Solano Community College District Policies

Human Resources Policies
Series 4000

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EMPLOYMENT OF DISTRICT PERSONNEL 4000

POLICY:
The selection and appointment of all personnel is the responsibility of management, subject to final approval of the Governing Board.

The objective of the District is to recruit and employ the best qualified applicants available for any vacant position consistent with Title 5 regulations.

Applicants shall be evaluated for a position on the basis of meeting educational background and experience qualifications, the possession of skills and professional knowledge, and any other job-related criteria applicable to the position consistent with approved job descriptions.


REFERENCES/
AUTHORITY:
Solano Community College District Governing Board
California Administrative Code, Title 5, Section 51010


SLD/zg


BP 4000


ADOPTED: May 19, 1982
REVISED: February 18, 1987, March 5, 2003, January 21, 2004




SOLANO COMMUNITY COLLEGE DISTRICT
HUMAN RESOURCES PROCEDURES

EMPLOYMENT SELECTION PROCEDURES 4000

The following procedures apply to regular classified and management staff assignments.

In accordance with Title 5 regulations, the District may not designate or set aside particular positions to be filled by members of any group defined in terms of ethnic group identification, race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, disability, ancestry or sexual orientation, or engage in any other practice which would result in discriminatory or preferential treatment prohibited by state or federal law. Nor may the District apply its equal employment opportunity plan in a rigid manner which has the purpose or effect of so discriminating.

I. Request to Fill New and Vacant Positions

a. The division/department manager must complete the appropriate requisition form.

b. Submit a copy of the job description along with any recommended changes or a new job description for any new position.

c. Any changes to existing classified and management job descriptions or new job descriptions will require consultation with the collective bargaining unit, if applicable, and Governing Board approval prior to advertisement.

II. Job Announcements and Qualifications

a. Job announcements will be prepared by the Human Resources Department and distributed as indicated below for the purpose of verifying the assignment, work hours, and candidate supporting documents:

1. Classified: Distributed to manager for review.

2. Management (Educational): Distributed to Superintendent/President, appropriate vice president, division dean for division/department review, and Academic Senate President. Other management team announcements are distributed to the immediate supervisor for review.

b. Job announcements shall state clearly job specifications setting forth the knowledge, skills, and abilities necessary to job performance. Job requirements shall include a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students. Job specifications including any required or preferred qualifications beyond state minimum qualifications for management positions shall be reviewed before the position is announced to ensure conformity with Title 5 and state and federal nondiscrimination laws.

III. Development of Timeline

The committee will develop a timeline to be used in completing committee tasks.

IV. Additional Steps to Ensure Equal Employment Opportunity

a. If the District determines that a particular monitored group is significantly underrepresented with respect to one or more job categories, the District shall take additional steps. At a minimum, the District shall:

1. Review its recruitment procedures and identify and implement any additional measures which might reasonably be expected to attract candidates from the significantly underrepresented group.

2. Consider various other means of reducing the underrepresentation which do not involve taking monitored group status into account, and implement any such techniques which are determined to be feasible and potentially effective.

3. Determine whether the group is still significantly underrepresented in the category or categories in question after measures described in 1. and 2. above have been in place a reasonable period of time.

4. If significant underrepresentation persists, the staffing rate for the significantly underrepresented group in the specified job category or categories shall be monitored on an on-going basis until the projected representation has been achieved for that group in the category or categories in question.

b. If a reasonable period of time passes and significant underrepresentation persists for a particular group in the job category in question, the District shall:

1. Review each locally established required, desired or preferred qualification being used to screen applicants for positions in the job category to determine if it is job-related and consistent with business necessity through a process meeting the requirements of federal law or is among those qualifications which the Board of Governors has found to be job-related and consistent with business necessity throughout the community college system.

2. Discontinue the use of any locally established qualification that has not been found to satisfy the requirements set forth in a. above.

