Covers such issues as recruitment deadlines, and proposing an appropriate title, step, and salary.

An appointment (as distinguished from a reappointment, merit increase, or promotion) occurs when a person is employed with the University for the first time, or when a University employee is appointed to a title in a different personnel program or academic series. This section will cover some of the University and campus policies pertaining to the appointment of members of the Academic Senate (see APP 1-20 for a list of Senate titles); however, all persons involved in the appointment review process must also refer to policies contained in the Academic Personnel Manual and pertinent sections of this manual for more detailed statements of policies affecting use of titles, criteria for appointment, affirmative action, the review process, etc.

A. Responsibilities of Department Chair

Funding (APM Policy 220-16)

It is the policy of the University of California that no appointment shall be made to a title in the Professor series or the Lecturer with Security of Employment series unless there is an appropriately budgeted provision (“FTE”) for the appointment. No appointment should be forwarded for review unless such a provision, funded at the proposed salary level, is available. It is the responsibility of the chair, prior to forwarding the file to Academic Personnel, to assure that funding is or will be available for those departmental appointees who are funded from other sources.

Recruitment (APM Policies 500 through 700)

  1. Affirmative Action- A thorough and determined search must be made both inside and outside the University for candidates, including candidates who are minorities, women, handicapped persons, disabled veterans, and Vietnam-era veterans. Department chairs and/or heads of programs and organized research units must insure compliance with the letter and the spirit of affirmative action policy. Formal paperwork documenting the search is required for all appointments to Senate titles. Detailed recruiting and affirmative action procedures are described in APP 2-10.
  2. Employment Eligibility (APM Policy Policy 530)- The Immigration Reform and Control Act of November 6, 1986, requires that all employees provide verification of eligibility to work in the United States. The federal government has designated the I-9 Form, Employment Eligibility Verification, as the document to be used in this verification process.During recruitment, special attention must be given to the employment eligibility of any non-immigrants in the pool to be sure that such candidates can obtain visas which allow compensation for services. Questions may be referred to the Office of International Services.
  3. Titles- The title proposed for an appointee must be appropriate for the function and duties the candidate will perform. Special attention must be paid to the criteria for appointment in the selected title or series as outlined in the Academic Personnel Manual, Policies 200 through 283.
  4. Timing of Offer (APM 510-80-c and APM 500-16-c)- Chairs are reminded that UCI policy requires that offers be made before April 1 to other UC campuses and May 1 to all other institutions if they are to be effective in the following academic year. (These dates are the deadlines for formal offers to be made by the Executive Vice Chancellor or the Chancellor; therefore, dossiers supporting appointments need to be in Academic Personnel earlier.)
  5. Recruiting from Another UC Campus (APM 510-0 and 510-80)-University policy states that it is the obligation of those involved in the consideration of an intercampus recruitment to pay due regard to the welfare of the University as a whole as well as to the wishes of the particular appointee and to the effect of the proposed transfer on the two campuses directly concerned.Prior to the initiation of negotiation for an intercampus recruitment, the Chancellors of the two campuses involved shall be informed of the proposed transfer. Ten working days before making the formal offer of appointment to the candidate, which offer shall be in writing, the Chancellor of the hiring campus shall indicate such intention to the Chancellor of the campus from which the appointee will be transferring. In all cases, the Chancellor of the campus to which the appointee is transferring shall also notify the Office of the President.In 1997 the Office of the President issued the following additional guidelines in the event that one UC campus recruits a faculty member from another UC campus:
    1. A review for the recruitment of a faculty member from another UC campus cannot proceed at the campus level until the Chancellor of the campus from which the faculty member is being recruited has been officially informed. The Chancellor of the recruiting campus will provide information about the proposed salary and other recruitment inducements being offered to the other Chancellor.
    2. The salary offered by the recruiting campus can be no more than one step, or the equivalent of one step, above the faculty member’s current salary. If the faculty member’s salary is already an off-scale salary, the recruiting campus may offer the next higher step along with the same percentage increment. If the home campus is in the process of granting a salary increase to become effective July 1, the recruiting campus may offer one step above that increase, pending approval by the home campus. The home campus is permitted to make a counter offer equivalent to that of the recruiting campus. If both the home and the recruiting campus agree, higher salary offers may be made. An offer which includes a promotion is permitted if the salary offer is no more than one step above the current salary rate, including off-scale, as described above.If the faculty member being recruited by another UC campus also is being recruited by an outside institution, then either the home and/or the recruiting UC campus may make a counter offer higher than that described in (b) in order to compete with the outside offer.
    3. Presidential approval must be sought if the package of start-up costs and other inducements (excluding housing assistance) exceeds $500,000 for faculty in the laboratory sciences, and $250,000 for other faculty.
    4. In any proposed inter-campus recruitment, either Chancellor may request mediation or intervention by the Office of the President, even when this is not triggered by (b) or (c) above.In the event that any unit at UCI considers recruiting a faculty member from another UC campus, Academic Personnel will coordinate the notification of the other UC campus. Please notify Academic Personnel as early in the process as is reasonably possible, and certainly before any tentative offer is made.NOTE: “Faculty” in this policy means members of the Academic Senate. Thus, this policy must be followed in all cases where the candidate is in the Professor, Professor in Residence, or Professor Clinical______ series, or holds a title as Lecturer SOE or Senior Lecturer SOE at the current home campus.
  6. Competing Offers to an Outside Candidate from Two or More UC Campuses (APM Policy 500-16-g)- University policy is that the same level of salary shall be offered by each campus with coordination of the appropriate salary level to be arranged by the Office of the President. The following procedure is to be followed to make this coordination possible: When it becomes known to any campus administrative officer that another campus of the University is also recruiting an individual for a tenured appointment, that officer is obliged to inform the Chancellor who shall, in turn, inform the Office of the President. The latter will then consult with each of the Chancellors concerned with the matter and will arrange for the determination of a single appropriate salary.
    1. Tenured appointment: UCOP Academic Personnel and Programs (APP) interprets the phrase “tenure appointment” to refer to faculty appointment with tenure, such as a full Professor or Associate Professor.  This means that if two or more campuses are competing for the same candidate for an Assistant Professor position, such as a current or former President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program (PPFP) fellow, APM 500-16-g does not apply and each campus may negotiate its own competitive salary offer. (Updated January 7, 2022 following a communication from UC Office of the President)

