P L E A S E   P O S T
 

June 28, 1999

DEANS, DEPARTMENT CHAIRS and DIRECTORS

Re: Off-Campus Sexual Harassment Counseling

Please ensure that the enclosed notice is posted on your department bulletin board(s). Please also post this notice in any other high traffic/prominent places in your department. Additional copies have been provided.

If you have any questions please call Eliza Vorenberg at extension 4-4217 or Hal Pruett at extension 5-0768.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Norman Abrams
Vice Chancellor
Academic Personnel

April 6, 1999

DEANS, DEPARTMENT CHAIRS, DIRECTORS and FACULTY

Re: Faculty Service on Review Committees

The Council on Academic Personnel has expressed concern because of the decrease in the number of faculty agreeing to serve on campus review committees. Agreement to serve on review committees is an essential function of our academic review process which has traditionally involved independent assessment of faculty performance by review committees.

I share the Council’s concern, since our unique peer review system cannot function without the active and ready participation of every faculty member as needed. Both the Council and I are sensitive to the time demands that such ad hoc committee service imposes, and we know how full are the schedules of our colleagues. We are aware that many of the faculty perform admirably in this regard, serving on multiple committees in a narrow time frame, and we appreciate this readiness to serve. Collegial evaluation remains an essential ingredient in maintaining the academic standards that have made UCLA a first rank university

I join the Council in urging each member of the faculty to make this important service a matter of the highest priority.

Sincerely,

Norman Abrams
Vice Chancellor
Academic Personnel

March 23, 1999

Dear Colleagues:

Effective immediately, the new maximum for a housing allowance to be granted to a newly recruited faculty member is $50,000 per recipient under the Salary Differential Housing Allowance Program for faculty. The new maximum will continue to be indexed annually in accordance with the faculty salary scale increase, and, as under existing practice, is to be supported from School or Divisional funds. Exceptions to the new maximum will continue to require approval by the Provost and Senior Vice President—Academic Affairs in the Office of the President.

Due to the mid-year timing of this change, the Office of the President is also allowing campuses to "adjust" any housing allowance already committed to during this current recruitment period. Of course, any decision to adjust should take into account the availability of funds, and equity considerations.

Existing University guidelines do not require repayment of housing allowances from recipients in the event the faculty member chooses to leave the University within a short period after receiving the allowance. We have now, however, been authorized to establish repayment conditions under the Salary Differential Housing Allowance Program for faculty.

For the present, we shall not try to establish any campus requirements regarding repayment conditions. Rather you are authorized to establish repayment conditions on a uniform basis for your unit, or you can proceed on a case by case basis. Please confer with me before establishing any uniform requirements for your unit or before entering into any agreement with a recipient regarding repayment conditions. Such agreements should always be in writing.

For example, a School might choose to structure repayment conditions with the understanding that receipt of the housing allowance at the $50,000 level is contingent on the faculty member making a commitment to remain at the campus for a minimum period of five years. If the faculty member leaves before the expiration of the five-year period, a portion of the allowance would be repaid to the campus at a rate of $10,000 per year of the unfulfilled commitment. Alternatively, the allowance might be structured as a no-interest loan, forgivable over a ten-year period at $5,000 per year. If the faculty member were to leave before that period, the remainder of the loan would become due and payable.

Other kinds of repayment conditions might be established, for example, so that the repayment rate is graduated depending on the years of service to the University. As you can see, we have been given the flexibility to tailor the repayment conditions to the case and to the circumstances relating to the individual faculty member receiving the housing allowance.

The Salary Differential Housing Allowance Program guidelines will soon be issued formally as part of the Academic Personnel Manual, APM-190, Appendix E. Though not yet updated to reflect recent changes in policy, on-line access to the 1989 program description can be found at http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/apm/s1-190f.html.

Sincerely,

Norman Abrams
Vice Chancellor
Academic Personnel

March 23, 1999

DEANS, DEPARTMENT CHAIRS, and DIRECTORS

Re: Dissemination of Policy Proposals

The Higher Education Employer Employee Relations Act (HEERA) requires the University to provide notice to affected persons upon changing terms and conditions of employment. It is the responsibility of Deans, Chairs, and Directors upon receipt of a new policy proposal to ensure that each affected academic appointee is notified regarding the proposed change and afforded an opportunity to respond. Responses can be accomplished via discussions at faculty meetings and communicated upon behalf of the department by a department letter addressed to my office. Individuals may also respond directly to my office. A campus response is then prepared that is sent to the Office of the President. Faculty can also send their comments to the Academic Senate, which may prepare its own response to the Office of the President.

Until now, the Academic Personnel Office has distributed policy proposals and cover letters in hard copy directly to you for action and follow-up. Effective immediately, the Academic Personnel Office will also provide an e-mail version of all policy proposals to each dean’s office for further distribution. A survey of the campus indicates that most schools have e-mail distribution lists that will enable wide spread distribution among academic appointees. Hard copies should be sent to faculty who cannot be reached through e-mail distribution.

In addition, all policy proposals, cover letter, and their status are available simultaneously on the Academic Personnel Office web site. Status of policies under review can be found on the Academic Policy page at

http://www.apo.ucla.edu/poreview.htm

Each of us has an obligation to ensure that individuals are provided the opportunity to review and respond to proposed policy changes.

Sincerely,

Norman Abrams
Vice Chancellor
Academic Personnel