PERFORMANCE SALARY STEP INCREASES (PSSI)

Academic Senate Policy #S97-194b

At its meeting of May 13, 1997, the Academic Senate approved the following revised policy on performance salary step increases (replacing interim policy #F96-194, Performance Salary Step Increases):

This policy complies with Articles 31.17 - 31.42 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the California State University and the California Faculty Association, as formally accepted by both parties on October 4, 1995. See sections 31.11, 31.14 and 31.17-31.42 of the CBA for additional information regarding the Performance Salary Step Increase Program.

I - Funding for the Performance Salary Step Increase (PSSI) Program

The Vice President for Academic Affairs shall make available, as a guideline, the number of PSSI steps which could be funded for the University as a whole, using the value of a step increase for the median faculty step as an approximation of the cost per step. It is recommended that as many individuals as possible receive an award, and that these awards be allocated equitably among the College and equivalent units.

For the purposes of this policy, the ten college-equivalent units are: College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, College of Business, College of Creative Arts, College of Education, College of Ethnic Studies, College of Health & Human Services, College of Humanities, College of Science & Engineering, the Library, and Student Services Faculty/Professional Staff (Unit 3 counselors and coaches).

II - Eligibility & Application

All Unit 3 employees are eligible and will receive copies of this policy and an application/

nomination form. To be considered for a PSSI award, a faculty member must either apply or be nominated by unit employees or academic administrators on the approved application/nomination form (see section X). The application/nomination form must be signed by the applicant/nominee attesting to the truthfulness of the statements contained in the application/nomination form. No more than one application/nomination may be submitted for any eligible employee.

Application/nomination materials will consist of the application/nomination form, a written statement of up to five pages (double spaced, single sided) of the applicant's record to support the award, and a curriculum vitae which covers the time period of the application (up to five years). This may include work done at other institutions. No supplementary materials may be submitted.

III - Standards and Criteria

The criteria for the award of a PSSI are (a) teaching performance, (b) professional achievement and growth, and (c) contributions to campus and community. The primary emphasis is on excellent performance in teaching (or in one's primary assignment, if other than teaching). There is no order of priority between the other criteria. Faculty whose employment is related to only one of the above categories may use that category as the sole criteria to demonstrate excellent performance. Applicants/nominees must address all areas of assigned workload.

The period of review will be the five years preceding the deadline for submission of applications/ nominations, or the time since the last PSSI application/nomination which resulted in the awarding of a PSSI.

IV - Composition of PSSI Review Committees

All PSSI review committee members must be tenured faculty. A faculty member cannot serve on more than one PSSI review committee during a review period. A faculty member submitting an application/nomination is ineligible to serve on a PSSI review committee charged with reviewing his/her application/nomination.

Each College/Library/Student Services faculty unit shall form a PSSI review committee from among the tenured faculty of that unit, composed of one representative selected by each department within the unit. If qualified faculty are not available from a department, the department may select a representative from among the qualified faculty in related academic disciplines. If a department does not select a representative, the Dean of that College (or equivalent unit administrator) may appoint a qualified faculty person to represent that department on the College faculty review committee. Library and Student Services units will select their PSSI review committees in accordance with the internal organizations of those units. This shall be completed by no later than October 3, 1997. These College/Library/Student Services PSSI review committees will be the highest level of faculty review for the PSSI program. Each PSSI review committee shall be composed of no fewer than three members.

V - PSSI Review Procedures

All information and deliberations regarding the PSSI review are considered confidential. Five copies of the completed applications/nominations must be signed and submitted to the Department Chair and one copy to the President (or designee) no later then October 3, 1997. Departments must immediately forward all applications to the appropriate College/Library/Student Services unit review committee. Those unit review committees must forward all applications and evaluations to the College Dean or equivalent unit administrator no later than October 31, 1997. All applications/

nominations received by a review committee must be evaluated and categorized as highly-recommended, recommended or not-recommended. A majority vote, taken by secret ballot, shall be required for any committee recommendation. In units which employ lecturers, the committee will make separate recommendations for tenure-track faculty and lecturers utilizing the above process. Thus, those committees will forward two sets of recommendations, one for tenure-track faculty and one for lecturers.

The committee will make its highly-recommended, recommended or not-recommended review decision and the reasons for that decision known to each candidate at the time it forwards its recommendations. The Committee will, at the end of its deliberations, present a summary description of its work which identifies the primary characteristics associated with highly-recommended, recommended and not-recommended applicants/nominees. Within units with lecturer applicants/nominees, the summary will also include characteristics associated with applicants/nominees highly-recommended, recommended and not-recommended in that category. The descriptions will not identify individual applicants/nominees and shall be submitted to the Senate no later than the second Friday in February.

VI - Review by the Dean

Each Dean or equivalent unit administrator will write a report about each of his/her applicant pool(s) of no more than three pages providing a review of the College faculty committee's recommendations. These reports will accompany the committee's recommendations, which shall be submitted to the President no later than November 14, 1997. Any recommendations in these reports regarding individual candidates will be made known to them.

VII - Review by the President

The President or designee shall review all of the applications/nominations which have been submitted, and select the recipients of the increases from among the candidate pools by December 12, 1997. All applicants shall be notified of the President's decision no later than December 22, 1997. The President or designee shall also determine the appropriate number of steps to be granted, consistent with the limitations provided in the California Bargaining Agreement.

VIII - Peer Review of Performance Salary Step Denials

Peer review shall be conducted in accordance with articles 31.37 through 31.42 of the California Bargaining Agreement. All requests for peer review must be submitted to the Vice President for Academic Affairs no later than January 16, 1998.

IX - Reporting of Awards

PSSI awards shall be reported to the California Faculty Association in accordance with Article 31.34 of the California Bargaining Agreement, with a copy of the report submitted to the Academic Senate. The report shall include a statistical summary similar to that presented in the annual report of the University Promotions Committee, presenting the total number of applicants in each college/equivalent unit, the number given each type of recommendation by the committee, the number in each of those categories given positive and negative recommendations by the dean, the number in each of those categories awarded a PSSI by the President, the number of appeals, and the outcome of the appeals. This report shall be submitted no later than February 13, 1998. In the event that the outcomes of some appeals are still undetermined, that portion of the report will be submitted upon completion of the appeals process.

X - Performance Step Salary Increase - Application/Nomination Form

(To be submitted as a cover sheet on all applications/nominations)

Name:

Date of Application/Nomination:

Date of Prior PSSI Award (if received in last five years):

Department or Equivalent Unit:

College or Equivalent Unit:

My signature signifies that the information on this Performance Step Salary Increase Application/Nomination Form and the attached statement is true to the best of my knowledge.

Signature of Applicant/Nominee Date

Signature of Nominator (if applicable) Date

This candidate satisfies the criteria for excellence in teaching.

_________________________________________

Department Chair's Signature

**APPROVED BY AMENDED BY PRESIDENT CORRIGAN ON JULY 24, 1997**