18 December 2009

Senior Management Accounting by Leger-de-Main

Stung by increasing reports of excessive executive compensation, UCOP has taken swift and decisive action to address the issue and  reduce the ranks of senior management at the 10 campuses, and without requiring the retention of fancy — and expensive — East Coast consulting firms. In a brilliant move that fully vindicates the high regard in which our leadership is being held throughout the UC, in Sacramento, and across the country, UCOP has amended the APM to reflect a reclassification of school Deans from senior management to academic personnel.

According to the old version of sect. 240 of the APM, Deans are typically appointed as senior management, and their compensation determined according to the Personnel Policies for Staff Members:
For Deans and Provosts appointed in the Senior Management Program, the Personnel Policies for Senior Managers, also apply.
According to the new version of sect. 240 of the APM,
Except as specified in APM - 240, Deans are subject to all Academic Personnel policies. ... A Dean with a concurrent title of Vice Chancellor and/or a Dean who reports solely to the Chancellor are governed by Senior Management Group policies.
Deans "who report solely to the Chancellor" would appear to be those that are not heading an Academic Unit, e.g., Deans of Students etc.

Having re-classified Deans as Academic Personnel, one would expect them to be subject to review by CAP, but in a not unexpected twist, reviews at the Dean level are "distinct from academic merit review."

Our admiration for the Great Helmsman in Oakland grows deeper with the realization that this change is effective Jan. 1, 2010 but it appears to have been made public only very recently, when people are busy with exams or away on Winter break.

5 comments:

  1. This has been under discussion at Regents meetings for nearly a year -- it didn't exactly come out of nowhere.

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  2. Actually, Deans who hold academic appointments have always been reviewed by CAP with respect to their academic advancement, just like regular faculty. A review of their performance *as Deans* typically includes commentary from CAP regarding the Deans' participation in the faculty review process, but is--naturally--not limited to this.

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  3. Yes, but now that Deans' decanal duties fall under the rubric of academic personnel, they should also be reviewed by CAP.

    This document from AP concerns the implementation of the changes to the APM. It makes clear that Deans are transferred from SMG to AP.

    It would seem that part of the motivation for the change is to bring Deans (more) directly under the Chancellors' authority, as opposed to UCOP. Deans are assessed annually by the Chancellor and reviewed every five years — CAP is not directly involved in the review in spite of their new classification.

    Finally, it would also appear that those Deans that retain their SMG classification are those that report directly to the Chancellor, and specifically Deans in the Health Sciences.

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  4. And the change was approved by the Regents at their Nov. 19 meeting at UCLA, at a time when everybody's attention was focused on another side of the proceedings — the fee hikes.

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