Covid-19 Guidance for Academics

A compendium of accommodations for Professor/Professor of Teaching/Professor In Residence/Professor of Clinical X, Health Sciences Clinical Professor (at more than 50% time) and Adjunct Professor (at more than 50% time), is available at https://drive.google.com/file/d/13EgO2wRmpZuoJ-x7sIzTlFUeLOsjHiOI/view?usp=share_link

Winter, Spring, Fall 2020 evaluations were watermarked with “COVID-19” and would be excluded from future review unless the faculty chooses to include them. If the faculty elect to include these evaluations, they should be discussed as per normal procedures. If they elect to exclude evaluations, they should not be included or discussed in review materials. https://ap.uci.edu/2020/03/18/apreviewcovid19/ See https://ap.uci.edu/2020/03/25/apreviewcovid19nonsenate/ for application to non-senate faculty.

The requirement to include student evaluations in Academic Personnel review files resumed for all teaching titles, for all classes taught during Winter quarter 2021 and thereafter.  The evaluations will still have the COVID remote instruction quarter watermark for Winter 2021, Spring 2021, Fall 2021, and Winter 2022 (updated 1/24/2022).

Yes, if a faculty deferred a review during the 2021-2022 review cycle, they can request a consecutive deferral (regardless of deferral type) in the 2022-2023 review cycle. This deferral would be Dean Delegated. (updated 6/7/22)

The following COVID-19 deferrals will not be delegated to the dean and will require Vice Provost approval and submitted to Academic Personnel by November 1 of the academic year under review.  If the deferral is not approved, the faculty will be required to submit a review file.

• Any third consecutive deferral request will require the dean and chair to provide justification for the deferral request.
• For individuals who are/were due for review during the required 5 years, Vice Provost will allow for the dean to approve the first deferral (will go up for review during the sixth year), but the second consecutive deferral (will go up for review during their seventh year) will require Vice Provost approval with a justification from the dean and chair. (updated 5/27/21)

The option for a COVID-19 deferral has been extended to 2023-2024 review cycle (updated 5/24/23).

Yes, if a faculty requests for a deferral and their immediate previous review resulted in their first No Change, the deferral is delegated to the Dean. (updated 2/1/2023)

Assistant Professors employed during COVID-19 pandemic, including those hired 2021-2022, may activate the Stop the Clock (purpose selected would be COVID-19) to delay their Mid-Career Appraisal and/or promotion/promotion to tenure. Faculty who Stop the Clock will still have to be reappointed with or without a merit during their normal time. To activate the COVID-STC the faculty would complete the UCI AP-92 Stop the Clock Certification routed via the chair, dean and to the assigned Academic Personnel analyst. In order to automatically defer a Mid-Career Appraisal, the notification to “Stop the Clock” must be submitted by the end of the faculty member’s third year (by June 30). If the notification to “Stop the Clock” is submitted after the Mid-Career Appraisal, the notification of intent to “Stop the Clock” must be made before July 1 of the academic year in which a tenure or promotion review is to occur.  For example, if the Mid-Career Appraisal or promotion/promotion to tenure is to occur during the 2021-2022 review cycle, notification of COVID-STC must be submitted by June 30, 2021.

Faculty who use a one year COVID-STC and have a subsequent regular review action that results in a reappointment without a salary increase (due to low productivity related to COVID-19) will receive retroactive pay when they are promoted to associate rank. Only the salary is retroactive. Assistant rank faculty who are approved for a stop the clock and receive a reappointment only for reasons other than COVID-19 are not eligible for retroactive pay. The final decision on the promotion (rank and step) will be the year in which it occurs.  For an assistant rank faculty whose promotion is effective July 1, 2027, and if they received a reappointment without a salary increase at any time since initiating COVID-STC, then their promotion salary would be retroactive to July 1, 2026, but their promotion to Associate Professor is effective July 1, 2027. (updated 7/30/21)

To request a COVID-19 Stop the Clock, the faculty must have started on or before June 30, 2022 and should complete the UCI AP-92 Stop the Clock Certification routed via the chair, dean and to the assigned Academic Personnel analyst. The form should indicate that this is the third Stop the Clock request and include an explanation on how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted their work. The Office of Academic Personnel will manage the exceptional approval request to UC Office of the President.

An eligible faculty may only request up to two STC due to COVID-19. For a second COVID-19 STC, provide a memo with rationale for the request from the faculty, along with a signed concurrence by the dean and chair. In total, a faculty may not exceed 3 Stop the Clocks during their probationary period

A faculty member with two consecutive No Changes or a Five Year Review that resulted in an Unsatisfactory review will have an approved action plan that must be followed. In order to request a deferral, the action plan will need to be amended and approved on all levels before the deferral can be approved by Vice Provost for Academic Personnel.

Faculty are encouraged to submit their merit file on time for the 2021-2022 review cycle if:

• They have made strong contributions to teaching and service during the review period; and
• Their contributions to research/creative activity are consistent with the achievement relative to opportunities, even if productivity/impact is less than expected pre-COVID-19.
  • Achievement Relative to Opportunities principles encourage “evaluation of candidates fairly based on their individual review-period professional accomplishments by taking into account unexpected or disruptive circumstances during that period that may have curtailed the candidate’s normal ability to achieve expected outcomes.” (From UC Academic Senate Recommendations to President Drake on Mitigating COVID-19 Impacts on Faculty, 1/26/21)
• If otherwise: COVID-stop the clock (pre-tenure) and COVID-deferral (post-tenure) are available.
• Accelerations will require similar activity and impact as prior to COVID-19.

The University of California is providing up to 80 hours of 2022 Emergency Paid Sick Leave (2022 EPSL) for full-time employees and the two-week equivalent for part-time employees (staff and academic employees, including represented, student, and healthcare employees). For more information, please read the Academic Personnel Guidance Regarding COVID-19 Related Leaves (fourth issuance).

To request for 2022 EPSL, employees must complete the Leave of Absence form (UCI-AP-76) and the 2022 Emergency Paid Sick Leave Notice and Request Form (pages 4-5) and route via department chair, dean and to the Office of Academic Personnel for Vice Provost for Academic Personnel approval.

The UCI-AP-76, Leave of Absence form, must still be completed and submitted to Academic Personnel after Dean approval. They should still submit request on TRS, but the UCI-AP-76, Leave of Absence form, approval is required since the Office of Academic Personnel is the office of record.

Consistent with APM policies (110, 025, 671, 700), Collective Bargaining Agreements, and other policies, academic appointees are expected to maintain a significant presence on campus in order to fulfill their obligations to students, colleagues, and the University.  This guidance was undergirded by UC’s commitment to equity, especially for communities that are disparately impacted by the pandemic.

• Fall 2021 – a period of transition
  • Faculty: in person with potential flexibility if remote instructional delivery modality is approved by department/school/senate
  • Non-faculty academics: flexible arrangement allowed

• Winter 2022 and beyond: return to onsite operation
• Support student learning
• Strengthen and support our innovative work

Flexible Work arrangement, if agreed to/approved by the department chairs, should be documented with a Flexible Work Agreement.

UCOP has provided updated guidance on academic appointees teleworking abroad, reflecting the narrow exception for international telework through December 31, 2021.

The following academic appointees are permitted to temporarily telework from overseas, by exceptional approval, if they are:

1. Academic appointees (including student employees) who have a visa but are subject to a travel restriction and cannot enter the U.S;
2. Newly appointed academic appointees (including student employees) who have been unable to obtain their visa to enter the U.S; and
3. Current academic appointees (including student employees) who have been unable to renew their visa to enter the U.S.