Notification: Approver Cannot Approve Their Own Form

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In UC OATS, there are instances where a reviewer is assigned a form submitted by a faculty member who is also the designated approver for their department (for example, a Department Chair submitting their own prior approval form). To maintain compliance and ensure impartial review, UC OATS will display a notification and prevent the reviewer/approver from approving their own form. In these cases, an Alternate Approver must be assigned.

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When a reviewer opens a form for review and the system detects that the faculty member is also the approver (e.g., Department Chair for the department listed), the following message appears:

 

Note: View the Adding an Alternate Approver article to learn how to add an alternate approver.