Recruitments and Removals

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Recruitments - Policies & Information

All academic appointments require pre-approval in UC Recruit

All academic appointments, including appointments via change in department or change in title, adding a joint without salary appointment, etc., must be pre-approved through UC Recruit prior to submitting the action in MyInfoVault by utilizing one of the following options:

  • an open recruitment,
  • an appropriate search waiver, or
  • an appropriate exemption.

Please review the Guidelines: Search Waivers for Academic Appointees document to make certain that an appropriate category is selected based on the definitions provided in this document before submitting a search waiver or exemption request in UC Recruit. If there is uncertainty about a category, please consult with the dean's office. If additional guidance is needed, the deans' analysts are asked to consult with their assigned Academic Affairs manager. If any type of appointment action comes forward and there is no corresponding item in UC Recruit, then the appointment action may be delayed until one is completed.

Candidate Outreach Requirements

Effective July 25, 2016, every search plan for a Senate recruitment must include a list of at least eight scholars who are prominent in the relevant fields and who will be asked to suggest names of potential applicants from groups underrepresented within that area of scholarship/creative activity or within higher education generally (e.g. women and other underrepresented minorities). In addition, for recruitments open to ranks above the Assistant or PSOE level, the Search Plan must include a list of at least 8 scholars from groups that are underrepresented in the relevant discipline or higher education generally (e.g. women and/or underrepresented minorities), and who could be attractive recruitment targets for the faculty position. These scholars will be informed of the position and asked if they have interest in applying. If not interested, they will be asked to suggest names of potential applicants who are from groups underrepresented within that area of scholarship/creative activity, or higher education generally. For all recruitments, listed and recommended scholars should be contacted personally by the department chair, search committee chair, or another search committee member. A Planned Outreach to Traditional Underrepresented Groups form is available on the Academic Affairs Forms & Checklists webpage.

These lists of 8 or more contact names should be uploaded into Recruit under Search Info -> Documentation -> Search Plan Documents. In addition, the names of potential applicants and the names of potential applicants suggested by initial contacts must be reported in the “Actual Search & Recruitment Efforts” when the Shortlist Report is generated.

Disclosing Potential Conflicts of Interest (COI) in Faculty Recruitments

Beginning September 1, 2015, we require that each Recruitment Committee Chair submit a UC Davis Faculty Recruitment Committee – Potential Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure Form.  The COI disclosure form is currently available on the Academic Affairs website here (or by entering the following website address: http://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu and selecting “Your Resources” tab, then select “Forms & Checklists,” scroll down to the section “Recruitment Forms” and click the PDF link for “Faculty Recruitment Committee – Potential Conflict of Interest (COI) Disclosure Form”).  The completed COI disclosure form will need to be uploaded in UC Davis RECRUIT in order to be submitted at the same time as the Shortlist Report containing the list of applicants proposed to be invited to the campus for in-person interviews. Directions for uploading the COI disclosure form are included below.

We have created a document, “Aspirational Principles and Guidelines Regarding Conflict of Interest on Recruitment Committees,” that provides detailed guidance to Recruitment Committee members about how to identify potential conflicts of interest, recommendations for disclosing the nature and extent of any personal or professional relationships, and proposed actions to take.  This document must be provided by the Recruitment Committee Chair to all members of the committee prior to any discussion about applicants to the position. This document is included as part of the COI disclosure form.

Off-Scale Salaries for New Ladder Rank Faculty Hires

All new academic hires will be provided a compensation package in which they receive no less than the average off-scale salary for appointees within the same unit who are within the same title series and salary scale. These new off-scale requirements have several implications for our recruitment process.

  • If a candidate is to be offered less than the relevant average off-scale salary, the dean must make a compelling case to the Vice Provost-Academic Affairs for an exception.
  • Deans will no longer need to request Vice Provost-Academic Affairs approval of off-scale salaries for new hires that are equal to the relevant unit mean or up to $4,000 above that mean. To expedite processing, requests for approval of off-scale salaries above that +$4,000 limit should also include the average, relevant off-scale salary for comparison and justification.

Recruitment offers typically specify total salary, with the final off-scale salary ultimately determined by the hiring rank and step. Should a new hire be approved at a higher rank or step than anticipated, the dean must still provide an off-scale salary no less than the unit average.

Note: We are bound by APM 510 when it comes to offering an off-scale component for a new hire who is from another UC campus. This could potentially result in an inequity because the salary limit may cause the proposed off-scale to fall below the hiring unit's mean off-scale for new hires. Please carefully monitor these cases and consult Academic Affairs if you have questions.

Statement of Contributions to Diversity

Effective July 25, 2016, all Senate recruitments require the “Statement of Contributions to Diversity” to appear as a required document upload for Senate faculty applicants. The applications for Senate recruitments will not be considered complete unless a “Statement of Contributions to Diversity” is received by the review date. Contributing to academic diversity and equal opportunity is a criterion for excellence at UC Davis.

For non-Senate recruitments, the “Statement of Contributions to Diversity” continues to be required to appear as an optional document upload for applicants. Diversity statements must be reviewed, considered and valued by the recruitment committee, regardless of whether or not every applicant submitted a diversity statement. This allows search committees and hiring departments to evaluate each candidate’s past and/or planned contributions to diversity.

To assist both review committees and applicants, Academic Affairs has an informational webpage at https://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/statements_of_contributions_to_DEI that includes information about why we request diversity statements, as well as guidelines for writing one.

Search Waivers and Search Exemptions

The new system-wide Guidelines: Search Waivers for Academic Appointees have been approved by the Office of the President. As expected, the final guidelines are very similar to what we implemented as campus practice in draft form on July 1, 2016 with a few clarifications and definitions. As explained in the annual call, UC Davis adopted these guidelines with the following two exceptions, which we will keep as UC Davis guidelines:

(1) The duration of appointment for Junior Specialists hired under the search waiver criteria for emergency hires is limited to 2 months.
(2) The Non-Senate Faculty and Other Academics search waiver criteria for Spousal/Partner Hire is also available if the successful recruitment and retention of Specialists in Cooperative Extension is ultimately dependent on an academic appointment for his or her spouse/partner.

Additionally, a few clarifications and changes were made to the following Search Waiver and Exemptions:

  1. Search Waiver category: “PI/Co-PI/Leadership Status” added clarification regarding the Adjunct Professor series
  2. Exemption category: “Concurrent WOS Appointment” changed to “Concurrent Academic Appointment”
  3. Exemption category: “True Visitor” changed to “Salaried Visiting Appointments”

All search waiver and exemption requests are supported by UC Recruit. Please remember we also provide a delegation of authority chart to help outline the new criteria. As a reminder, per the delegation of authority, use of the “Other” category must be approved by Academic Affairs prior to submitting an “Other” Search Waiver or Exemption request.

 

Recruitment Resources

UC Davis Faculty Recruitment Strategies Highlighted

UC Davis' Faculty Recruitment Strategies have been highlighted in this Inside Higher Ed article, published July 19, 2018. UC Davis was recognized for developing guidelines for prospective academic applicants as they craft their diversity statement and for the workshops created and mandated for all search committee members aimed at reducing implicit bias. The workshops’ focus is to identify factors that can introduce bias into the faculty recruitment process and to provide evidence-based approaches that will maximize the likelihood that excellent and diverse scholars will be successful in ultimately receiving offers for faculty positions.

Removals - Policies & Information

Report of the Chancellor's and Provost's Task Force on Faculty Recruitment