3. Continue using qualification standards meeting the requirements of a. above only where no alternative qualification standard is reasonably available which would select for the same characteristics, meet the requirements and be expected to have a less exclusionary effect.

4. Nothing shall be construed to prohibit the District from taking any other steps it concludes are necessary to ensure equal employment opportunity, provided that such actions are consistent with the requirements of federal and state constitutional and statutory nondiscrimination law.

V. Persons with Disabilities

The District shall ensure that applicants and employees with disabilities receive reasonable accommodations consistent with the requirements of the Government Code section 11135 et seq. and 12940(m), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Such accommodations may include, but are not limited to, job site modifications, job restructuring, part-time work schedules, flexible scheduling, reassignment to a reasonably equivalent vacant position, adaptive equipment, and auxiliary aids such as readers, interpreters, and note takers.

VI. Recruitment

a. The District (after meeting collective bargaining agreement obligations) shall actively recruit from both within and outside the District work force to attract qualified applicants for all new openings. This shall include outreach designed to ensure that all persons, including persons from monitored groups, are provided the opportunity to seek employment within the District.

b. Open recruitment shall apply to all new full-time and part-time openings in all job categories and classifications, including, but not limited to, classified employees, categorically funded positions, the Superintendent/ President, and all other executive/administrative/managerial positions.

c. Recruitment for full-time educational administrator positions shall be at least statewide and, at a minimum, shall include seeking qualified applicants listed in the California Community Colleges Equal Employment Opportunity Registry.

d. Exceptions to Open Recruitment:

1. Position is being filled on an interim basis for the minimum time necessary to allow for full and open recruitment; provided however, that no interim appointment or series of interim appointments exceed one year in duration. The Community College Chancellor may approve an extension of up to one additional year if the District demonstrates “business necessity.”

2. There is a reorganization or series of lateral transfers that do not result in a net increase in the number of employees.

3. A position which is currently occupied by an incumbent is upgraded, reclassified, or renamed without significantly altering the duties being performed by the individual.

4. The position is filled by a temporary, short-term or substitute employee appointed pursuant to Education Code sections 87422, 87480, 87482.5(b), 88003, 88106 or 88109.

e. Recruitment Period: Educational administrator positions shall be advertised for a minimum of 30 days, classified 15 days, and other management team positions for a minimum of 15 days.

VII. Committee Composition: Whenever possible, committees shall include a diverse membership which will bring a variety of perspectives to the assessment of applicant qualifications.

a. Classified: Three to five members with at least 1/3 classified employee members with one from outside the division/department. The immediate supervisor will serve on the committee. Additional committee members may be added based on a particular need subject to approval of the Director of Human Resources.

b. Management:

1. Vice President: 3 managers appointed by the Superintendent/President (one vice president, two other managers); 4 faculty appointed by the Academic Senate; 2 classified representatives (1 appointed by CSEA and one appointed by Operating Engineer); and 2 students appointed by the ASSC.

2. Deans: 3 managers (one of whom is a classified manager, supervisor or confidential employee) appointed by the appropriate vice president; 5 faculty appointed by the Academic Senate; 2 classified representatives (1 appointed by CSEA and one appointed by Operating Engineer); and 2 students appointed by ASSC.

3. Other Educational Administrators: 3 managers (one of whom is a classified manager, supervisory or confidential employee) appointed by the appropriate vice president; 4 faculty appointed by the Academic Senate, 2 classified (1 appointed by CSEA and one appointed by Operating Engineers); and 2 students appointed by the ASSC.

4. Classified Managers: 4 managers (one of whom is an educational manager) appointed by the appropriate vice president or president; 2 faculty appointed by the Academic Senate; 2 classified (1 appointed by CSEA and one appointed by Operating Engineers); 2 students appointed by the ASSC; and 1-2 outside experts in the field (optional-selected by reporting manager)

5. Supervisors and Confidential Employees: 1 manager from the department appointed by the appropriate vice president or Superintendent/President; 1 classified employee from the department appointed by the representative union; 1 faculty appointed by the Academic Senate; 1 additional person from faculty, classified or management appointed by the appropriate vice president or president; and outside expert in the field (optional-selected by reporting manager).

