assure Fairness have been submitted on or before the deadline. In justifiable circumstances, the Department Chair, upon request by the faculty member, may request up to a 30-day extension to this deadline. The Dean has the authority to approve these extensions. A file submitted late or an incomplete file will not be forwarded to the Dean. The action will be considered deferred, and a subsequent action will not be retroactive. The chair will inform the dean of those faculty members who have missed the deadline or who have incomplete files on the due date. Actions that must be submitted, even if the file is incomplete, include mandatory reviews, those for untenured faculty, and those for whom the chair has denied a request for deferral. In these cases, Departments should forward the file with the information that is available to them, along with their recommendation by the established deadline. Untenured faculty who have not met the deadline must be considered for reappointment.

The Dean is responsible for ensuring that departments submit files by the established deadlines. If an extension has been granted to a candidate, the Dean shall inform the Campus Provost (via the Academic Personnel Office) and a revised deadline will be set in consultation with the Campus Provost. The Campus Provost will regularly publish statistics on the progress of review files in order to keep the campus apprised of the timeliness of reviews at all stages of the review process.

3. POLICY REFERENCES

APM 160 Academic Personnel Records
APM 200 Appointment and Promotion
APM 210 Review and Appraisal Committees
APM 220 Professor Series

4. TITLES

The titles (and ranks) in the Professor Series in use on the Santa Cruz campus are:

a. Assistant Professor

b. Associate Professor

c. Professor

5. CRITERIA

A candidate for appointment, merit increase, or promotion in the professor series shall be judged by the following criteria:

a. teaching

b. research and creative activity

c. professional competence and activity

d. university and public service

Refer to APM 210-1 for an explanation of these criteria.

6. RESTRICTIONS

a. No appointment shall be made to a title in the Professor Series (i.e. Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor) unless there is an appropriately budgeted provision (FTE) for the appointment.

b. Appointments in the Professor Series normally are for full-time service, although there may be subsequent temporary or permanent reductions by agreement between the appointee and the University.

c. Refer to APM 220-16-d for information on appointments for less than full-time service.

7. TERMS OF SERVICE

a. Assistant Professor

1. Each appointment and reappointment is limited to a maximum of 2 years. Total service in this and certain other titles is limited to eight years. (Refer to APM 133.)

2. Appointments or reappointments may be for less than 2 years under the following circumstances:

i. An appointment or reappointment with an effective date other than July 1 shall normally end on the second June 30 following.

ii. A promotion or merit increase may become effective before the end of a two-year term, but such advancement shall mark the beginning of a new term of appointment.

iii. When the status of an Acting or Visiting Assistant Professor is changed to Assistant Professor during a given year, the term of the new appointment shall normally end on the second June 30 following.

iv. A terminal appointment for an Assistant Professor may be for a term of less than two years provided adequate notice has been given, as stipulated in APM-220-20-c.

b. Associate Professor and Professor

1. Appointments as Associate Professor and Professor are tenured. The normal term in the Associate Professor rank is 6 years, but there is no obligation on the part of the University to promote an Associate Professor solely on the basis of years of service.

8. SALARY

a. The Academic Salary Scales are approved annually by The Regents and distributed to the campus by the Academic Personnel Office. Contact the Academic Personnel Office for additional copies.

9. ELIGIBILITY FOR REVIEW

a. This policy is also applicable to the Astronomer, Professor in Residence, Adjunct Professor, and Supervisor of Physical Education Series.

b. General

1. The department chair is responsible for making certain that within the department there is an annual review of the status and performance of each faculty member in the unit. Cases of possible eligibility for merit increase or promotion shall be examined. Likewise, cases of unsatisfactory performance and of less than desirable excellence shall be examined and may require review.

2. The Academic Personnel Office shall prepare the CALL (eligibility list) for personnel actions. A review or a deferral must be processed for all faculty listed on the CALL. A unit may also review faculty members who are not listed on the CALL. In addition, a faculty member may request a review. The chair should be helpful in advising the faculty member whether a review is warranted; however, if the faculty member submits a formal request, a review shall be conducted.

