Candidate or Academic Appointee Level Questions

• How can the appropriate categories for publication data entry be determined?
• The categories in MIV were developed over time with input from the MIV User's Group to be flexible enough to meet the needs of all the schools and colleges on campus. If you have a question about where an item should be entered, your department should contact your Dean's Office analyst for their input.
• How do I reduce the size of PDF uploads?
• When scanning documents, we recommend saving the scanned document images as a .jpg file instead of a .tiff file before putting them in a PDF document. This can decrease file size significantly. The Paint program in the Accessories tab of most Windows desktops may be used to convert an image file.
• How can I make corrections to the data in MIV?
• The Candidate or their delegate can add or make corrections to the data in MIV at any time. If an action is in progress and you want the data changes to appear in the dossier, the packet previously submitted to the action must be updated by saving the packet with the new changes included. The action then needs to be returned to the Department level in MIV and a new packet request sent. The Candidate or their delegate must then submit the new packet to the outstanding packet request. Once the updated packet is submitted, the changes to the data will appear in the dossier.
• Why does the publication list PDF error messages occur when I create my packet?
• This often happens if data has been copied and pasted from a Microsoft Word document. Word can hold "invisible" characters that cannot be seen by you but are read by the computer, thereby causing errors in the PDF. If you wish to copy and paste, do so from a rich text or Notepad open text file (files that are text only, no formatting).
• How do I paste text from another document into MIV for data entry?
• If you wish to copy and paste data into MIV, first save the document from which you are copying as a rich text or Notepad open text file (text only files, no formatting). Once the file is straight text, you should be able to copy and paste it into any of the categories in MIV.
• The changes that I made in data entry did not show up in the dossier - why not?
• The Candidate or their delegate can add or make corrections to the data in MIV at any time. If an action is in progress and you want the data changes to appear in the dossier, the packet previously submitted to the action must be updated by saving the packet with the new changes included. The action then needs to be returned to the Department level in MIV and a new packet request sent. The Candidate or their delegate must then submit the new packet to the outstanding packet request. Once the updated packet is submitted, the changes to the data will appear in the dossier.
• Why can't a faculty member log in to MIV?
• They might not have an account yet, or they may currently have only an appointee account (a temporary account created for the purpose of processing the appointment action). In either case, department staff will need to create a new candidate account for the individual. If the candidate was previously an appointee in MIV, the staff member should be sure to link the appropriate approved appointment action to the new candidate account when prompted to do so.
• Why isn't something showing up in the dossier?
• The item may not have been selected for inclusion on the Design My Packet page, or perhaps the packet was not saved and resubmitted to the action after edits were made to the data.
• Why does MIV appear incorrectly upon logging in/why are drop-down menus not working?
• This could have to do with which version of your internet browser you are using – the campus only supports certain browsers (MIV works best with IE9 or IE10 and the most current versions of Firefox, Chrome, and Safari).  It is known that IE7 and IE8 do NOT work with MIV.  If you are using those versions of the browser, you will receive a warning upon entering MIV and you will encounter errors that will not be corrected by the MIV staff.  If you are using one of the approved browsers but still experience issues, you may also need to clear your cache using the following instructions: https://myinfovault.ucdavis.edu/miv/help/browser_cache.html.
• Can data be imported into MIV?
• Yes, publication data can be imported through Pub Med or EndNote. For more information see https://myinfovault.ucdavis.edu/miv/help/import_data.html (link may require login).
• Sometimes I click on an item in MIV and get an error message, yet when I do the same action a second time, it works. Why?
• Occasionally the network will inadvertently miss a signal which may result in a stale connection in MIV that affected the first attempt of a task. MIV connects with several other campus systems, and sometimes communication between them may be temporarily lost. When you try again the connection has often already been re-established. If the problem continues to occur, contact miv-help@ucdavis.edu.
• What are the steps to upload a document in MIV?
• Candidate uploads include the Candidate's statement, Ag Experiment Station reports, and the DESII report. You must first save your document as a PDF in a file on your computer. Go to Enter Data and choose the category in which you wish to upload the document. Add a New Record. Click "Upload a PDF" and then browse through your documents. Click on the PDF and then click "Upload PDF File." When the document has been uploaded, click on it to make sure it is the correct document.