VIII. Committee Chair

a. Classified: Immediate supervisor will serve as the chair.

b. Management: The chair of vice president committees is appointed by the Superintendent/President. All other committee chairs are elected by the committee.

IX. Committee Member Responsibilities

a. Participating in committee training conducted by the Human Resources Department.

b. Developing a timeline to be used in completing committee tasks.

c. Being objective and fair to all candidates and ensure equality of treatment.

d. Maintaining confidentiality throughout the process (before, during and after the selection has been made). Do not divulge any information, general or specific, to anyone other than the committee members, in any capacity or forum.

e. Commitment to the process.

f. Developing screening criteria prior to application screening.

g. Application screening process.

h. Developing selection criteria, interview questions (tie questions to selection criteria), performance indicators and rating mechanism prior to application screening.

i. Integrity of the process.

j. Determination of finalists.

k. Submission of completed rating sheets (application screening and interviews) and any notes taken during interviews.

l. Notifying other committee members in a committee meeting of any known conflicts of interest. The committee member may choose to resign or the committee may allow the committee member to remain on the committee.

The integrity of the recruitment process is the responsibility of the members who serve on the committee. Members are professionally responsible to comply with state and federal laws and District procedures, and regulations. The District as well as committee members can be named in unlawful discrimination complaints and litigation.

X. Committee Chair Responsibilities

a. Committee liaison with the Human Resources Department.

b. Orienting committee members when necessary.

c. Committee operation and adherence to projected timeline.

d. Scheduling the location of the interviews and making arrangements for a person to greet the candidates and monitor the assigned review time of the interview questions immediately preceding the interviews.

e. Returning all committee members’ completed application screening forms, interview rating forms, applications, reference check forms, and recommendation of employment to the Human Resources Department.

f. Reporting problems, concerns, potential violations of these procedures to the Director of Human Resources.

XI. Applicant Pool

a. The application for employment shall provide an opportunity for each applicant to voluntarily identify his or her gender, ethnic group identification and, if applicable, his or her disability. This information shall be kept confidential and shall be used only in research, validation, monitoring, evaluating the effectiveness of the District’s equal employment opportunity program, or any other purpose authorized in Title 5 or by any applicable statute or regulation. The Human Resources Department will remove the voluntary form from the application and maintain the statistics.

b. After the application deadline has passed, the composition of the initial applicant pool shall be analyzed by the Human Resources Department to ensure that any failure to obtain projected representation for any monitored group is not due to discriminatory recruitment procedures. If necessary, the application deadline shall be extended and additional recruitment shall be conducted that eliminates discriminatory recruitment procedures and ensures the recruitment efforts provide a full and fair opportunity for participation to a wide diversity of potential applicants.

XII. Screening Minimum Qualifications

a. When recruitment efforts have offered an opportunity for participation to a wide diversity of potential applicants or further recruitment efforts would be futile, applications shall be screened by the Human Resources Department to determine if candidates satisfy the minimum qualifications as set forth in the job announcement. The chair of the committee will have an opportunity to review all applications not meeting the minimum qualifications.

b. The Human Resources Department will analyze the qualified applicant pool to ensure that no monitored group is adversely impacted. If adverse impact is found to exist, the Superintendent/President or Director of Human Resources shall take effective steps to address the adverse impact before the selection process continues. Such steps may include, but are not limited to:

1. extending the deadline and undertaking inclusive outreach efforts to ensure that members of the adversely impacted group have equal opportunity to seek employment with the District;

2. including all applicants who were screened out on the basis of any locally established qualifications beyond state minimum qualifications for faculty and management positions which have not been specifically demonstrated to be job-related and consistent with business necessity through a process meeting the requirements of federal law or which are not among those which the Board of Governors has found to be job-related and consistent with business necessity throughout the community college system.