3. Newly appointed assistant and associate professors are expected to undergo at least one positive review before being put forward for promotion. This is intended to provide sufficient time for these appointees to establish a record of excellence on this campus in teaching, research and creative activity, and service.

c. Exceptions to normal review eligibility or procedures

1. Salary increase in lieu of merit or promotion: When, following a review for merit increase or promotion, the proposed advancement is denied and a salary increase is granted instead, faculty members will not be placed on the CALL again until another interval of the standard years at step has been served. Should candidates choose to put themselves forward for review before this interval has passed, the action would be considered an acceleration in time because the prior review resulted in some positive advancement action (albeit a salary increase only instead of step or rank advancement) and the candidate would not have completed another interval at step before being reviewed again.

2. Denial of advancement: If a review for normal merit increase or promotion results in denial of advancement of any type (e.g., rank, step or salary), the faculty member will not be placed on the CALL again until another interval of the standard years at step has been served. Should candidates choose to put themselves forward for the same review (i.e., normal merit or promotion) before this interval has passed, that action in and of itself would not constitute an acceleration since the normal time at step has already been served and the material submitted in the prior review was not previously rewarded with any type of advancement. In either event, the subsequent review period would commence with the last positive advancement in rank, step or salary (e.g., for a full professor who served another standard interval, the review period would be six years instead of three years).

3. Retention action: If a faculty member receives an outside offer of employment and time constraints set by the other institution preclude the standard academic personnel review for step or rank advancement, an abridged review file may be put forward with only a salary increase recommendation for the purpose of retaining the faculty member. Such a file must include the following: the offer letter or other written evidence of the outside offer; a current bio-bibliography; a department letter, including a department vote; and the dean's recommendation. In addition, A Checklist To Assure Fairness must be completed. The Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor has authority to approve this type of salary increase action for retention purposes.

This type of abridged review for retention purposes does not impact the candidate's regular eligibility for review or the associated review period. The candidate will remain or appear on the CALL at the standard interval, and the salary increase may be taken into consideration at the time of the subsequent review. The Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor's decision letter will address how the salary increase for retention purposes will be taken into account in the candidate's next regular review.

See also, CP/EVC Memo, Ladder-Rank Academic Personnel Actions - Update, page 2.

d. Eligibility for Promotion

1. Normal Promotion

i. Assistant Professor to Associate Professor:
Assistant Professors must be either tenured or terminated by the end of the eighth year of service. Promotion is considered normal (i.e., not accelerated or decelerated) for candidates with two years at Step 4 or seven years of service as Assistant Professor or other titles as specified in APM 133. They will appear on the CALL for promotion only in the seventh year of service recognizing that it takes many years to accumulate the necessary record in teaching, research and service for promotion. Assistant Professors should be careful to accumulate an adequate record for timely consideration of promotion.

EXAMPLES:

a. An Assistant Professor is appointed at Step 3, serves two years, and is advanced to Step 4. With two years of service at Step 4, the candidate is placed on the CALL for mid-career appraisal. The candidate has a strong research record and several years teaching experience prior to appointment at UCSC. After discussions with the chair, the candidate decides to be considered for tenure. The candidate is ELIGIBLE for review for promotion to Associate Professor, Step 1, as a NORMAL advancement action. Such review is NOT mandatory, but if it occurs, and if the review is positive, the resulting promotion would be considered normal, not accelerated, advancement.

b. Another Assistant Professor is appointed at Step 3, serves two years, and is advanced to Step 4. With two years of service at Step 4, the candidate is placed on the CALL for mid-career appraisal. This Assistant Professor has little teaching experience prior to appointment at UCSC, and has a strong research record. After discussions with the chair, the candidate decides to proceed with the mid-career appraisal. The candidate is ELIGIBLE for review for promotion to Associate Professor, Step 1, as a NORMAL advancement action. Such review is NOT mandatory, and in this case, the Assistant Professor chose to undergo the mid-career appraisal at the normal time during the fourth year.