Department Recommendation

Recommendations concerning appointments normally originate with the department chair, who writes on behalf of the department. The letter of recommendation should provide a comprehensive assessment of the candidate’s qualifications together with detailed evidence to support this evaluation. The letter should also present a report of consultation with the members of the department and should discuss the reasons for any dissenting opinions. In addition to the letter of recommendation, the department chair is expected to assemble and submit to the Chancellor an up-to-date biography, including a list of publications, together with copies of the research publications or other scholarly or creative work.

If the chair sends a tentative offer letter to the candidate selected by the department, the letter should indicate that final approval of the appointment must come from either the Executive Vice Chancellor, the Chancellor, or the President. The following sample letter shows the recommended wording for such a tentative offer letter:

Dear Professor _____________ :

I am happy to inform you that our Department of ______________ intends to recommend you for appointment as ______________, at a salary of ____________, effective July 1, ____. As you may know, appointments at the University of California are only made by the Chancellor of the campus in consultation with higher reviewing agencies, including the dean of the school and the campus Council on Academic Personnel. Approval of departmental recommendations is not automatic, and departmental recommendations do not constitute actual offers. Following the review process, a formal offer of appointment will be extended by the Chancellor.

As a University employee, you will be required to comply with all applicable University policies and/or collective bargaining agreements, as may be amended from time to time. Federal, state, or local government directives may impose additional requirements. 

B. Salaries

For more information refer to APM Policy 600.

  1. Academic Salary Scales- Academic salaries are based upon salary scales. These are published and issued through Academic Personnel.
  2. Rank and Step- When establishing the rank and step for a proposed appointee, a department should give due consideration to the candidate’s experience, accomplishments, and standing relative to others at the same level.Criteria for the use of “over-lapping” steps and for special steps, such as Professor, Step VI, and Professor, Above Scale, may be found in APP 3-40, Types of Actions, Appendix I, Normal Time at Step.
  3. Off-Scale Salaries (APM Policy 620)- Off-scale salaries may be used when necessary to meet competitive conditions. (See APM Policy 620-14 for a complete list of eligible titles.) Off-scale salaries for acting appointees are determined in the same manner as for ladder ranks. If counter offers arise during the course of negotiations, the department should make an effort to document these offers.

