2007-2008
Communiqués from the
 Vice Chancellor of Academic Personnel
 

  Retirement Planning
       Issued May 14, 2008

  Guidance on Faculty Salary Increases for Promotions and Merits that
    have an Effective Date of July 1, 2008
       Issued March 7, 2008

  Faculty Members’ Rights to Review Proposed Chairs Letter to Dean
       Issued via email January 4, 2008

  Faculty Recruitment and Retention
       Issued via email December 6, 2007

 2007-2008 Academic Personnel Workshop Dates
        Issued September 7, 2007

Important Notice
  Whistleblower Notification
       Issued via email July 2, 2007

  2006-2007 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  2005-2006 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  2004-2005 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  2003-2004 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  2002-2003 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  2001-2002 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  2000-2001 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  1999-2000 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  1998-1999 Vice Chancellor Communiqués
  1997-1998 Vice Chancellor Communiqués

2007-2008 Communiqués
 
 

May 14, 2008 

Dear Faculty:  

I write to remind you that whenever you begin to consider planning for retirement, the University offers you a variety of opportunities, including in some cases an individualized Pathway to Retirement Plan, that may be of assistance.  

1.   UCLA Benefits Office:  Our on-site benefits counselors are always ready to consult with you about the various retirement benefits available through the University of California Retirement Plan (UCRP) and about your specific situation.  You may consult with one by calling the UCLA Benefits Office at (310) 794-0830. 

2.   Fidelity Retirement Services:  As the record-keeping and account services company for the UC Retirement Savings Program [Defined Contribution, Tax-Deferred 403(b), and 457(b) Deferred Compensation Plans], Fidelity Retirement Services can provide account balances and other information about your accounts.  Their website (http://www.netbenefits.com) has interactive planning tools and other information to help you plan financial issues in retirement.  You should have received the annual informational brochure detailing your pension benefits and your savings opportunities.   

3.   UCLA Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center:  The UCLA Emeriti/Retirees Relations Center sponsors excellent programs that assist faculty as they plan the transition from active work to retirement, and anticipate ways of spending time in retirement and remaining active in our campus community.  Discussions on topics of interest are offered throughout the academic year in conjunction with the established emeriti(ae) programs.  Center staff also assist with emeriti/ae privileges.  The Center may be reached at (310) 825-7456. 

4.   Pathways to Retirement Plan:  Should you have an interest in an individual Pathways to Retirement Plan by which you can establish a specific date for separation up to two years in the future and a plan of research, teaching and service prior to separation, you should so indicate to your Chair, who may then choose to develop such a plan in consultation with you, subject to review and approval by your Dean.  Possible components of such a plan may include a modified teaching schedule for up to one year, a deferral of an upcoming five year review (which could otherwise entail augmented teaching or service responsibilities), summer ninths for specific research or assignments performed, office or laboratory space, or some other benefit.  If you are at least 60 years of age with at least 5 years of UCRP service credit, your Chair may also include consideration of a pre-retirement Recall agreement in discussions about a Pathways to Retirement Plan.  Please remember that “separation” is distinct from “retirement” and that you must have contacted your Benefits Representative to retire, upon separation.

If you are interested in exploring the development of such a Plan, please inform your department Chair of your interest in being contacted.  Your Chair will not contact you about a specific plan without some indication from you that you are interested in discussing retirement.

Sincerely,
                                                             
Thomas Rice
Vice Chancellor
Academic Personnel
 

March 7, 2008

To: Deans, Chairs, and Academic Personnel Directors

From: Thomas Rice, Vice Chancellor, Academic Personnel

Re: Guidance on Faculty Salary Increases for Promotions and Merits that
       have an Effective Date of July 1, 2008


This memo provides guidance concerning salary requests for faculty who have personnel actions with an effective date of July 1, 2008.  It has three parts.  The first two are very important as they affect actions you will take.  The last may be of interest to some, as it provides “rules of thumb” to help translate the off-scale percentages from the previous salary scale to the newly adjusted off-scale percentages.

