In 2013 Academic Personnel Manual (APM) section 670, which sets forth the Health Sciences Compensation Plan, was revised. This revision required us to update the School of Medicine’s Implementing Procedures (our "school’s compensation plan") as well as the individual department and ORU compensation plans.

Recently, a new section of the APM was developed to take effect July 1, 2015. Section 671 governs outside professional activities for Health Sciences Compensation Plan faculty. APM 671 is essentially an update of APM 025, which currently governs conflict of commitment and outside professional activities for compensation plan faculty. The creation of APM 671 requires that we update our school compensation plan. We have drafted the necessary updates and will be submitting these materials to the Vice Provost in December. The materials are due to the Office of the President in January 2015. Once reviewed and approved by President Napolitano, we will provide guidance to departments and ORUs regarding the necessary updates to their compensation plans, which will occur in late winter or early spring 2015.

One significant change in APM 671 that affects our faculty is that the outside income earnings threshold increases to $40,000 or 40% of scale 0, based on each faculty member's rank and step (whichever is greater). APM 671 also provides clearer definitions and guidance on allowable outside professional activities, which will help faculty avoid conflicts of commitment. The changes to the school compensation plan necessitated by APM 671 will not impact faculty members’ benefits.

We are holding a Town Hall meeting on Friday, November 21 from 12:00-1:00 in S-214 to provide additional information and answer questions. Please keep in mind that we are only revising the sections of our compensation plan that address outside professional activities and conflict of commitment; we will not be making substantial changes to the broader plan. Additionally, there are several sections of our compensation plan that we cannot change, such as the Good Standing criteria and most of the benefits section. Finally, remember that the school’s plan is the foundation on which the individual department and ORU plans are built.

Elena Fuentes-Afflick, MD, MPH
Chief of Pediatrics at SFGH
Vice Dean for Academic Affairs, UCSF