Department Level Questions

• What are the different actions that can be processed in MIV?
• The different actions that can be processed in MIV include:
          Appointment
          Appointment via change in Department
          Appointment via change in Title
          Appraisal
          Appraisal with Merit
          Career Equity Review with Merit
          Career Equity Review with Promotion
          Deferral (1st year)
          Deferral (2nd year)
          Deferral (3rd year)
          Deferral (4th year)
          Deferral (General)
          Department Chair Review
          Emeritus Status
          Endowed Chair Appointment
          Endowed Chair Reappointment
          Endowed Professorship Appointment
          Endowed Professorship Reappointment
          Endowed Specialist in CE Appointment
          Endowed Specialist in CE Reappointment
          Five Year Review
          Initial Continuing Appointment
          Merit
          Promotion
          Reappointment
• Can MIV be used to enter items in a foreign language?
• Not at the present time.  MIV will need to find and adopt a font that contains the many different glyphs necessary for all possible characters that might be used in data entry.  This is so that the entries will render appropriately in the PDF files.  Individuals can enter their data if they have an appropriate font, but because MIV does not possess the correct font (at this time), when the PDFs are created, they will show up as # signs or some other garbled text.
• How do I reduce the size of my PDF uploads?
• When scanning documents, we recommend saving the scanned document images as a .jpg file instead of a .tiff file before putting them in a PDF document. This can decrease file size significantly. The Paint program in the Accessories tab of most Windows desktops may be used to convert an image file.
• How can I make corrections to the data in MIV?
• The Candidate or their delegate can add or make corrections to the data in MIV at any time. If an action is in progress and you want the data changes to appear in the dossier, the packet previously submitted to the action must be updated by saving the packet with the new changes included. The action then needs to be returned to the Department level in MIV and a new packet request sent. The Candidate or their delegate must then submit the new packet to the outstanding packet request. Once the updated packet is submitted, the changes to the data will appear in the dossier.
• How do I assign a joint appointment to a candidate?
• This must be done by the primary department or school/college. On your homepage choose "Edit a User's Account," then search for and select the candidate. Click "Add Appointment" and choose the joint department from the drop-down options. Save the changes. This change will NOT be reflected in any actions that are already in progress; to add the joint department to the routing for that action, the action must be canceled and started again once the joint department has been added to the candidate's account.
• How do I manage a joint appointment in MIV?
• The home department and home Dean's Office are responsible for managing a joint appointment. The joint departments must be added to the Candidate's user account before the dossier is routed from the Candidate to the department. After the dossier is routed, each department will have access to the parts of the dossier for which they are responsible, and they can work on their portion of the dossier concurrently. When the joint actions are completed and sent to the home department, the home department can complete and forward the action to the Dean's Offices. Each Dean's Office will be responsible for their portion of the dossier. Once the joint Dean's Office(s) have completed their portion, they can send the action to the home Dean's Office for finalizing, and either sending to the Vice Provost's office for the next level of review, or for archiving (after post-audit is complete).
• How do I assign a joint assignment to a staff member (administrative clustering)?
• A department admin can add joint assignments to other staff members in their unit, or their Dean's Office can add joint assignments to any staff in their school/college. On your homepage choose "Edit a User's Account" and find the user. Click "Add Assignment" and choose the joint department assignment(s) from the drop-down options. Save the changes.
• Why does the pub list PDF error message come on when I create a packet?
• This often happens if data has been copied and pasted from a word document. Word can hold "invisible" characters that cannot be seen by you but are read by the computer, thereby rendering the PDF inactive. If you wish to copy and paste, do so from a rich text or Notepad open text file (text file only, no formatting).
• The changes I made to the data did not show up in the dossier - why not?
• The Candidate or their delegate can add or make corrections to the data in MIV at any time. If an action is in progress and you want the data changes to appear in the dossier, the packet previously submitted to the action must be updated by saving the packet with the new changes included. The action then needs to be returned to the Department level in MIV and a new packet request sent. The Candidate or their delegate must then submit the new packet to the outstanding packet request. Once the updated packet is submitted, the changes to the data will appear in the dossier.