1. Salaries and DAT

The October 1, 2007 range adjustments will be calculated by the DAT system and automatically entered into DAT.  Individuals who fell below the new scale have been brought up to scale; individuals who are above the new published scale received only a 2.5 % cost-of-living adjustment (COLA); and individuals at the rank of Professor Above Scale received a 3.5% range adjustment.  For actions with an effective date of July, 1, 2008 and beyond, DAT will calculate the off scale report for all proposed actions.  A new warning, however, will be added to the system indicating whether or not off scale salaries will require written justification by the Dean.

2. Determining Whether the Dean Must Justify a Salary Request

Please refer to the relevant table in the new salary scales at the links below, and attached to the print copy this memo.  For most of the campus, this is http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/tab0708/table1.pdf. 
Those in Engineering and Management will use a different table:  http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/tab0708/table3.pdf,
and those in Law, http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/tab0708/table8.pdf.

You will note that these scales show the October 1, 2007 pre-market adjustment rates with only the COLA (column 6) as well as the market-adjusted rates (column 8) that were implemented. The campus policy we have developed allows faculty who receive merit increases or promotions effective July 1, 2008, to attain the same dollar salary that they would have attained at their previous off-scale percentage, based on the pre-market adjustment October 1, 2007 rates (column 6).  If a higher salary is requested by the Dean, it must be justified in writing unless it is no higher than the salary associated with the next higher step.

As noted above, DAT will produce a notification if a proposed salary requires a justification by the Dean.  Fortunately, calculating the highest allowable salary (without a Dean’s justification) is very simple, as follows below:^[1]

• Step 1:  Take the old off-scale percentage (that is, the salary that was in effect before October 1, 2007), and add 1.0.   (For example, if the off-scale percentage was 30%, bring the figure 1.30% into Step 2.)

• Step 2:  Multiply the figure from Step 1 by the pre-market October 1, 2007 adjustment rate (the dollar figure in column 6 of the appropriate salary scale table:  Salary Scale October 1, 2007, with COLA, Annual).

To illustrate, suppose a faculty member advances to Professor Step 2, effective July 1, 2008 and previously had a 30% off-scale salary.  The maximum new salary that would not require additional justification by the Dean is 1.30% x $77,600 = $100,880, which, rounded to the nearest $100, is $100,900.   A salary above this figure will require a justification letter from the Dean to me that becomes part of the dossier.  (Some Deans make this part of their overall evaluation letter, and others include a short, separate letter just about salary.)  Please note that Deans are not required to request that high of a salary; they may, if they wish, request less; written justification under those circumstances would be at the discretion of the Dean.

Not all faculty, of course, will have promotions or merit increases effective July 1, 2008.  The campus policy for those who advance in subsequent years will be the same:  no additional Deans’ justification is necessary if the recommended salary is no higher than their off-scale percentage that was in effect prior to October 1, 2007, based on pre-market salary scales.

3. New Off-Scale Percentage (Optional)

You do not have to calculate or even use this, but it will be provided automatically by DAT, and some faculty will wish to know how their salary compares to the new scale. 

It is important to understand that for every faculty member who was off scale prior to October 1, 2007, the new off scale percentage will be lower than the old one because the scale itself has been adjusted upwards to keep pace with the market.  The new percentage is based on two factors:  the old off-scale percentage, and the faculty member’s rank and step.  The formula for calculating the new percentage is provided in Footnote 2.^[2]  Table A provides some rules of thumb for you to estimate percentage.  To illustrate, for an Associate Professor who was previously 16-28% off scale, use the first column of numbers.  The new off scale percentage will be 9 percentage points less than the old one.  Thus, if the old off scale percentage was 25%, the new one will be about 16%.

TABLE A:

________________________

[1] The calculation is somewhat different for faculty in GSE&IS, Public Health, and Economics.  GSE&IS and Public Health would use their old salary scales prior to 10/1/07, and multiply the salary from that scale associated with the new rank and step by (a) 1.0 plus the old off-scale percentages, and then by (b) 1.025%.  In Economics, which moved from the general campus scale to the Engineering-Management Scale, the calculation is performed using Table 1 rather than Table 3.

[2] If you wish to calculate the new off-scale percentage precisely, perform the following steps:

• Take the old off-scale percentage and add 1.0.

• In the appropriate salary scale table, find the rank and step of the faculty member effective 7/1/08, and divide column 8 by column 6 (that is, the annual salary for COLA and market divided by the annual salary for COLA).

