Faculty and Professional Staff Handbook » Retention Policy and Procedure This Policy and Procedure shall apply to full-time non-teaching professional staff eligible for a multi-year contract. The evaluation of professional staff shall be conducted in accordance with the provisions of this statement, and the relevant provisions of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Council of New Jersey State College Locals, NJSFT-AFT/AFL-CIO and the State of New Jersey. A. Eligibility for Multi-Year Contracts Each member of the professional staff not holding faculty rank or concurrent academic rank who is a member of the State College/University bargaining unit shall be eligible for a multi-year appointment or reappointment contract in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 163 of the Laws of 1973. After completion of five years of probationary service, employees not holding faculty rank shall be considered for a multi-year contract. All multi-year contracts granted effective July 1, 2017 or thereafter shall be for three (3) years, unless the employee is on a four-year or five-year contract as of June 30, 2017. For employees who are currently serving in a four-year contract as of June 30, 2017, their next two succeeding contracts, if granted, shall be for four (4) years. Subsequently, all contracts granted shall be for three (3) years. For employees currently serving in a five-year contract as of June 30, 2017, their next two succeeding contracts, if granted, shall be for five (5) years. The contract after that shall be for four (4) years. Subsequently, all contracts granted shall be for three (3) years. When a member of the professional staff is offered a multi-year appointment or reappointment contract, he or she shall be provided with the information described in Article XIII.B of the Master Agreement. The fiscal year is from July 1 to June 30. Contracts for professional staff members shall be concurrent with the fiscal year. In order for the initial term of employment to qualify as a full fiscal year for purposes of the multi-year contract probationary period, employment under the contract must begin no later than December 31. B. Criteria for Multi-Year Contract Appointments and Reappointments Candidates must undergo a thorough and rigorous review of his or her qualifications for continued employment at the University and to present evidence of past performance and future potential such as to warrant the granting of a multi-year contract in the candidate’s professional staff position. The reappointment of professional staff shall be based on: 1. Professional performance of the professional staff including: Knowledge of professional assignment area Thorough preparation for assuming responsibilities Effective communication Respect and consideration for co-workers and clientele Service and/or other activities which contribute to the purposes and functions of the University and the community which it serves Other job related criteria as shared with the employee, which shall be presented to each first year employee in a written job description at the time he or she is first offered employment. For part-time, second, third, fourth and fifth year employees, such criteria shall be developed by the employee together with his or her immediate supervisor, and shall be provided to the employee, in writing, prior to the beginning of his or her second, third, fourth or fifth year, or next part-time contract. This criteria shall be within the limits of the employee’s job specification. 2. Institutional and programmatic needs: The reappointment of the professional staff must be consistent with the needs and purposes of the University as stipulated in the long-range institutional goals. C. Timetable Each candidate for reappointment shall be provided with a timetable by their immediate supervisor indicating the dates of the steps in the retention procedure. The timetable shall provide a reasonable opportunity for the candidate to present a written statement and/or materials for inclusion in the retention folder prior to the beginning of the evaluation by the immediate supervisor. D. Definition of Immediate Supervisor For the purposes of evaluating professional staff, the immediate supervisor shall be construed as that supervisory, management-level person not included in the State College/ University negotiating unit who is first reached in the normal chain of command leading from the candidate. E. Evaluation Forms The administrative head of each component of the University shall have the right to design and/or adopt an evaluation form. Employees in the collective bargaining unit shall have the opportunity to participate in the design of any such form. The evaluation forms adopted by each component of the University shall be submitted to the Union for review. The purpose of the review shall be to ascertain whether the evaluation forms conform to and are not in conflict with the provisions of the controlling Collective Bargaining Agreement. F. Process 1. The entire professional performance record of a member of the professional staff shall be considered at the time such employee is being considered for a multi-year appointment or reappointment contract. The candidate may include any additional material which he/ she deems appropriate. All items presented by the candidate for appointment or reappointment to a multi-year contract shall be considered in the evaluation process. 2. Each member of the professional staff who is eligible for a multi-year appointment or reappointment contract shall prepare a written self-evaluation that shall include: a review of past performance and achievements bearing on the contemplated personnel action; a complete description of current professional responsibilities; an analysis of professional contributions and potential for continued development; a statement of professional goals and objectives. and may include any additional information that the candidate deems appropriate. 3. Each member of the professional staff who is eligible for a multi-year appointment or reappointment contract may be evaluated by employees, who may be in or out of the bargaining unit, who serve in a regular and continuing functional working relationship to the candidate. Employees serving in a functional working relationship shall be those identified by the immediate supervisor of the candidate, after consultation with the candidate. The candidate's immediate supervisor shall request such identified employees to provide a written appraisal of the candidate's ability, performance, contributions, and potential. Where the candidate and the immediate supervisor, after consultation, disagree as to which employees serve in a functional working relationship to the candidate, the immediate supervisor and the candidate each will identify employees, if any, who serve in a functional relationship and the immediate supervisor will request written appraisals from all employees so identified. 