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Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences VCHS
  1. VCHS
  2. Administration
  3. Academic Affairs
  4. For Faculty & Academics
  5. Faculty Compensation
  6. Academic Programmatic Unit

1. Academic Programmatic Unit

Academic Programmatic Units (APUs) are a group 5 or more HSCP faculty members whose activities are programmatically similar. An APU shall comprise faculty with similar clinical, teaching, research, and administrative responsibilities. The characteristics of the group—such as the type of activity and potential for income—should be used to determine the base salary scale. All members of an APU share the same salary scale. APU assignment cannot be solely or primarily based on earnings levels but must be defined academically.

General Guidelines

  1. For the purpose of determining Health Sciences Base Salary Rate, each Department/School shall establish at least one APU to which the faculty shall be assigned. An APU shall be composed of faculty with similar clinical, teaching and research responsibilities. The Department Chair/School Dean shall recommend an appropriate APU assignment for each member of the Plan, based on clinical, teaching and research responsibilities. Each APU shall be assigned to an HSCP Salary Scale. The VCHS must receive advanced approval from the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee for an APU comprising fewer than four members. The request for approval shall include criteria for composition of the APU, and the name, series, rank, and step of each member.


  2. In keeping with the responsibility of the University to ensure consistency of compensation by creation of APUs or assignment of faculty to APUs, the following shall be observed:
    1. All Health Sciences Compensation Plan participants must belong to an approved APU
    2. Each Department/School must submit the APU information for their HSCP faculty, along with the normal salary budget, during the budget process, which typically runs from January to June.
    3. The VCHS (or designee) is authorized to approve the faculty composition of each APU and assignment of a salary scale to that unit, subsequent to the Department Chair/School Dean’s recommendation.
    4. An APU must be made up of at least five faculty members.
    5. An APU must remain at its assigned HSCP Salary Scale for at least one year before being assigned to a higher or lower scale.
    6. Except under unusual circumstances, and only with the approval of the VCHS, mid‐year adjustments in APU salary scales are not permitted.
    7. An APU is permitted to move to a higher HSCP Salary Scale by a maximum of one scale per year. An APU typically moves down no more than one scale at a time.

  1. No individual faculty member may be moved from one APU to another without a significant change in duties or a change in department.
    1. A faculty member can leave his/her current, assigned APU, and move up in Scale to another, existing APU if the faculty member’s academic, clinical, teaching, and/or research responsibilities fit the description of the APU and approval is obtained from the respective Department Chair/School Dean and the VCHS Office.

  1. Faculty joining a Department/School mid-year should be added immediately to the appropriate APU in the Department/School. This is not considered a mid‐year APU change because he/she is a new faculty member and thus entering the APU for the first time.


  2. The creation of new APUs has been frozen until further notice by the VCHS.


  3. Advance approval from the Chancellor or the Chancellor’s designee is required for an APU comprising fewer than four members. The approval request shall include the criteria for APU composition, as well as the name, series, rank, and step of each member.

 

 

2. Process for Requesting APU Changes

Departments/Schools wishing to update their APU(s), including transferring faculty from one APU code to another, must submit requests to the VCHS (or designee) for approval before implementation in the payroll system, annually during the budget process. The procedure for requesting APU changes can be found here. If no changes are made from year‐to‐year in the APU then it is not necessary to resubmit the APU Profile form until it expires at the end of 5 years. Only the establishment of a new APU, a change in an existing APU, or the expiration of an existing APU requires the submission of a new APU Profile form, along with the memo from Department Chair/School Dean.

Different Types of Departmental/School Change Requests

  1. Faculty Member(s) Changing from One APU Code to Another
  2. APU Definition Changes
  3. Entire APU Code Changing Scale
  4. Expired APU Profile Form (typically every 5 years) 

APU Change Process - Flowchart

APU process flowchart

Items Needed from Department/School When Requesting APU Changes

  1. Memo from Department Chair/School Dean which Should Include the Following:
    1. Description of the requested changes and the effective date.
    2. Justification for the changes, including their impact on any Faculty.
    3. Confirmation that the Faculty members are in good standing.
    4. Confirmation that the department accept any 415(m) liability that may result.
    5. Confirmation that all the members will be able to maintain the covered compensation rate for at least 3 years, provided the faculty member still meets the defined criteria.
    6. Note: For APUs with fewer than 5 members, provide justification for the exception.

 

  1. Updated APU Profile Form that Lists all the Current Members’ Salary Broken Out by Component
    1. ARC can help prepare the form and provide to the Department/School to obtain the signatures from the Department Chair/School Dean and DBO.

Department/School Change Requests Can Be Submitted To

 

 

3. Resources

Important Documents & Links