• Divide the result from the first bullet by the result from the second bullet, and subtract 1.0.

• Example:  Take a faculty member at Associate Professor, Step III who had an off-scale percentage of 30%.  The first bullet gives a figure of 1.3%.  The second bullet gives a figure of 1.08% ($73,200 divided by $67,800, rounded).   1.30% divided by 1.08% minus 1.0 = 20.4%.  Thus, for a faculty member at that rank/step, an old off-scale percentage of 30% is equivalent to a new off-scale percentage of 20.4%.

“The department shall adopt procedures under which the letter setting forth the departmental recommendation shall be available, before being forwarded, for inspection by all those members of the department eligible to vote on the matter or by a designated committee or other group of such members.”

• Please note in writing that offers at the Associate or Full Professor levels are "subject to the Chancellor's approval."
   
• Broad, inclusive searches are essential to achieving faculty excellence. For information about faculty searches and diversity I encourage you to contact Vice Provost Rosina Becerra or see  http://faculty.diversity.ucla.edu/03recruit/index.htm. Her office has a wealth of information to aid and ensure that the search process meets University requirements.
   
• Salaries above the threshold for various fields of study must be approved by the Chancellor and the Office of the President. The UCOP thresholds can be found at: http://www.ucop.edu/acadadv/acadpers/tab0708/appendix.pdf
   
• UC policy does not permit the transfer of sabbatical credit from a non-UC institution to UCLA. Policy does, however, permit adjusting teaching schedules to meet the research needs of individual faculty.
   
• Policy forbids us from offering a general "signing bonus" for new faculty members. Each element of the package (e.g., housing, laboratory set-up) must be consistent with the Academic Personnel Manual, and each element -- including but not limited to salary, summer ninths, teaching release, research support, relocation and moving expenses, and housing assistance -- should be negotiated separately and specified in the written offer.

If you are recruiting, I urge you to take a look at: http://www.tax.ucla.edu/UCLA%20Recruiting%20Incentives%20Summary.pdf.

For more information about faculty housing and loans, contact Linda MacEachern, Manager of Faculty Housing and Loan Programs, and review the University Loan Programs website at http://www.ucop.edu/facil/olp/.

This memo has addressed only some of the recurring issues in faculty recruitment. For a more complete review of recruitment policies and procedures, contact my office or see Appendix 22 of The UCLA CALL, Summary of Recruitment Policy at http://www.apo.ucla.edu/call/append22.htm. In addition, I am happy to talk with you about recruitment strategies and resources, including any questions that arise about specific candidates or faculty members.

September 7, 2007

DEANS and DEPARTMENT CHAIRS

Re:  2007-2008 Academic Personnel Workshop Dates

Each year two workshops are held in which we address the various aspects of academic personnel policy and procedures. 

The first workshop for the 2007-2008 academic year is designed for new Deans and Chairs. The second workshop is designed for all Deans and Chairs and is tailored to address current topics. 

Please hold the following dates on your calendar:  

2007-2008 Meeting for New Deans & Chairs on
Academic Personnel Issues at UCLA
Monday, November 5, 2007
9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m.
Hacienda Room, Faculty Center

Annual Workshop for all Deans and Chairs, 9–Month Schools
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
8:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.
California Room, Faculty Center

Annual Workshop for all Deans and Chairs, 11–Month Schools
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
8:30 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.
California Room, Faculty Center

Invitations will be sent out in late September with more information. I look forward to seeing you there.

Sincerely,
                                                               
Thomas Rice
Vice Chancellor
Academic Personnel

I m p o r t a n t   N o t i c e
 

July 1, 2007
 

UCLA FACULTY
 

Re: Annual Whistleblower Notice 

UCLA is required by law to send out the following notice to employees electronically by
July 1st of each year. This notice explains how to report improper activities under University policy using the California Whistleblower Protection Act.