    NOTE: Off-scale salaries will be gradually returned to scale as new salaries are determined at the time of subsequent personnel actions. For further information, including limitations to off-scale salaries, refer to APP 6-13, Guidelines for Off-Scale Salaries.
  4. Effective Date of Employment-The effective date of an appointment for purposes of payroll and other record keeping is the first day on which salary commences. The beginning date of service for a new appointee, or of service in a new title for a continuing appointee, is the first day on which the appointee is required to be on duty under the terms of the appointment. This date will be different from the effective date for academic year (9-month) appointees paid over 12 months. In general, the following dates apply to regular 9-month faculty who are paid over 12 months:
Fall QuarterWinter QuarterSpring Quarter
Pay Period Dates7/1-10/3111/1-2/28-293/1-6/30
Pay Period MonthsJuly
August
September
October
November
December
January
February
March
April
May
June
Service Period DatesQuarter begin date - Quarter end date (e.g. 9/17 - 12/7) Quarter begin date - Quarter end date (e.g.1/2 -3/22) Quarter being date - Quarter end date (e.g. 3/27 - 6/15)
Service Period MonthsMid-September October
November
Early December
Early January
February
Mid-March
Late March
April
May
Mid-June


  1. Further information may be found in the UCI Payroll Salary Scales Manual in the pay and service period tables located behind the first blue tab.
C. Other Appointments

Split Appointments

Whenever a candidate is recommended for a split appointment (with the FTE split between two departments), submissions on the individual’s behalf must include the recommendation of each department chair and, in those instances in which report of faculty vote is required, the submission must specify the result of consultation in each department. The home department has the responsibility to obtain the other department’s recommendation.

Joint Without Salary Appointments

An individual appointed to a faculty title may be invited to hold a joint without salary appointment in another department. Such appointments, while easily renewable, are made on a year-to-year basis. The home department may wish to solicit input from the affiliated department prior to making personnel recommendations. In preparing the joint without salary appointment, it is the responsibility of the chair of the department proposing the initial joint appointment to coordinate the process.

  1. The file must include:
    1. Letter from the joint department with faculty vote
      • Signed and endorsed by the dean and chair of the home department
    2. Current CV
    3. Approved joint without salary appointment letter (sample letter)
  2. The dean of the joint department will have authority to approve the initial joint without salary appointment and reappointments.
  3. Within 30 days of approval, the original file should be forwarded to the Office of Academic Personnel, which will remain the office of record for these actions. Should you have any questions, please contact your assigned Academic Personnel analyst.

Multi-Location Appointments (MLAs) for Academics

A Multi-Location Appointment (MLA) occurs when an employee has been approved to work at more than one UC campus location simultaneously. The MLA is set for a specified period, usually not to exceed one year, and is eligible for extension/renewal. In all instances, the combined appointment effort across all UC campuses cannot exceed 100 percent. Regular academic search, appointment, and review policies and procedures shall apply. 

The following procedures aim to assist the UCI campus with preparing MLA requests.  

An academic appointee holds their primary employment and percent effort at the UCI campus. Another UC campus is requesting an MLA that will be concurrent with the appointee’s UCI employment.

  1. The academic appointee’s home department at UCI will respond to the host campus’ request to complete Section 1 of the MLA (U560/644) Form.
  2. The host campus’ approving office will obtain appropriate approvals and send the completed form to the UCI Office of Academic Personnel.  The form will be reviewed, approvals acquired, and a finalized copy will be returned to the host campus for UC PATH processing, with a copy to the academic appointee’s dean’s office at UCI.

An academic appointee holds their primary employment and percent effort at another UC Campus. UCI is requesting an MLA that will be concurrent with the appointee’s home UC employment.

  1. The academic appointee’s host department at UCI will contact the home department to complete Section 1 of the MLA (U560/644) form.  After Sections 1 and 2 are complete, the form may be forwarded to the host dean’s office at UCI.
  2. The host dean’s office (or equivalent) at UCI will review the form for accuracy and forward the request to the UCI Office of Academic Personnel.
  3. The UCI Office of Academic Personnel will review, acquire required approvals from both UCI and the home campus, and return a finalized copy to the host dean’s office at UCI for UC PATH processing.
D. Voluntary Intracampus Transfers

A faculty member’s salaried position is in a particular academic unit, or is specifically divided between two or more academic units.

Transfer to Another Department Through FTE Reassignment

Instances arise where faculty members request that they and their positions be transferred from one unit to another on campus. A faculty member’s position, or job, is the position in the academic unit to which he or she was appointed. Cases of request to transfer will be addressed on an ad hoc basis. The possibility of transfer of a faculty member and an FTE will be decided by the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor after thorough examination of the request and the possible impact of the transfer. Consultation about the effect of such a transfer will minimally include (a) consent of the receiving department (including faculty vote) and dean, (b) advice of the dean of the unit losing the faculty member and FTE.