3. If adverse impact persists after taking steps required, the selection process may proceed only if:

a. the job announcement does not require qualifications beyond the statewide minimum qualifications for management positions; or

b. locally established qualifications beyond state minimum qualifications, if any, are demonstrated to be job-related and consistent with business necessity through a process meeting the requirements of federal law and suitable alternative selection procedures to reduce the adverse impact were unavailable; or

c. the particular qualification beyond statewide minimum qualifications for management positions which are used in the job announcement are among those which the Board of Governors has found to be job-related and consistent with business necessity throughout the community college system.

d. The District may not advertise or utilize in future hiring processes for the same position or a substantially similar position any locally established qualifications beyond state minimum qualifications that the District was unable to verify unless such qualifications are so verified in advance of commencing any such future hiring process.

c. The Director of Human Resources or designee shall keep the committee chair informed of the status of the position.

XIII. Application Screening: The application screening form and the interview selection criteria/interview questions rating form must be submitted to the Human Resources Department prior to application screening and/or interviews.

a. The committee shall develop an application screening process and form to be used to determine the candidates to be invited to an interview. The form is subject to approval of the Director of Human Resources.

b. The application screening form shall be designed to ensure that meaningful consideration is given to the extent to which applicants demonstrate a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students.

c. The process and form shall be based solely on job-related criteria and designed to avoid an adverse impact and monitored by means consistent with these procedures to detect and address any adverse impact which does occur for any monitored group.

d. Upon completion of the application screening process, all screening forms shall be scored, signed and submitted to the Human Resources Department.

e. The committee chair shall submit a ranked list of the candidates to be invited to an interview based on a process that considers the individual committee members rankings of the candidates, not total composite scores of the candidates by the committee members. For example, each committee member should use the total scores of each candidate to rank the candidates from 1 to the highest number of candidates screened (scores of 98, 90, 70 should be converted to candidates #1, #2, #3 respectively). Do not add 98 + 90+ 70 as a total (258) to determine the rankings of each candidate by the committee. The Human Resources Department will provide you with a sample process and will also provide assistance in this phase of the process, if needed. Discussion of the candidates is appropriate at this time.

f. The Human Resources Department will monitor the pool of candidates recommended for the first interview. If monitoring reveals any selection technique or procedure has adversely impacted any such group, the Superintendent/President or Director of Human Resources shall suspend the selection process and timely and effective steps shall be taken to remedy the problem before the selection process resumes.

g. The Director of Human Resources may assist the screening committee by discussing the overall composition of the applicant pool and the screening criteria or procedures which have produced an adverse impact, provided that confidential information about individual candidates is not disclosed.

h. If adverse impact results from locally established qualifications beyond state minimum qualifications that have not been verified as indicated in XII.b.2. or replaced with suitable alternatives having a lesser adverse impact, the use of such qualifications shall be immediately discontinued and any applicant eliminated on the basis of that qualification shall be continued in the hiring process. Where necessary, the position may be re-opened at any time and a new selection process initiated in a way designed to avoid adverse impact.

XIV. Interview Process

a. The committee chair shall notify the Human Resources Department of the interview date(s), times, location and name of greeter providing at least two weeks notice (ten working days) to contact candidates to make appropriate arrangements.

b. The committee chair will meet with the greeter to explain the process to be followed ensuring consistency and fairness to the candidates.

c. The selection criteria/interview questions/rating form shall be designed to ensure that meaningful consideration is given to the extent to which applicants demonstrate a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students.

d. The interview process and form used shall be based solely on job-related criteria and designed to avoid an adverse impact and monitored by means consistent with these procedures to detect and address any adverse impact which does occur for any monitored group.

