North Carolina Central University

MERIT-BASED RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PLAN

Julius Chambers, Chancellor
Ruby Pittman, Vice Chancellor for Financial Affairs
Mavis B. Lewis, Human Resources Director
5/5/98

Purpose

The purpose of this merit-based recruitment and selection plan is to fill positions subject to the State Personnel Act from among the most qualified individuals.

In the recruiting and selection process, North Carolina Central University will give equal employment opportunity to all applicants, without regard to race, religion, color, creed, national origin, sex, age, disability, or political affiliation/influence; and will be based solely on job related criteria. The recruitment and selection process will be consistently applied, nondiscriminatory, and promote fairness, diversity, and integrity. The recruitment and selection process will comply with all Federal and State laws, regulations, and policies.

Commitment  
from Management 
  
 

The Chancellor, Vice Chancellor for Financial Affairs and Human Resources Director accept responsibility for ensuring that all hiring practices are applied consistently and equitably, thereby demonstrating commitment and support of the merit-based recruitment and selection plan.

The Chancellor, Vice Chancellor for Financial Affairs and Human Resources Director accept responsibility for ensuring that the recruitment and selection process complies with all applicable and existing state and federal laws, policies, and rules governing personnel actions, including Senate Bill 886. The merit-based recruitment and selection plan will also comply with established policies issued by the Office of State Human Resources. Positive efforts will be made to recruit qualified individuals including minorities, women and persons with disabilities for applicant pools. In addition, the Human Resources Director will demonstrate efforts to consider and apply contemporary human resources practices.

Ethics Statement

The citizens of North Carolina and the state workforce deserve strong assurances that knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are the basis for state government hiring decisions, not political patronage. In order to assure the integrity of state government, every employee has a responsibility to view public service as a public trust and to act impartially. Preferential treatment will not be given to any private organization or individual based on political affiliation or influence.

Communication

North Carolina Central University will implement strategies to inform employees, applicants, and the general public of the merit-based recruitment and selection plan, i.e. e-mail, memoranda, and vacancy announcements.

Information sheets relative to SB 886 will be distributed to all staff. Additional information, such as a copy of the University Plan, will be available in the Human Resources Office, the Library and University units. Employees with questions may contact the Employment Officer at 560-5146.

In addition, North Carolina Central University will post the merit-based recruitment and selection position statement on bulletin boards, include the plan in the Human Resources Policy and Procedures Manual, and a statement on the vacancy announcement.

Training

North Carolina Central University will provide merit-based recruitment and selection training to managers/supervisors and Human Resources staff on a scheduled basis and thereafter, on a continued basis. Updates and revisions to North Carolina Central University's merit-based recruitment and selection plan will be communicated through written materials and training sessions.

Role Definitions/ 
Expectations

A. The Human Resources Director is responsible for leadership in developing and implementing merit-based procedures and demonstrating commitment and support for merit-based recruitment and selection.

B. Managers and supervisors are responsible for evaluating the need for filling vacant positions; maintaining accurate and current position descriptions for subordinate jobs; understanding the concepts of the merit-based system and communicating the process to employees and applicants; making every effort to achieve and maintain a diverse workforce; demonstrating commitment and support for merit-based recruitment and selection; making all hiring decisions based on merit principles; and documenting selection decisions.

C.  Human Resources Personnel are  responsible for demonstrating commitment and support for merit-based recruitment and selection in daily operations; providing technical advice and assistance to managers and supervisors; developing agency specific policies and procedures for merit based actions; ensuring the training of managers and supervisors on a variety of issues relating to merit-based recruitment and selection; monitoring recruitment and selection activities for adherence to merit-based policies and procedures; and maintaining recruitment and selection data in order to conduct employment trend analyses.

D. The Equal Opportunity Officer (EOO) is responsible for demonstrating commitment and support for merit-based recruitment and selection.

E. Employees and applicants are responsible for obtaining vacancy information in order to submit the required materials; providing full and complete information as to their qualifications; and submitting materials for the vacancy by the established deadline.

Pre-recruitment/ 
Recruitment  
Activities 
  
 

North Carolina Central University will strive to actively recruit from a variety of sources to achieve a diverse workforce that successfully meets the needs and demands of the University.

The hiring manager, with assistance and guidance from the Human Resources staff, will:

* assess the need for the position to ensure it contributes to meeting the goals, objectives, and mission of the department or work unit; 
* conduct a job analysis including a review of the duties, responsibilities, and qualifications of the position; and 
* revise the position description if necessary.

Job analysis is necessary only when there is a change in the duties and responsibilities that impacts qualifications required. Therefore, if a current, accurate job analysis already exists for a given job type, there is no need to conduct a new one for each individual vacancy. For example, in instances where there is a high volume of positions in a class, frequent turnover in a class, or little job change, there will likely not be a need to conduct a new job analysis each time a vacancy occurs. As long as there is a job analysis on file that accurately assesses the position, there is not a requirement to conduct another one.

The hiring manager and Employment Officer will ensure that the critical tasks, KSAs, and training and experience requirements, including any selective criteria, necessary to successfully perform the duties of the position have been identified. In order to assure a timely and efficient process, generic KSAs (included on class specifications) may be utilized for recruitment and selection purposes where they are sufficient for differentiating qualifications of applicants.

Information from the job analysis and position description will guide the hiring manager in drafting the vacancy announcement. The Employment Officer will ensure that the vacancy announcement meets the requirements of State policy.