ii. Associate Professor to Professor: Candidates will be placed on the CALL when they have two years at Step 3. Promotion with six years at the Associate Professor rank is considered normal, even if the candidate does not have two years at Step 3.

iii. Decelerated Promotion: occurs when an Associate Professor serves in that rank for more than six years and is promoted to Professor.

iv. Accelerated Promotion: Promotion in advance of eligibility, or to a higher rank or step than normal, constitutes ACCELERATION and requires evidence of unusual achievement. An example is promotion from Assistant Professor, Step 4 to Associate Professor, Step 2.

e. Eligibility for Merit Increase

1. Normal Merit Increase

All faculty completing the requisite number of years of service by June 30 in the indicated steps of this series are eligible for review for normal merit increase to the indicated steps effective July 1

CURRENT STATUS	YEARS AT STEP	NORMAL MERIT INCREASE
Assistant Professor 1, 2, 3	2	Next higher step
Associate Professor 1, 2	2	Next higher step
Professor	3	Next higher step

f. Merit increase to Professor, Steps 6, 7, 8, 9, and Above Scale:

Eligibility for review based upon years of service DOES NOT apply to advancements beyond Professor, Step 5; "normal" periods of service at the steps above 4 are not specified. Service at Steps 5 and above may be of indefinite duration. Advancements to Step 6, 7, 8, 9 and to Above Scale are based not only upon performance since the last preceding advancement, but also upon performance since promotion to Professor.

1. Step 6:

Advancement to Professor Step 6 may involve an overall career review, however, on the Santa Cruz campus, emphasis should be given to work done since advancement to, or appointment at the rank of Professor. Advancement will be granted on evidence of sustained and continuing excellence in each of the following three categories: (1) scholarship or creative achievement, (2) University teaching, and (3) service. Above and beyond that, great academic distinction, recognized nationally, will be required in scholarly or creative achievement or teaching. Advancement to Step 6 usually will not occur after less than 3 years of service at Step 5.

2. Step 7:

Advancement to Step 7 is based on evidence of continuing achievement at the level required for advancement to Step 6. A department may be able to provide such evidence without soliciting extramural letters. Advancement to Step 7 usually will not occur after less than 3 years of service at Step 6 and will only be granted on evidence of continuing achievement at the level required for advancement to Step 6.

3. Step 8:

Advancement to Step 8 is based on evidence of continuing achievement at the level required for advancement to Step 7. A department may be able to provide such evidence without soliciting extramural letters. Advancement to Step 8 usually will not occur after less than 3 years of service at Step 7 and will only be granted on evidence of continuing achievement at the level required for advancement to Step 6.

4. Step 9:

Advancement to Step 9 is based on evidence of continuing achievement at the level required for advancement to Step 8. A department may be able to provide such evidence without soliciting extramural letters. Advancement to Step 9 usually will not occur after less than 3 years of service at Step 8 and will only be granted on evidence of continuing achievement at the level required for advancement to Step 6.

5. Above Scale:

Advancement to an Above Scale rank involves an overall career review, however, on the Santa Cruz campus, emphasis should be given to work done since advancement to, or appointment at a step above Professor Step 6. Advancement to Above Scale is reserved only for the most highly distinguished faculty (1) whose work of sustained and continuing excellence has attained national and international recognition and broad acclaim reflective of its significant impact; (2) whose University teaching performance is excellent; and (3) whose service is highly meritorious. Except in rare and compelling cases, advancement will not occur after less than four years at Step IX. Moreover, mere length of service and continued good performance at Step IX is not justification for further salary advancement. There must be demonstration of additional merit and distinction beyond the performance on which advancement to Step IX was based. Documentation normally must include solicited external evaluations.

6. Further Above Scale:

A further merit increase in salary for a person already serving at an above-scale salary level must be justified by new evidence of merit and distinction. Continued good service is not an adequate justification. Intervals between such salary increases may be indefinite, and only in the most superior cases where there is strong and compelling evidence will increases at intervals shorter than four years be approved.