Employee Comment: Proposed revisions to APM Section 016, University Policy on Faculty Conduct and the Administration of Discipline

The University invites comments on proposed revisions to the following Academic Personnel Manual policy: 

• APM - 016, University Policy on Faculty Conduct and the Administration of Discipline

Summarized below are the proposed key policy revisions that are being distributed for systemwide review.   

Key policy revisions

The policy revisions respond to the need to revise APM - 016 to address the handling of simultaneous academic misconduct investigations and personnel actions and include: 

• Pause on Academic Personnel Review Actions: At the beginning of a formal investigation of alleged misconduct by a faculty member, if the Chancellor (or Chancellor's designee) finds that any of the alleged misconduct is relevant to the assessment criteria for academic personnel review actions, the Chancellor (or Chancellor's designee) may impose a no-fault pause on any current or future academic personnel action (e.g., for merit, promotion, or advancement) of that faculty member. Locations are responsible for developing implementation procedures that address at what stage in existing local procedures the pause occurs and that identify the offices that have responsibility for providing written confirmation of the pause to the respondent, giving a respondent periodic updates on the status of the investigation, and for notifying relevant administrators of the beginning and end of the pause. 
• Conclusion of the pause: The pause will end when the investigative and disciplinary processes are concluded. In the event of a disciplinary process following a formal investigation, the pause will end when a final decision is made whether to impose disciplinary sanctions. The academic personnel process may then proceed according to campus procedures.

Assistant Professors in Year 8: If the investigative and disciplinary processes are not concluded by the beginning of the faculty member's eighth year of service at the rank of Assistant Professor (or a combination of equivalent titles), the Chancellor is authorized to recommend to the President that the appointment be extended beyond the eighth year, in accordance with Regents Bylaw 40.3(c). 

The proposed APM - 016 is posted to the Academic Personnel and Programs website under the “Systemwide Review” tab. It can also be reviewed here: https://ucanr.edu/sites/PCPA/Revisions/.

If you have any questions or if you wish to comment on this policy revision, please contact Robin Sanchez at rgsanchez@ucanr.edu, no later than July  1, 2024. Please indicate “APM-016 Revision” in the subject line. 

Read more