April 2025
Misconduct Disclosure Requirements: Changes to SB 791
Effective April 1, 2025, UC Merced has modified the implementation of SB 197. Specifically, we are no longer asking candidates to disclose allegations of misconduct violations, we are only asking candidates to disclose substantiated allegations of misconduct. The Authorization of Information Release form and FAQs have been updated. Please refer to APO's Misconduct Disclosure Requirements webpage which includes this information.
Diversity Statements at the University of California (REVISED)
After thoughtful consideration, the Board of Regents has directed President Drake to take action to ensure that standalone diversity statements are no longer required or optional for new recruitments. For additional information, please refer to the Systemwide Guidance.
GLAAS Appointments
Friendly reminder, all new hire and re-hire appointments require that the school or unit set up an intake appointment for the student. The student must not begin work until their intake paperwork has been completed.
New Leave Forms
Effective April 1, 2025, please begin using the below new leave forms-
Leave of Absence Request Form (for all other academics other than ASE’s)
The UCM-AP 901 Sabbatical & Leave of Absence Request Form should no longer be utilized effective April 1, 2025.
For questions regarding the new leave request forms, please reach out to our Senior AP Analyst for Academic Leaves and Recruitments, Esmeralda Martinez at emartinez35@ucmerced.edu.
Updated Reports: Faculty Success
The following Faculty Success Reports have been updated to include overall teaching effectiveness-
- Scheduled Teaching by Faculty
- Uploaded Files Report: Scheduled Teaching
These reports operate similarly to running a Bio-Bib report, allowing users to sort data by department or individual faculty members. Friendly reminder, overall teaching effectiveness requires manual entry by the department. These reports pull directly from the Faculty Success profile and the overall effectiveness column will appear blank on the reports if it has not been added.
New Template: ACRS
A new template, "Advancement to Full Professor Step VI (Barrier)", is available on ACRS. This template was created because barrier step no longer requires letters, and the other template includes that step.
Updated Letter Templates: Unit 18 Layoff and Reduction in Time
Updated Unit 18 templates are available in Box. The RIT template is new, and the only change to the layoff template is in paragraph 3, where the pay-in-lieu amount (totaling $XX) has been added.
Updated Template: By-Agreement
The BYA template has been updated and is available in Box.
Updated Template: RA Eligibility Review Notice
The RA Merit and Promotion Eligibility Review Notice Template has been updated and available in Box. It has been updated to include the title series Coordinator of Public Programs (CPP).
Updated Letter Templates: RA Appointment/Reappointment
Updated RA Appointment/Reappointment letters templates are available in Box. The templates were updated to include current UAW information/link, link to the RA Toolkit and link to title series CPP.
April 2025 Postdoctoral Scholar Experience Level Increase
Effective April 1, 2025, all Postdoctoral Scholars whose initial appointment occurred from April 2 through September 30, have moved to the next experience level and their salary has been updated. If you have any questions or concerns, please email Christine Lima at clima4@ucmerced.edu.
New Letters of Recommendation Policy
New California legislation (AB 1905) mandates that all UC supervisors (including instructors of record, principal investigators, etc.) fulfill a conduct-related requirement before providing an official letter of recommendation for a current or former employee. Specifically, you must now reach out to UC Merced’s Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD - ophd@ucmerced.edu) to confirm that you may proceed with this official letter of recommendation. OPHD will assess whether the employee being recommended is a respondent in a sexual harassment complaint in which there is a sustained finding, the employee resigned before a final determination, or the employee settled the complaint with the University. If any of this is true for the employee, then OPHD will notify you that you may not provide an official letter of recommendation for this employee.
Please note that the typical letter of recommendation written by an academic appointee may be considered a personal, not official, letter. If you are writing a personal letter of recommendation, then you may simply proceed with your letter without contacting OPHD. You may still use UC Merced letterhead and your UC Merced email address, but if you comment on the subject’s performance as an employee you will need to include the following statement in your letter: “The following recommendation represents my personal perspective and does not represent the viewpoints of UC Merced or the University of California system.”
For additional details, please see our new Letters of Recommendation Policy webpage and attached FAQs.