  1. Transfer to a Department in Another School for Senate Faculty
    1. Request for transfer must be initiated by faculty member:
      1. Letter/email from faculty member to Vice Provost for Academic Personnel requesting transfer.
      2. Letter/email should include reason for transfer that addresses how move will benefit faculty member’s ability to conduct research, participate in teaching and engage in service.
      3. Chair and Dean of receiving Department/School should be copied on transfer request.
    2. Vice Provost for Academic Personnel will consult with faculty’s current Dean and new Dean.
      1. Current Dean will consult with current Chair.
      2. New Dean will consult with new Chair
      3. If both Deans agree with moving forward the VPAP will discuss with Provost
    3. If Provost approves moving forward with the transfer request, the receiving Department will prepare and forward to the Office of Academic Personnel, via the Dean’s office, the following information:
      1. A departmental letter of support and vote.
      2. Letter of support from Chair
      3. Letter of support from Dean (including the salary control #s)
      4. An MOU to faculty member that outlines the changes. See sample template for reference.  Once all parties agree on the MOU, it will be signed by the faculty, receiving chair and dean, current chair (optional) and current dean.
      5. As long as there is no change in the faculty member’s title, rank, step or salary, the Committee on Academic Personnel (CAP) agrees they will not need to evaluate the transfers. In cases where the receiving department vote results in a mixed vote, or in any other case where the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor/Vice Provost for Academic Personnel deems appropriate, they retain the discretion to request an advisory opinion from CAP.  CAP’s role will be to take into account the research, teaching, and service arguments presented and whether, in their opinion, the transfer will be in the best interest of the University’s research, teaching and service missions.
      6. Vice Provost for Academic Personnel will finalize MOU by signing and providing copies to the Deans and Chairs, and to CAP to alert them to the change.
    4. AP works with Budget Office to prepare a budget memo that details the conditions of appointment transfer. It should include:
      1. How FTE/appointment will be handled immediately.
      2. How FTE will be handled when faculty separates from university.
      3. Budget memo will be signed by VPAP and provided to both Deans.
    5. Schools/departments can update the change in the Payroll system.
  2. Transfer to a Department Within the School for Senate Faculty
    1. A letter addressed to the dean, from the faculty member, requesting a transfer of home department, indicating the reason and effective date.
    2. Dean will consult with:
      1. chair of the department losing the faculty member;
      2. chair of the receiving department
    1. The receiving Department will prepare the following information.
      1. Department letter of support and vote
      2. Letter of support from Chair
      3. Work with the faculty member and both chairs to generate an MOU that outlines the changes. See sample template for reference.  Once all parties agree on the MOU, it will be signed by the faculty member, receiving chair, current chair (optional) and dean.
    2. Letter of support from the Dean (include the position number).
    3. The above documentation is to be forwarded to AP by the Dean’s Office.
    4. As long as there is no change in the faculty member’s title, rank, step or salary, the Committee on Academic Personnel (CAP) agrees they will not need to evaluate the transfers. In cases where the receiving department vote results in a mixed vote, or in any other case where the Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor/Vice Provost for Academic Personnel deems appropriate, they retain the discretion to request an advisory opinion from CAP.  CAP’s role will be to take into account the research, teaching, and service arguments presented and whether, in their opinion, the transfer will be in the best interest of the University’s research, teaching and service missions.
    5. Vice Provost for Academic Personnel will finalize MOU by signing and Office of Academic Personnel will provide copies to the School/departments, and to CAP to alert them of the change.
    6. School/department can update the change in the Payroll system.

Involuntary FTE Transfer – Ladder faculty are hired and receive tenure in a specific department.  Except in the case of department disestablishment, administrative merging or other program modifications, faculty FTE may not be transferred involuntarily by the administration for disciplinary or other reasons.  Only faculty may initiate transfer of their FTE to another department.

Transfer to Another Department Through Recruitment Process

There may be cases where an academic unit has an FTE and seeks to fill it through the appointment of a person who currently holds a ladder ranks appointment in another UCI academic unit (where, in short, the request is to “transfer” the faculty member but not the FTE). Properly speaking, this is a recruitment, rather than a transfer. In such cases, recruitment procedures should be followed. The formal recommendations must include an indication of the faculty vote of the academic unit making the recommendation, and must be accompanied by an indication that the recommending unit can provide the necessary FTE and funding. Questions of affirmative action search must be settled before the new appointment (“transfer”) is proposed. Approval by the academic unit in which the faculty member’s present appointment exists is not required. If the new appointment is approved, it will be considered an intracampus transfer, at the same rank and step as the faculty member’s previous appointment, from which the faculty member will resign. The FTE vacated in the faculty member’s previous academic unit will be subject to the normal procedures concerning the allocation of resources and the use of faculty positions.In all cases of intracampus transfers of nontenured persons in ladder ranks positions, especially for those nearing the tenure decision, the expected timing of the tenure decision, and the role of both units (if necessary) in the tenure review, must be made clear at the time of transfer.