3/13/2025

 

TO: UCSB UCPath Transactors 

FR: UCSB Academic Personnel Office 

RE: AP UCPath: 2025 Winter to Spring Quarter Reminders and Best Practices

 

Lecturer Appointments 

Please review the UCPath appointment set up for your department 9/9 Lecturer population to ensure the spring appointment set up effective 4/1/25 is correct. 

  • Pre-Six 1-year term appointments:
    • Verify FTE is correct for spring teaching appointments
    • Identify 1-year term appointments that do not teach after winter quarter and initiate the Termination template effective 3/31/25 (LDW 3/28/25)
  • Continuing and Pre-Six multi-year term appointments:
    • Verify FTE is correct for spring teaching appointments 
    • Verify SWB is applied for those with non-teaching quarters in spring
  • Email ap-path@ucsb.edu if any UCPath setup issues are identified.

A new Lecturer SWB Matrix is available on the AP UCPath website to help departments identify the proactive action necessary to partner with AP and ensure the proper setup of these records in UCPath.

 

Maintaining Physical Work Location in UCPath

Departments are responsible for ensuring all represented employees’ physical work location is up to date in UCPath to ensure compliance with Government Code 3558 (AB-119). Guidance on reviewing and maintaining these fields for academic employees can be found on AP’s website - Maintaining Location and Cubicle Information in UCPath. The best practice is to include office and cubicle details in the Cubicle field. 

End Date Monitoring

Appointments with expired end dates create unintended issues (overpayments, delays in processing system-wide actions, and slowing down payroll processing runs at UCPC). To reduce impacts, departments should be monitoring academic employee and contingent worker records in UCPath, and taking proactive action:

 

Addressing Employee Benefit Issues

The UCPath system is programmed to derive employee benefits eligibility automatically. Changes to an employee’s existing appointment or adding or transferring to a new appointment may lead to benefit issues. This could be due to a timing issue, or a system limitation, the appointment changes may have justifiably led to a benefits eligibility change.

If a benefits issue is identified, the employee should create a Case with UCPC (using the “Ask UCPath” button) to have benefits eligibility reviewed and issues addressed. Departments can initiate the request on the employee’s behalf if they are unable to initiate the request themselves.

  • Topic: Benefits
  • Category: Benefits Election Inquiry 
  • Subject: Benefits Ended in error – please review and update asap (include any urgent note if there is an immediate medical need).

If there is an urgent need for care, the Case/Inquiry number can be emailed to AP-Path@ucsb.eu requesting escalation. (Escalation requests just mean that we can ask for expedited processing based on an urgent need. The UCPath Center manages all corrective action related to benefits.)

For additional guidance on identifying and troubleshooting benefits issues in UCPath, refer to the Job Aid: Benefit Eligibility & Triggers.

AP UCPath Resources for Department Analysts

UCPath is a sophisticated tool for managing employee records, pay, and benefits. The actions required to ensure accurate information is maintained, compliance is met, and employee pay and benefits are correct can be complicated. To assist department Analysts with understanding academic transactions and best practices, AP continues to update and create resources:

 

Hire Templates: Creating a New Record vs Using an Existing Record

Did you know? The Hire template used determines if a new record is created, or an existing record is used.

  • The New Hire and Concurrent Hire templates will create a brand-new employee record in UCPath
  • The Rehire and Transfer templates will place the new employee appointment onto an existing inactive employee record.

It is important to consider when to add a new record versus when to “stack” a new appointment on an existing record:

  • Create a new record (via New Hire or Concurrent Hire):
    • When hiring a new employee to UC, or new to UCSB (Full Hire template with appropriate Reason Code)
    • When hiring a former UC Employee who is a new employee to your department (Full Hire template– with appropriate Rehire Reason Code)
    • When adding a second appointment (Concurrent Hire template and Reason Code)
    • When hiring from another campus via the Inter-Campus Transfer process
    • When transferring an academic employee from one department to another (Concurrent Hire template and Intra-Transfer reason code)
  • Use an existing record (“stack” onto an inactive record via Rehire or Transfer):
    • To Rehire an employee into an existing inactive record in your department (Rehire template with appropriate Reason Code)
    • To Transfer a staff employee from an active appointment to a new appointment (Transfer template; may also be used with ASEs when transferring within the same department)

*Note: when a department uses a Rehire Template and selects an employee record that IS FROM A DIFFERENT DEPARTMENT, this prohibits the former department from viewing their appointment history on that record and taking any corrective action such as a salary cost transfer.

Refer to the Hire Template Decision Guide for a walkthrough of the questions departments should answer to determine the best Template and Reason Code to use for academic Hire transactions.


Training Opportunities:

The next UCPath Training is scheduled via Zoom for April 28 through May 1. System upgrades and process changes occur regularly in the UCPath system, and existing users are encouraged to participate as a refresher. Enrollment is through UCSB’s Learning Management System. https://www.ucpath.ucsb.edu/training 

In addition, the AP Office is holding the annual training and workshop classes for Leaves and Additional Compensation. Department staff responsible for the UCPath actions related to leaves, additional pay (honoraria, faculty consultant, or recruitment allowances), and Summer Research Compensation are encouraged to attend. Additional detail and registration links can be found at https://ap.ucsb.edu/~staff.training.registration/. 

  • Academic Leaves Workshop: Wednesday, 3/15/25 – 1:30-3pm
  • Additional Compensation: Wednesday, 4/5/25 2:00-4pm
  • Additional Compensation Workshop: Thursday, 4/13/25 1:30-3:30 pm

 

 

 

If you have other questions, contact UCSB Academic Personnel at AP-Path@ucsb.edu