Systemwide Policy Updates
Systemwide Review of Proposed Revisions to Academic Personnel Manual (APM) Section 500, Recruitment – General
The University invites comments on updated proposed revisions to the following policy:
APM - 500, Recruitment
Summarized below are the updated proposed key policy revisions that are being distributed for systemwide review.
The policy revisions respond to the need to address two new bills signed into state law that add and amend sections 92612.1 and 92612.2 of the California Education Code, effective January 1, 2025 (reference Senate Bill (SB) 791, Postsecondary education: academic and administrative employees: disclosure of sexual harassment, and California Assembly Bill (AB) 810, Postsecondary education: hiring practices: academic, athletic, and administrative positions). The new revisions are indicated below using bold and underlined text. The proposed technical revisions are intended to bring the University into compliance with sections 92612.1 and 92612.2 of the California Education Code by incorporating the following changes:
Key Policy Revisions
Misconduct Disclosure Form:
- All applicants who are identified as finalists for academic appointments are required to complete a misconduct disclosure questionnaire and disclose any final administrative or judicial decisions issued within the last seven (7) years from the date of submission of an employment application determining that the applicant committed misconduct, including sexual harassment. Applicants must be permitted to disclose if they have filed an appeal with the previous employer, administrative agency, or court, if applicable.
- A hiring unit may also elect to require misconduct disclosure questionnaires from all applicants who meet the minimum requirements of a recruitment. The hiring unit may not obtain a misconduct disclosure questionnaire unless the hiring unit determines that an applicant meets the minimum requirements for the position.
- In the event that an applicant discloses prior misconduct, the hiring unit shall obtain a signed release form from the applicant before contacting the previous employer.
Release Form:
- Applicants who are identified as finalists for a tenure-track/tenured position or a position in the Professor of Teaching Series are required to sign a release form authorizing the release of information by the applicant’s previous employers to the University concerning any substantiated allegations of misconduct in order to permit the University to evaluate the released information with respect to the criteria for potential employment. The hiring unit is required to obtain the release form for proposed appointees in these series and to engage in a reasonable attempt to obtain information from the previous employer when the applicant reaches the final stages of the application process.
- A hiring unit may request a release form from all applicants of a recruitment and may use the release form to engage in a reasonable attempt to obtain information from the previous employer when the applicant reaches the final stages of the application process.
- In the event that a previous employer discloses misconduct, the hiring unit shall follow-up with the applicant to give that individual an opportunity to respond.
Local Implementation Procedures:
- Vice Provosts/Vice Chancellors who oversee academic personnel are responsible for developing implementing procedures for the confidential management and tracking of misconduct disclosure questionnaires and release forms, as well as confidential decision-making and communication processes involving applicants, previous employers, and University administrators. In order to protect a candidate’s privacy, the misconduct disclosure form and any information pertaining to prior misconduct must be treated as confidential, retained per local procedures, and disposed in accordance with University of California records retention policy.
The proposed APM – 500 is posted on the Systemwide Academic Personnel website.
Please submit your comments, no later than June 9, 2025, to SystemwideAP-PolicyReviewComments@ucop.edu. If you have any questions, please contact Kelly Anders at kelly.anders@ucop.edu.
Attachments:
March 11, 2025, Revised Systemwide Review cover letter
Revised Draft APM - 500, Recruitment - General (clean copy)
Revised Draft APM - 500, Recruitment - General (tracked-changes copy)
Systemwide Review of Proposed Revisions to APM - 360, Librarian Series
The University invites comments on proposed revisions to Section 360 of the Academic Personnel Manual:
- Section 360, Appointment and Promotion / Librarian Series (APM - 360).
Summarized below are the updated proposed key policy revisions that are being distributed for systemwide review.
Key Policy Revisions
- Update the definition of the Librarian Series
The proposed APM – 360 is posted on the Systemwide Academic Personnel website.
Please submit your comments, no later than June 17, 2025, to SystemwideAP-PolicyReviewComments@ucop.edu. If you have any questions, please contact Kelly Anders at kelly.anders@ucop.edu.
Attachments:
March 19, 2025, Revised Systemwide Review cover letter
Draft APM - 360, Appointment and Promotion / Librarian Series (clean copy)
Draft APM - 360, Appointment and Promotion / Librarian Series (tracked-changes copy)