• How do I copy and paste for data entry?
• If you wish to copy and paste data into MIV, first save the document from which you are copying as a rich text or Notepad open text file (text only, no formatting). Once the file is straight text, you should be able to copy and paste it into any of the categories in MIV.
• How do I double check which reviewers have been assigned to an action?
• Search for the file from the Manage Open Actions page and open the action. Select "Assign Reviewers". Those reviewers who have been assigned to the dossier appear in the box titled "Assigned Dossier Reviewers/Groups". To view group membership, hover over the name of the group and click the button that says "Edit Members" (but do not edit the list). As long as the reviewer's name appears in this box and the review period is open, the reviewer should be able to view the dossier from his/her home page through the "View Other Candidate's dossiers" link. To close the list without editing, click "Done."
• Why isn't something showing up in the dossier?
• The item may not have been selected for inclusion on the Design My Packet page, or perhaps the packet was not saved and resubmitted to the action after edits were made to the data.
• Why are old items showing up in the dossier?
• If the action was initiated during an earlier review cycle and never completed, old uploads may still be showing up. Return the action to the department level and delete all old documents. Edit the Action Form to change the action type, effective date, delegation of authority, and other details as necessary. Upload the documents for the new action and request a new packet.
• How can I access actions that have been archived?
• Candidates must only access their dossier archive from their own MIV account by clicking on View Dossier Archive. This archive contains redacted versions of extramural letters and ad hoc/shadow committee recommendations, if applicable. All other archives (department or school/college admin archives) hold non-redacted versions and Candidates should NOT be shown these versions.
• How do I use the "find" feature?
• MIV offers the ability to conduct a variety of searches, including: selecting a user's accounts (to become their proxy), editing or activating/deactivating a user's account, managing open actions, assigning dossier reviewers, managing groups, viewing dossier archives or snapshots, or viewing MIV users, Deans and department chairs. Within each search you will see a "find" field on the top right of the search results. Type in what you are searching for – Candidate's name, department, school/college, redelegated or non-redelegated, etc. MIV will limit the returned results by that search.
• What should I do about notices via Kuali to review dossiers in MIV?
• Under normal circumstances the document in question will be removed from the action list when the dossier has been routed to the next workflow location. You may respond directly to FYI items in your Kuali Action List by selecting FYI the Actions column pulldown, and then selecting the "take actions" button at the bottom of the page. The Approval items in your action list must be acted upon within the MIV application itself by you or another MIV administrator. Once the document has been routed to the next workflow location in MIV, the corresponding Approve item will be removed from your Kuali Action List. If these items continue to appear on your Action List, please let us know by contacting miv-help@ucdavis.edu and we will take the necessary steps to remove the MIV documents.
• Why are my PDFs showing up as tiny documents in the dossier?
• The PDF may have been created in a manner that produced a very large scale PDF document that, when viewed, is too large to fit on the screen. You may need to recreate and re-upload the document in a size that is compatible with other PDF uploads in the dossier.
• What are the steps to upload a document in MIV?
• Department upload options include the Department letter, Division Chief letter, Federation and Peer group voting letters, rebuttal or rejoinder letters from the Candidate, peer evaluation of teaching performance, evaluation letter of Graduate Group Chair Service, OVCR Evaluation Letter for Research Unit Directors, Director Evaluation Letter of Clinical Activities, Evaluation Letter of Academic Senate Committee Service, Extramural Letters (redacted and non-redacted), and Org Chart. You must first save your document as a PDF in a file on your computer. Go to Enter Data and choose the category in which you wish to upload the document. Add a New Record. Click "Upload a PDF" and then browse through your documents. Click on the PDF and then click "Upload PDF File." When the document has been uploaded, click on it to make sure it is the correct document.
• I'm unable to forward an action to the dean's office. Why?
• The link to forward the dossier to the next level remains inactive until all required items in the dossier are completed and any joint actions are completed and sent to the home department. When all red/bold items turn green/normal text, the link becomes active and the dossier can be forwarded to the next level.