4. The University shall consult with the Local UNION as to whether the concept of "User Evaluations" shall be made a part of the multi-year contract evaluation process. If a decision is made to utilize this concept, the College/ University shall consult with the Local UNION concerning procedures under which the concept will be implemented and the process by which a user evaluation instrument or instruments will be developed. "Users" for the purpose of this Article shall mean a clearly identifiable constituency including a sufficient number of individuals who have an ongoing and regular professional relationship with the candidate so as to provide a meaningful sample of evaluations. 5. All evaluations of the candidate prepared by him or herself, by employees serving in functional working relationships and by users shall be submitted to the candidate's immediate supervisor, who shall see that the evaluation material is placed in the candidate's personnel file in accordance with the provisions of Article XXIX of the Master Agreement. The candidate's personnel file shall be available to the supervisor and other administrative officers for use in making their recommendations. G. Evaluation by Supervisors 1. Scope of Review Owing to the nature of professional staff employment, it must be understood that the regular and continuous employment relationship between the employee and his immediate supervisor provides a climate for the sustained observation and assessment of the professional staff. A principal purpose of this process is to formalize, and share with the candidate for appointment or reappointment to a multi-year contract, conclusions that have been drawn during the regular working relationship. The entire professional performance record of a member of the professional staff shall be considered at the time the employee is being considered for a multi-year contract. 2. Interview Before completing the evaluation form defined in section E of this procedure the supervisor shall meet with the candidate at a mutually convenient time to share and discuss the employee’s performance based on the criteria in section B of this procedure. After the interview, the supervisor shall write the evaluation and share this written evaluation with the employee. The employee will sign and receive a copy of this evaluation to acknowledge receipt of it. The employee shall have a reasonable opportunity to respond to this evaluation before completion of the summary evaluation. 3. Summary Evaluation The immediate supervisor shall then prepare a written summary evaluation of the candidate based on the interview and the material in the retention folder. The summary evaluation must include a clear recommendation. A copy of this summary evaluation will be supplied to the employee as it is transmitted to the next level in the procedure. H. Opportunity to Examine and Respond to Materials The professional staff shall have the opportunity to review and question any and all materials submitted as part of this evaluation process. A copy of each item, not supplied by the candidate, shall be transmitted to the professional staff as soon as it has been submitted. He or she shall be given a reasonable opportunity to respond in a timely fashion to any such item and the response shall be included in the reappointment folder prior to its transmission to the next level in the procedure. I. Transmission to Higher Administrators The retention folders will be transmitted by the immediate supervisors to the next higher level of administrators, who, in turn, will transmit them to the next higher level. This procedure will be continued until the folders are forwarded to the President. Each higher level administrator shall have an opportunity to review the folder and add his or her recommendation as appropriate. These recommendation will be shared with the candidate and he or she shall be given a reasonable opportunity to respond in a timely fashion to any such item and the response shall be included in the reappointment folder prior to its transmission to the next level in the procedure. J. Review Procedure 1. A candidate who has received a negative recommendation from a supervisor may request an interview with the next higher level supervisor to address the record. The candidate shall have the option to invite other persons from the bargaining unit to attend the meeting. If this option is to be exercised, the candidate shall notify the supervisor of this intention. Upon the exercise of this option, the supervisor shall also have the right to bring others of his or her choice to the meeting. A candidate who has been notified by the President of his or her intention not to recommend reappointment may request an interview with the President. The last date for requesting such a meeting shall be announced to the candidates. 2. If a candidate requests such an interview with the President, he or she shall have the option to invite other persons from the collective bargaining unit to attend the meeting. If the option to invite others to the meeting is exercised by the candidate, he or she shall so notify the President of this intention. Upon the exercise of such an option by the candidate, the President shall also have the right to include others of his or her choice in the meeting. The purpose of said interview shall be to afford the candidate a personal opportunity to comment on the record and/or to supply additional information prior to the President formulating his or her final recommendation to the Board of Trustees. The last date for requesting such an interview shall be announced. 3. Any professional staff who is a candidate for reappointment may submit to the Board of Trustees, in writing, new evidence or information or argumentation of inadequate consideration. The deadline for providing this information shall be announced. K. Role of Board of Trustees and President The Board of Trustees shall make reappointments upon the recommendations of the President. It is the purpose of these processes to provide the Board and the President with pertinent data on the basis of which to make such determinations. L. Grievances Grievances involving alleged violations of this Article must be filed within forty five (45) days from the date upon which such claimed violation took place or forty five (45) days from the date on which the candidate should have reasonably known of its occurrence. M. Review/Notification Timetable By October 1 of each year, the President of the College/University, in consultation with the Local UNION, shall establish and publish the schedule of times for the initiation/completion of the basic steps in the review and evaluation of professional staff eligible for multi-year appointment or reappointment contracts. Such schedule shall not violate any provision of the Agreement. Eligible professional staff members must be notified by the president no later than December 15 in their fifth year of service of their reappointment or non-reappointment to a contract of three (3) fiscal years in length. N. Professional Staff Reclassification If, as a result of the review of criteria (Section B) with the immediate supervisor, an employee believes that a substantial change in job responsibilities has occurred, he or she may apply to the first level non-unit supervisor for a position reclassification.
