Career Progress Increments (CPI) are awarded according to agreed guidelines to eligible members who demonstrate satisfactory career progress.
The CPI unit value for July 1, 2024 is $2,398.
Guidelines for awarding Career Progress Increments
The over-riding criterion for the award of CPI is satisfactory career progress. Members who are eligible, but who are not awarded an increment, are entitled to an explanation, in writing if they so request.
In cases where a faculty member is promoted before receiving all the CPI applicable to their rank, the remaining increments will be carried forward and awarded (to a maximum of one c/f unit per year), in addition to those applicable to the higher rank, until they are exhausted.
Allocation of CPI
Since the award of career progress increments is guideline-driven – see the Career Progress Increments Schedule (PDF) – no special allocation has been calculated for individual faculties. The value of increments has been carefully calculated and it's expected that there will be no scope for the exercise of discretion beyond the guidelines.
Eligibility for CPI
All continuing members of the bargaining unit who are active on both June 30 and July 1, 2023 are eligible for CPI as of July 1, 2023. This includes the following:
- Members in academic ranks (Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Acting Assistant Professor, Professor of Teaching, Associate Professor of Teaching, Assistant Professor of Teaching), Librarians, Program Directors and Lecturers.
Note that sessional lecturers are not eligible for CPI.
Members in eligible positions who are hired prior to June 30, 2024 are eligible for CPI effective July 1, 2024.
Carry forward of unexhausted career progress increments
Faculty members who are promoted may carry forward unexhausted CPI eligibility from the rank(s) vacated. Unexhausted increments are to be awarded at the rate of no more than one unit each year.
Please note that any eligibility for carry-forward increments is in addition to the concurrent eligibility for the increments appropriate to the new rank.
Withholding of career progress increments
Career progress increments may be withheld when a faculty member isn't making career progress.
When increments are withheld, the faculty member must be provided with a written explanation by the head of their department no later than the time when other faculty members are notified of their increases.
Notification: Please provide a copy of this notification to UBC's Faculty Relations department as we are required to inform the Faculty Association.
"0" increment: When the guidelines indicate that a “0” increment is appropriate, this indicates that the individual is no longer eligible for career progress at the present rank. It doesn't constitute the withholding of an increment.
What happens to carry-forward units: The current salary agreement doesn't permit the withholding of career progress carry forward units. These must be awarded in accordance with the eligibility criteria as indicated above. If career progress increments are withheld, the money will be added to the salary pool for the purpose of establishing the value of next year’s career progress increment. They will not be re-distributed within the Faculty.
Modifications and interpretation of guidelines
The guidelines have been formulated on the assumption of standard career development. They may require adjustment for non standard cases so that impeded career development is not financially advantageous.
For example, this principle would apply when an individual is appointed as an acting assistant professor because of a failure to have in hand the normal appointment qualifications. This should be taken into account in awarding career progress increments when their title is changed to assistant professor.
Similarly the schedule of increments for associate professor of teaching is based on the assumption that initial appointment will be at the rank of assistant professor of teaching rather than assistant professor. An assistant professor is eligible for three increments more than an assistant professor of teaching over the first five years of the appointment, and this should be taken into account in the later stages of the associate professor of teaching’s career.
Checking career progress and LOS CP Increments
To ensure that the correct Career Progress (CP) and Length of Service (LOS) CP Increments are processed for faculty members in the annual Faculty Salary Increase process, administrators must check the accuracy of the CP data for their faculty members.
CP & LOS CP reports are available in Workday, and administrators will need to run these to check the CP & LOS CP data for their faculty members.