Tuesday Updates!

[Bill Maurer]

Dear all,

Well the clouds have been blowing in up here in Long Beach, and it's
almost as cold as the Dean's Suite used to be, but we had an amazingly
warm and wonderful all-staff meeting this morning via Zoom. An 81-person
strong, enthusiastic and dedicated group, plus a few pets and children
(and at least one bird?), learning together and drawing on our community
knowledge and resources to ensure total operational continuity, so
that we can support our collective mission of research, teaching and
service. Kudos to all and, again, a huge thank you to our staff!

I only have a few informational items today:

1) Faculty and department managers will hopefully have seen the new
guidance from the Vice Provost for Academic Personnel regarding academic
personnel reviews, and, specifically, the process to request a one-year
extension for tenure (a "COVID-Stop The Clock"). See below. This does
not appear to be up on the AP website yet, but I am sure it will be soon.

2) Many have inquired about the possibility of moving toward a default
"pass/fail" grading option for Spring, as UC Berkeley has done. Doing so
would pose various important challenges for many of our students, however,
which I won't get into here. Suffice to say so far this is not something
the campus is considering right now, but do bear in mind Vice Provost
Dennin's repeated entreaties for understanding and leniency given the
unusual circumstances under which students will be learning this Spring.

3) Speaking of grades: They're due, Thursday, March 26, by 5 p.m via
WebGrades. (I suppose I'd better get at it myself, then...)

4) Luis Fonseca has created Zoom backgrounds for us, so we don't have
to see each other's garages or whatnot while we are on Zoom. Some are
staid and professional; many are whimsical and fun; others are more
meditative. They are available at the remote.socsci.uci.edu site, under
Resources, after Wellness Resources. Thank you, Luis!

5) Craig Stone will continue to pick up mail from central mail services
on Tuesdays and Thursdays. With few options for sorting and delivering,
however, we ask that you inform Gregory Gallardo if you are expecting
anything important, such as corporate card statements or other bills, and
we will work out arrangements for delivery.  At this time, the mailroom is
locked but based on demand/need we will reconsider whether to reopen it.

Enjoy your Tuesday evening with household members, socially distant
family and friends via screen or old-fashioned phone, virtual happy hours,
and all that good stuff.

Bill

 
Extension of the 8-year clock: faculty and other academic employees

An automatic one-year Stop the Clock (COVID-STC) will be available
to faculty members at the Assistant level in the following series:
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), due to the special
circumstance of COVID-19. This extension applies to faculty members who
were employed as of March 1, 2020. If the faculty member has already
used two Stop the Clock extensions, a third year would require approval
from UCOP Academic Personnel. To activate the COVID-STC the faculty
would complete the UCI-AP-92, Stop the Clock Certification form (select
COVID-19 under Purpose), route via the chair, dean and to the assigned
Academic Personnel analyst on or before June 30, 2021. If a Midcareer
Appraisal or promotion/promotion to tenure is to occur during 2020-2021
review cycle, notification of COVID-STC must be submitted by June 30,
2020. After acknowledgement of COVID-STC, the faculty can still choose
to go up for Mid-Career Appraisal or promotion/promotion to tenure at
normal time.