All Academic Senate faculty can expect to advance at normal rates, unless a major flaw in their performance is evident. Faculty members at any rank who demonstrate outstanding accomplishments will receive accelerated merit increases or promotions. Accelerated actions are considered exceptional and should be requested only when the evidence shows outstanding accomplishments in one job performance area with good, i.e., expected, achievements in the other required areas. The area typically singled out as justification for an acceleration is research or creative work, but accomplishments or contributions in other job-related areas, including teaching, service or outreach, also can justify an acceleration. In all cases, it is incumbent upon the candidate, the department, and the dean to make a clear case for the exceptional circumstances that motivate the request for an acceleration.
Most accelerations advance the candidate one year earlier than normal.
These one-year accelerations can be awarded by college, school or division dean following a recommendation from the local personnel committee. In addition to those cases in which an acceleration has been proposed by any reviewing body, CAP often recommends another type of acceleration. This category of acceleration results from the fact that CAP routinely reviews the appropriateness of the level for which a candidate is being proposed and considers whether the candidate's record as a whole justifies a higher level. On occasion, these reviews allow CAP to recommend some degree of accelerated advancement that was not proposed in the original file.