An ad appeared recently that seemed to be for a faculty position with no pay. The ad began making the rounds of social media with, as you might expect, critical comments. Some commenters, however, did wonder whether what has being offered was a position in which the job holder had outside funds but needed a university position as a base.
Still what was odd about the ad was that it focused on teaching rather than research. Typically, someone who had funding but needed a university home would have a research grant of some type. The ad said that evidence that needed to be submitted regarding research capability was optional. But a statement regarding teaching capability was required. Hence, the ad appeared to be for a teaching position.
Yours truly became aware of the ad after an inquiry from a journalist and sent the ad to the chair of the campus Faculty Welfare Committee, the president of the Faculty Association, and to the Interim Vice Provost for Academic Personnel. As a result, a clarification was issued:
UCLA is committed to providing fair compensation to faculty across the institution. We recognize the language in this particular advertisement could have benefitted from additional context and we are committed to doing better in the future. In the spirit of providing additional context, arrangements such as these are common in academia and, in cases where formal classroom teaching is a component, compensation for these services is provided commensurate to experience and with an eye to equity within the unit. Some positions may be without salary when individuals are compensated by other sources and a formal affiliation with UCLA is necessary, which may be needed to apply for or maintain a grant or conduct research.
It remains unclear why the ad seemed focused on teaching rather than research or where the funding for teaching would come from. The original text of the ad is reproduced at
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