UCSC:APO:CAPM 8/05

412.000 UCSC CAREER EQUITY REVIEW (CER) PROCESS GUIDELINES
(replaces former merit equity review process)

A. DEFINITION

  1. The UC Office of the President has mandated that each campus provide a mechanism for “career equity” reviews (CER). On rare occasions, a senate faculty member may be at a rank and step that he/she believes is seriously inconsistent with his or her attainments. A career equity review is an examination of a faculty member’s career, focusing on the period from the initial hiring at UCSC onward, in order to determine if the cumulative outcomes of personnel actions have resulted in the appropriate rank and/or step. The purpose of the Career Equity Review is not to reopen or appeal the decision of any previous case. Rather, the purpose is to see if the candidate’s accomplishments, when considered over multiple review periods, may warrant additional action. It is not intended to address salary scale compression or other salary issues unrelated to academic accomplishments. A CER functions as a process to correct a substantial inequality with respect to rank and step, which is typically a product of multiple past actions; it is not a means of appeal for, or expression of disagreement with, a single personnel decision.
  2. Possible justifications for a Career Equity Review may include, but are not limited to, the following:

B. ELIGIBILITY

  1. Tenured ladder rank faculty members are eligible for a CER. Assistant Professors and Professors above scale are not eligible. The decision to initiate a career equity review rests with the candidate. CERs are normally best timed to coincide with major reviews such as promotion to Professor or advancement to Professor, Step 6.
  2. Once tenure has been granted (through appointment or promotion) a CER may be requested once at the associate professor rank, once at the full professor rank prior to advancement to professor, Step 6, and once after advancement to professor, Step 6, until advancement to professor, above scale. Professors, above scale, are not eligible for a CER. Earlier merit equity reviews will count toward determining eligibility.
  3. Faculty are encouraged to seek advice from a career equity review advisor appointed by the Academic Senate before requesting a CER. CER advisors should be tenured faculty who have served either on the Committee on Academic Personnel or the Committee on Privilege and Tenure.

C. CRITERIA

The criteria for career equity reviews shall be the same as used in the normal review process (APM 210-1-d) with the following exceptions: (a) where a significantly higher rank or step is indicated, the case will not require the additional demonstration of a basis for accelerated advancement, and (b) the review period is expanded to include the candidate’s entire academic career, with more weight on the time since appointment to UCSC.

D. PROCEDURES

  1. A tenured ladder faculty initiates a career equity review by submitting a written CER request form to the department chair or dean no later than May 15 of the year prior to the review. This request must include a summary statement of not more than two pages that identifies why the candidate believes that the current rank and step are inappropriate and what the candidate believes is appropriate. This statement will become part of the review file.
  2. Submission of materials by the candidate for a career equity review will follow the deadlines for other ladder rank actions (see http://www2.ucsc.edu/apo/policies/call/index.html). The document inventory and checklist to assure fairness for the action requested by the candidate (refer to http://www2.ucsc.edu/apo/policies/CAPPM/Append8-1.pdf) should be used, e.g., if the candidate requests a change in step use the merit document inventory.
  3. A CER form can be submitted by the candidate in one of two ways:
    1. to the candidate’s department chair with a copy to the divisional dean and Academic Human Resources. If this route is chosen, the CER will be incorporated with the regular review, i.e., the department will consider the whole career, focusing on the time since coming to UCSC, as well as the current review period.
    2. to the candidate’s Dean, with a copy to APO. The Dean will designate a confidential ad hoc committee to oversee the assembly of the review file for a CER and to provide an analysis and recommendation to the candidate on whether to proceed with the CER. The ad hoc committee will include members of the Division and, at the Dean’s discretion, may contain members of the Department and/or representatives from outside the Division or from other UC campuses. The ad hoc committee may solicit letters, if deemed appropriate or required for the particular action, following the usual procedures for soliciting letters. the Academic Personnel Office will provide staff support to the ad hoc committee and the dean. The candidate and the department will not know the identity of the dean’s ad hoc committee members. The ad hoc committee will provide an analysis equivalent in depth to that of a department letter. If the dean’s ad hoc committee recommends that the CER proceed, they should also provide their recommendation on the appropriate rank and step.
  4. The dean will hold any regular review that is submitted by the department until completion of the dean’s ad hoc committee review. The dean will forward a redacted copy of the ad hoc committee recommendation to the candidate who will inform the dean within 10 working days whether to continue the CER portion of the review. If the candidate does not continue with a CER, the candidate’s request, the ad hoc report, and any other related documents are not retained. The regular review continues through the review process.
  5. If the candidate decides to continue the CER review, the dean will transmit the dean's ad hoc committee analysis and the CER review file, and the candidate’s request for a CER to the department for consideration, recommendation, and vote. Departments may, but are not required to, solicit additional external letters.
  6. The department then forwards its recommendation to the dean. The dean considers both the CER and the regular review file and makes a recommendation.
  7. The review will proceed following the usual procedures for a regular review, and will address the candidate’s overall record using the University’s established criteria for the rank and step requested. Note that the review will also include the materials for the current regular review period.

E. CONFIDENTIALITY

The career equity review process is intended to be an objective “second look” at the candidate’s record of accomplishment, when requested by the individual. Care should be taken to respect the confidentiality of the candidate’s concerns throughout the career equity review. In addition, candidates should refrain from making specific personal comparisons with respect to the performance and salaries of their colleagues.

F. AUTHORITY

The Campus Provost/Executive Vice Chancellor has authority for all decisions other than above-scale actions resulting from a career equity review. The Chancellor retains authority for above-scale actions as a result of a CER.

G. POSSIBLE OUTCOMES

The effective date of any change in rank, step, or associated salary will be the same for regular reviews. Retroactive changes in rank, step, or salary will not be made. Another possible outcome is confirmation that the candidate has been appropriately placed at rank and step.

Because a CER is a type of appeal, there is no appeal of a CER decision.