The hiring manager and the Employment Officer will determine the appropriate options in posting a vacancy. In addition, the Employment Officer will consult with the hiring manager to determine additional recruitment sources, if needed, to target specific audiences, including professional journals, newspapers, and technical colleges/universities.

Prior to the vacancy closing date, the hiring manager will determine any selection tool(s) that will be used in the final evaluation process. Any selection tool(s) utilized will be objective, based upon job-related KSAs, and be consistently applied to all applicants in the final selection pool. The Employment Officer should be consulted for assistance and will be responsible for review of selection tools and procedures. Some examples of selection tools include structured interview, in-basket exercises, written tests, skills tests, and reference checks.

Selection  
Process

A. Definitions

1. Selective criteria - additional minimum qualifications specifically related to the duties and responsibilities of the individual position

2. Knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs)

- knowledge - information which makes adequate performance on the job possible 
- skill - a proficiency that is readily observable, quantifiable, and measurable (examples include skill in typing; skill in operating a vehicle) 
- ability - capacity to perform an activity at the present time

3. Preferences - Specific types of experiences, degrees, licenses, KSAs, or other selection factors above those minimally required to perform the duties and responsibilities of a position

4. Minimum qualifications - minimum training and experience requirements including knowledges, skills, abilities, and selective criteria included on the vacancy announcement

5. Qualified - those applicants whose credentials indicate the possession of training and experience, selective criteria, and KSAs included in the vacancy announcement

6. Most qualified - the group of applicants who, to the greatest extent, possesses qualifications   which exceed the minimum requirements described in the vacancy announcement.

B. Differentiating qualified and most qualified applicants

1 . Determining qualified applicants

Applications are to be submitted to the Human Resources Department. The Employment Officer will screen all applications to determine which applicants meet minimum qualification requirements including any selective criteria. In situations where there are 10 or less applications meeting the essential qualifications, all may be forwarded directly to the hiring manager in alphabetical order. This group then becomes the pool of most qualified applicants. If the quality of applications forwarded is deemed insufficient, the hiring manager may choose to re-advertise the position.

2. Determining most qualified applicants

If there are more than 10 qualified applicants, a second level of evaluation will be conducted to determine those that are most qualified. Applications are evaluated by the Employment Officer to determine the extent to which minimum qualifications are exceeded in order to identify the most qualified.

Those clearly exceeding minimum qualifications will be a manageable number. A manageable number typically is 10 if the number of applications exceed this range, a more detailed analysis may be in order. Any further analysis must continue to be based upon the job-related qualifications identified in the vacancy announcement.

If there are no applicants which clearly exceed the minimum qualifications, the hiring manager may determine the existing applicants to be considered as the most qualified applicant pool or a decision may be made to readvertise the vacancy.

Applications must be reviewed in relation to all applicable policies and issues.

Employment/ 
Reemployment  
Priorities

The Employment Officer will review the initial applicant pool to identify applicants with priority status. All employment/reemployment priorities are to be afforded in accordance with State policy. This will require, in some instances, that applications of individuals with certain priorities will be included among those referred to the hiring manager. All individuals involved in application evaluation, including the hiring manager, will receive advice and guidance from the Employment Officer regarding the priority consideration.

Consideration must be given to applicants that have the following priorities:

Making the  
Final  
Selection 
Recommendation/
Decision

The  final recommendation/selection decision will be made from among the most qualified applicants. Applicants with priority reemployment must also be given appropriate consideration. The hiring manager will utilize selection tools that are objective and based upon job-related KSAs. Any selection tool will be consistently applied to all applicants in the final pool. The hiring manager will also be responsible for documenting the selection process and justifying the hiring recommendation/decision. The Employment Officer will be available for guidance and assistance to the hiring manager at any time during the selection process. The Employment Officer will review the applicant package to ensure employment/reemployment priorities are properly afforded. Applicants not selected for the position will receive timely written notice of the selection decision.

Approval Process

Once the interviews have been conducted, the hiring manager shall submit the Recommendation for Employment (Form 6) and the Selection Decision Log (Form 3) to the Employment Officer in the Human Resources Department.

Documentation  
of Process

It will be the practice of North Carolina Central University to maintain documentation of the merit-based recruitment and selection process in order to support the decisions and to provide fact-based information for monitoring and evaluating recruitment and selection practices and procedures.

A file will be maintained for each hiring event for a minimum of three years. Each file will contain:

* any record of job analysis conducted for the vacancy including any additional KSAs and/or selective  
  criteria that resulted from job analysis (or a reference to the job analysis utilized for the vacancy) 
* vacancy announcement 
* recruitment sources 
* selection tools and criteria applications received 
* priority reemployment inventory/register selection/decision log  
* inventory of applicants as unqualified, qualified, and most qualified 
* recruitment and selection checklist

Appeals Process

If an applicant has reason to believe that he/she was denied employment due to political affiliation or influence, the applicant may appeal the hiring decision directly to the Office of Administrative Hearings within 30 days of written notification that the position has been filled if all the following conditions apply:

* applicant timely applied for the position in question; 
* applicant was not hired into the position;  
* applicant was among the most qualified persons applying for the position; 
* successful applicant for the position was not among the most qualified persons applying for the position; and 
* hiring decision was based upon political affiliation or political influence

Monitoring/ 
Evaluation

The Employment Officer will periodically review program data across the University to ensure that recruitment and selection activities are in compliance with the University Plan. The Employment Officer will compile and analyze an annual summary of selection activity for the Human Resources Director. This report will include analysis of the impact on demographic groups, exceptions to policy, and other relevant factors. The Human Resources Director will also comply with the reporting and plan update requirements from the Office of State Human Resources.