Appointments and Vacancies
Classified Service
Jurisdictional Classification
Individuals may be hired for competitive, non-competitive, exempt, or labor class positions.
Competitive class positions are those for which competitive Civil Service examinations are held, lists established, and appointments made from certifications of the lists. Examples of competitive class positions include, but are not limited to, Keyboard Specialist 1, Administrative Assistant, and University Police Officer 1.
Non-competitive class positions are those which are not in the exempt or labor class which Civil Service has determined it is not practicable to fill by competitive examination. Candidates' qualifications are examined on a non-competitive basis and are compared with the qualifications established for the positions in the Civil Service Classification standard. Collective bargaining agreements also impact hiring in this class. Carpenter, Maintenance Assistant and Janitor are examples of non-competitive titles.
Exempt class positions consists of policy making and confidential positions, as determined by the Civil Service Commission. Positions in the exempt class must be re-evaluated by Civil Service when they become vacant.
Labor class positions are those considered to be unskilled labor. Positions are filled at the discretion of the appointing authority, based upon fitness of the applicants to perform the duties of the position and upon practices established through collective bargaining agreements. Examples of labor class positions include, but are not limited to, Cleaner and Maintenance Helper.
Announcement and filling of vacancies
No position will be filled without either a properly executed Request to Fill a position or Fund Allocation for Temporary Service requisition in Interview Exchange, which has been approved by the appropriate member of the President’s Leadership Team, the Vice President for Finance & Administration, and the President.
Positions in the Competitive Class
Selection for these positions will be made according to regulations established by the New York State Department of Civil Service. The appropriate competitive list shall be canvassed and selection will be made from the three highest-ranking eligible applicants expressing an interest in, availability for, or those eligible for transfer to the position.
Positions in the Exempt, Labor, and Non-Competitive Classes
A vacancy announcement will be posted for at least the minimum number of days required by negotiated agreement, except in cases where a waiver of posting has been granted by the local bargaining unit.
Functional supervisors will assure that all persons receive adequate, impartial and open appraisal.
Applicant interviews should be arranged, whenever possible, so that appropriate staff may have an opportunity to meet with the candidates.
Upon completion of interviews, all applications will be forwarded to the Human Resources Office. Dates of interviews will be indicated on the applications. Records of communications with applicants will be included in the Human Resources Office folders. The supervisor responsible for making an appointment will submit a memorandum to the Human Resources Office indicating the names of all individuals interviewed, the name of the successful candidate and the proposed starting date. This memorandum must also include gender and ethnicity of the candidates interviewed for Affirmative Action reporting.
The Human Resources Office will notify all applicants who were not selected that the position for which they applied has been filled.
The procedures outlined below for Positions in the Exempt, Labor and Non-Competitive Classes will also be followed, where appropriate.
Filling of Temporary Positions
As defined and permitted by contractual agreement with individual bargaining units, temporary positions (in most cases, those lasting less than six months) may be filled without meeting all of the requirements outlined above. Supervisors should check with the Office of Human Resources.
Reinstatement
An individual who resigns from a permanent appointment and wishes to be rehired may be reinstated in the same job title without taking an examination. Individuals may also be reinstated to any position they would have been eligible for transfer to at the time of resignation. Reinstatement is at the discretion of the college, with the approval of the Civil Service Commission.
Promotions
In the competitive class, positions may be filled by promotion in those instances where incumbents of lower level positions are reachable on the appropriate Civil Service list. The majority of the positions on the Delhi campus represented by the CSEA Administrative Services Unit and the PBA are in the competitive class.
In non-competitive and labor class positions in the CSEA Operational and Institutional Services Units, promotions shall be made on the basis of seniority, as defined in the contractual agreements, subject to the operating needs of the department or agency, and subject to, for OSU positions, the employee proving possession of the ability to perform duties and responsibilities satisfactorily, and subject to an identification of differences between employees with respect to relevant factors concerning the employee's ability to perform the required duties and responsibilities satisfactorily.
Temporary Promotions
At times, promotions for periods of short duration may be offered to employees, due to the absence of higher-level employees or other factors. In these instances, promoted employees are paid at the rate associated with the promotion, but the employee's anniversary date, when they would have been eligible for salary advancement in the old position, is moved forward by the number of days they were paid in the higher level position.
Appointments
Employees receive one of the following types of appointment:
Contingent Permanent appointments may be made to a position left temporarily vacant by the leave of absence of a permanent employee, usually one serving a probationary period in another position. The employee so appointed has all the rights and benefits of a permanent employee, except with reference to certain situations. If the prior permanent incumbent of the position returns, the contingent permanent employee may be separated from State service unless there is a person in the same position title serving on a temporary or provisional basis, or in a contingent permanent basis with less seniority, or unless the individual has another position to which he or she is eligible to return.
In the event that a contingent permanent appointee is separated or replaced as the result of the return of the prior permanent incumbent, they shall have their name placed on a preferred list for certification for reinstatement.
Permanent appointments are a result of satisfactorily completing the probationary period, which will result in a permanent employee who will have full coverage of Civil Service law.
Provisional: If there is no one available from a Civil Service certified list for a vacant position in the competitive class, it may be filled with a provisional appointment until the next certified list is established. The individual selected must be qualified to take the Civil Service examination for the position. Once a new Civil Service list is available, the provisional appointee can only remain in the position if s/he is among the three highest scoring candidates who are willing to accept appointment.
Temporary appointments are made in instances where individuals are to be hired for a limited period of time, or where the position to be filled is encumbered by a permanent employee on a leave of absence.
Probation
The probationary period is the last part of the selection process. It is intended to provide an opportunity for supervisors to evaluate an employee's performance on those critical elements that were not evaluated by other parts of the process.
Permanent and contingent permanent appointments, promotions, and transfers require satisfactory completion of a probationary term, which includes a minimum and maximum period of probation. Permanent and contingent permanent appointments from an open competitive list and original permanent appointments to the non-competitive, exempt or labor class, with certain exceptions, shall have a probationary term of not less than 26 or more than 52 weeks. The basic probationary period for promotions and transfers are: for grade 14 and above, not less than 12 nor more than 52 weeks; for grade 13 and below, not less than 8 or more than 26 weeks. Employees will be evaluated in writing at set intervals during the probationary period. An unsatisfactory probationer may be terminated any time after eight weeks and before completion of the maximum period of probationary service.
A Notice of Permanent/Contingent Permanent Appointment and Probationary Terms, which specifies the terms, conditions, and dates of probation is provided to employees and their supervisors upon appointment.
Evaluation
All employees have their job performance evaluated under performance evaluation systems established by the agreements with the various bargaining units. Within the first two weeks of employment, the supervisor is responsible for creating a Performance Program which defines the duties and responsibilities of the job and the standards or objectives the employee is expected to meet. This document is used for the Performance Evaluation. At least once a year, the supervisor prepares a written Performance Evaluation and an overall rating of satisfactory or unsatisfactory, based on work performance. An appeal process exists for ratings that are "unsatisfactory." This is described in the collective bargaining agreements. The locally agreed upon date for all performance evaluations for classified employees is April 1.
Evaluation and Performance program forms are available on the Human Resources Forms web page.