Flyer in .pdf format

Additional Links:
      University of California Whistleblower Website
      APM 190 Appendix A-1: Whistleblower Policy
      APM 190 Appendix A-2: Whistleblower Protection Policy
      UCLA's Whistleblower Policies and Procedures
   

HOW TO BLOW THE WHISTLE
ON SUSPECTED IMPROPER ACTIVITIES
 

UCLA wants you to report suspected improper activities
and will protect you from retaliation for whistleblowing

What You Can Report

Any activity by UC or a UC employee that violates any state or federal law or regulation (e.g., corruption, malfeasance, bribery, theft or misuse of government property, fraud, coercion, or conversion); or involves economic waste, gross misconduct, gross incompetence, or gross inefficiency; or poses a significant threat to the health or safety of employees or the public.

Where to Report

You may report the matter to your supervisor (or other appropriate administrator within your unit), who will report it to one of the appropriate offices below:
 

       * Academic Personnel Office

       * Administrative Policies & Compliance Office 

       * Audit & Advisory Services

       * Dean - Graduate Division

       * Human Resources

                                         - or -
 

       * You may report directly to any of the above offices
 

                                         - or -
 

       * You may call the UCLA Compliance Hotline at (800) 296-7188. The hotline is

         independently operated to help ensure confidentiality.

How to Report

        * In writing or orally

        * With as much specific factual information possible (report what you know, but
           don't investigate-leave that to the experts!)

        * Anonymously, if you prefer

Confidentiality will be maintained, to the extent possible.

Protection from Retaliation

If you believe you have been retaliated against for whistleblowing, you may contact 

your respective Human Resources or Academic Personnel Office, or the Administrative Policies & Compliance Office for information on how to file a complaint. The protection provided to whistleblowers is set out in the University's Whistleblower Protection Policy.

For More Information

Contact UCLA Human Resources or the Academic Personnel Office for information on the University's Whistleblower Policy and Whistleblower Protection Policy and the campus procedure for filing whistleblower and whistleblower retaliation complaints.  You may also locate the information on the UCLA Administrative Policies & Procedures website at http://www.adminvc.ucla.edu/appm/. 

Blow the Whistle on State Government
Fraud and Waste
 
In addition to the above UCLA reporting procedures, you have the option of reporting improper activities directly to the State Auditor whistleblower hotline at (800) 952-5665
or to the California Attorney General whistleblower hotline at (800) 952-5225.

A Message from the State Auditor:
Call the State Auditor's Whistleblower Hotline to report the improper acts of state agencies or employees.
 

What We Investigate
        * Illegal acts like theft, fraud, or conflicts of interest by state employees.
        * Misuse or abuse of state property or time by state employees.
        * Gross misconduct, incompetence, or inefficiency by state employees.
 

We Follow Through When Our Investigation Substantiates Your Allegation
Although we have no enforcement power, we keep the ball rolling by reporting the results of investigations that substantiate improprieties to:
        * The head of the employing agency
        * The attorney general or other enforcement agencies, legislative committees,
          and any other authority with jurisdiction
        * The general public, keeping identities confidential
 

State Law Goes to Bat for You
        * It requires the Bureau of State Audits to shield your identity (except from law
          enforcement).
        * It helps guard against intimidation, threats, or coercion by state employees that
          could interfere with your right to disclose improper government activities.
        * It helps keep you safe from reprisal, retaliation, threats, or coercion for reporting
          such information.

If You Experience Retaliation, Speak Up!
If you're a state employee, contact the State Personnel Board in writing at 801 Capitol Mall, MS53, Sacramento, CA 95814. For additional information, call (916) 653-1403.

• University of California (UC) has its own system. If you work for UC, check our
  website, www.bsa.ca.gov/bsa/hotline/filecomp.html, for a link to information on its current policy.

• California State University (CSU) has its own system. If you work for CSU, check our website, www.bsa.ca.gov/bsa/hotline/filecomp.html, for a link to information on its current policy.
   

Report What You Know

Call 1(800) 952-5665 or mail the information to: Investigations, Bureau of State Audits, 555 Capitol Mall, Suite 300, Sacramento, CA 95814.

We cannot accept complaints via our website or e-mail. However, visit our website at www.bsa.ca.gov/bsa/hotline/filecomp.html for more information on filing complaints.

Remember! The Bureau of State Audits can only investigate state government improprieties. We do not investigate misconduct by federal or local governments or by private businesses or organizations.

Revised 6/30/2006

Website last updated5/12/2008