School/College Level Questions

• What are the different actions that can be processed in MIV?
• The different actions that can be processed in MIV include:
          Appointment
          Appointment via change in Department
          Appointment via change in Title
          Appraisal
          Appraisal with Merit
          Career Equity Review with Merit
          Career Equity Review with Promotion
          Deferral (1st year)
          Deferral (2nd year)
          Deferral (3rd year)
          Deferral (4th year)
          Deferral (General)
          Department Chair Review
          Emeritus Status
          Endowed Chair Appointment
          Endowed Chair Reappointment
          Endowed Professorship Appointment
          Endowed Professorship Reappointment
          Endowed Specialist in CE Appointment
          Endowed Specialist in CE Reappointment
          Five Year Review
          Initial Continuing Appointment
          Merit
          Promotion
          Reappointment
• Can MIV be used to enter items in a foreign language?
• Not at the present time.  MIV will need to find and adopt a font that contains the many different glyphs necessary for all possible characters that might be used in data entry.  This is so that the entries will render appropriately in the PDF files.  Individuals can enter their data if they have an appropriate font, but because MIV does not possess the correct font (at this time), when the PDFs are created, they will show up as # signs or some other garbled text.
• How do I reduce the size of PDF uploads?
• When scanning documents, we recommend saving the scanned document images as a .jpg file instead of a .tiff file before putting them in a PDF document. This can decrease file size significantly. The Paint program in the Accessories tab of most Windows desktops may be used to convert an image file.
• What are the steps to upload a document in MIV?
• Dean's Office upload options include the FPC Recommendation and the Dean's Recommendation Comments. You must first save your document as a PDF in a file on your computer or on your desktop. Go to Enter Data and choose the category in which you wish to upload the document. Add a New Record. Click "Upload a PDF" and then browse through your documents. Click on the PDF and then click "Upload PDF File." When the document has been uploaded, click on it to make sure it is the correct document.
• Why am I not able to forward a dossier to the Vice Provost's Office?
• The link to forward the dossier to the next level remains inactive until all required items in the dossier are completed and any joint actions are completed and returned to the home department. When all red/bold items turn green/normal text, the link becomes active and the dossier can be forwarded to the next level.

Form Questions

• How do I access forms in MyInfoVault?
• If you are already a regular user of MIV, when you log in and arrive at your home page you will see a link to “Manage Forms” in the upper left of the page. This will take you to the forms section of MIV, where you can start new forms, see forms in progress, and see forms awaiting your approval (if you are a dept. chair or dean).
  
  If you have not used MIV previously and will now be using it only to manage leave forms, you will be taken directly to the Manage Forms page upon logging in.
• Who do I contact if I need access to forms in MyInfoVault?
• If you are department staff, please discuss your request for access with lead staff in your department (or your dean’s office, if there are no other academic personnel staff in your department). Once it has been determined that access to forms in MIV is appropriate, other staff in your department (or in the dean’s office) with forms access can grant you that same access by editing your MIV acount. If you do not already have an MIV account, staff in your department or dean’s office will create an account for you.
• What forms are available in MyInfoVault?
• MIV currently houses the following forms: Leave Request, Near Relatives Identification an Approval, and Sabbatical Report (coming April 2019). Sabbatical reports are not technically forms, but you will select Sabbatical Report from the form type drop-down when submitting a report, regardless of whether the sabbatical request was submitted in Forms Online or MIV.
• Where do I find information on how to create and route/approve forms in MyInfoVault?
• User guides, which include step-by-step instructions and screenshots, can be found on the MIV Training and Resources page under the appropriate section depending on whether you are an academic or staff. Other resources on this page include a Forms Online to MIV Leave Type Conversion Guide and a Leave Date Conversion Tool, which will help staff translate service period dates to pay period dates for academic-year academics.
  
  The MIV Training and Resources page you’ll also find a link to a training video from an online demonstration, which shows how to create a leave request as an academic and also as a staff member.
  
  MIV Help is another place to look for information on the forms application. Here you will find guidance on creating forms, routing forms, form notification, etc.
• Who do I contact if I run into a technical issue?
• For technical issues, questions, or feedback regarding the application, please contact the MIV Help Desk at miv-help@ucdavis.edu. This help desk is staffed during normal business hours, by staff in Academic Affairs.
• Who do I contact if I have questions about policy, practice, or expectations regarding leaves, near relatives, etc.?
• For questions about policy, or expectations about what types of leaves or other forms you are required to submit and when, please contact your department’s academic personnel staff. If you are staff working in a department, you will want to reach out to the academic personnel analyst in your dean’s office. If you work in a dean’s office, please contact the academic personnale analyst team in Academic Affairs via email: vpaa_apteam@ucdavis.edu.

If you have any suggestions for questions that you would like to see added to this FAQ, please contact miv-help@ucdavis.edu.