Academic Personnel Manual (APM)

POLICY

In order to preserve the significance and values of the academic salary scales, salaries should be on-scale to the greatest extent feasible. Nevertheless, off-scale salaries are a necessary component of the University of California salary structure in order to allow flexibility in recruiting faculty, meeting market conditions, and providing rewards for outstanding teaching and service. Academic off-scale salaries are awarded by the Chancellor or his/her designee, the Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs, in accordance with Systemwide policies outlined in the Academic Personnel Manual, Section 620. There are two general types of academic off-scale salaries: the bonus type and the marketplace type.

1.  Bonus off-scale salaries may be accorded:

   1. to reward outstanding teaching or service (or both) of individuals who lack adequate scholarly or creative achievement to deserve an academic step increase;

   2. to reward superior service as a department chair or administrator in lieu of a step increase based on academic achievement;

   3. to respond (where appropriate) to outside offers, other than those driven by a market in a discipline or field;

   4. to attract faculty from other institutions.

   When awarded as a bonus for teaching or service, the off-scale increment should be approximately equal to the total salary increment of the next higher step on the published salary scale or to an amount half-way between the relevant steps. This type of bonus off-scale salary normally should be accorded only once to an individual for a particular activity.

2.  Market-driven off-scale salaries may be used to recruit and retain faculty in disciplines or fields for which it has been established that marketplace considerations necessitate such measures to keep UCSD salaries competitive.

   1. Department chairs are responsible for justifying market-driven off-scale salaries by providing appropriate evidence. Within the normal review process, the department chair may propose an off-scale salary differential for an individual faculty member to meet marketplace conditions.

   2. When many individuals from the same discipline or field are recommended for off-scale salaries based on market considerations, it is expected that their separate files will contain a common set of documentation of these considerations.

3.  Maximum off-scale salaries are described in APM 620. Refer to Appendix A for a table of maximum off-scale salaries for nine- and eleven-month appointees.

4.  Return to Scale

   1. Individuals accorded bonus off-scale salaries shall be returned to an on-scale salary no later than the occasion of the appointee's second subsequent advance through merit increase or promotion. At the time of the first advancement the amount of the off-scale differential must be reduced, normally by one-half.

   2. Individuals accorded off-scale salaries by virtue of market considerations may remain off-scale as long as those considerations warrant. The department's marketplace data will be subject to three-year reviews. At the time of such a review, the department must provide evidence for continuation, revision, or a return to standard scale, as market conditions dictate.

   3. If market conditions no longer warrant an off-scale salary, individual appointees shall be returned to scale on July 1 of the year of their normal review cycle.

   4. All off-scale salary increments must terminate with the attainment of the highest professorial step of the standard scale, currently Step VII.

PROCEDURES

1.  Departments normally must make the case for either bonus or market-driven off-scale salaries at the time that a file is forwarded for academic review.

2.  For bonus off-scale salaries, the Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs shall make the decision on the basis of the file presented. Reviewers, including the Committee on Academic Personnel, may make recommendations on bonus off-scale salaries to the Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs.

3.  For marketplace off-scale salaries, the department must gather sufficient data from other University of California campuses and other institutions to make its case. (Requests for salary information on UC appointees should be requested through the Office of the Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs; most institutions outside UC will not provide salary information on individuals but probably will give average salaries, etc.) The department's proposal will be submitted to the Committee on Academic Personnel and, where appropriate, to an ad hoc committee. The Vice Chancellor-Academic Affairs will communicate the final decision to the department chair. The chair will include appropriate documentation regarding the marketplace off-scale agreements in applicable appointee's academic review files.

   Decisions regarding marketplace off-scale salaries for departments shall remain in effect for three years. Continuation beyond that period will require new documentation from the department and appropriate administrative review.

4.  Committee on Academic Personnel will be notified of all final decisions regarding off-scale salary requests from departments.