e. All candidates (internal and external) invited to the interview are all on the same level playing field and shall be treated fairly and given equal opportunity during the interviews to demonstrate their knowledge, skills, and abilities.

f. All candidates will be asked the same pre-approved interview questions, maintaining consistency and equity. A copy of the job description and the interview questions will be made available to the candidates during the interviews.

g. All committee members are to total the scores on the rating sheets, sign and date them, and return them to the committee chair. Any additional notes taken during the interviews are to be attached to the rating sheets and also given to the committee chair.

h. The committee member scores are intended to assist the committee member in determining his/her top candidates.

i. A discussion of candidate performance during the interviews is appropriate at the end of the interviews during the deliberation process. The discussion should include strengths and weaknesses of the finalist(s) prior to recommendation. This information is used to develop the written recommendation.

j. Committee Ranking of the Candidates:

1. The committee will determine the process to be used to determine the candidates to be forwarded to the second interview. This process should consider the individual committee member rankings of the candidates, not total composite scores of the candidates by the committee members. For example, each committee member should use the total scores of each candidate to rank the candidates from 1 to the highest number of candidates interviewed (scores of 98, 90, 70 should be converted to candidates #1, #2, #3 respectively). Do not add 98 + 90+ 70 as a total (258) to determine the rankings of each candidate by the committee. Discussion of the candidates is appropriate at this time.

2. Please contact the Human Resources Department for appropriate methods in determining the committee recommendation.

3. If the recommended candidates do not reflect the committee rankings as a group, attach a written justification to explain the committee’s decision. The decision must be job related.

XV. Reference Check Process

a. Reference checking may be done by one or more members of the committee using a Human Resources approved form.

b. The person or persons designated to complete the references must review the candidate’s reference release information for directions. If the candidate requests notification in advance, follow-up and fill in the required information on the reference release section of the application.

c. Three references are required from supervisors listed in the experience section of the application. References may be submitted from the professional reference section of the application, but they are in addition to the supervisory references.

d. If references are difficult to obtain due to lack of employment history, out of country references or for other reasons, contact the Human Resources Department for assistance.

e. All individuals contacted for references should be asked the same questions. Information should be recorded in legible writing and the reference check form should be completely filled out to include dates of experiences, reason for leaving former employment, etc.

XVI. Committee Recommendation

a. The committee chair will complete the Recommendation for Employment form providing a detailed written recommendation for the recommended candidate or candidates and submit it along with the completed reference check forms (include references who gave limited information and document the resources that were unsuccessful), the applications, interview rating forms and other documents to the Director of Human Resources.

b. Recommendations from the employee groups are as follows:

1. Classified: The committee may submit one candidate. However, the Vice President may request to interview the top candidates.

2. Management: The committee will submit no less than two and no more than three unranked candidates. However, in some cases more than three may be submitted. If this is the case, submit an explanation with the recommendation.

XVII. Second Interviews

a. The Director of Human Resources will review all recommendations and supporting documents. If further clarification is needed, the chair of the committee will be contacted for follow-up.

b. Second interviews will be handled in the following manner:

1. Classified: The Vice President has the option to require a second interview of the top candidates.

2. Management: Finalists will be interviewed by the Superintendent/ President. The Superintendent/President has the option of selecting others to assist in the second interview. The Superintendent/President shall make the final selection.

XVIII. Notification of Candidates

a. The Director of Human Resources will make offers of employment for management positions. Assigned Human Resources staff will make offers of employment to classified staff.

b. If the candidate or candidates do not accept the employment offer, the Director of Human Resources will contact the Superintendent/President, Vice President, or appropriate manager. The party or parities involved will make a decision on the next step, which may include meeting with the committee to determine if there are other persons for consideration or readvertising the position.

c. All candidates not selected shall be notified (by telephone or written notification) by the Human Resources Department as soon as the recommended candidate has accepted the contingent job offer pending Governing Board approval.

XIX. Governing Board Authority

The Governing Board or designee shall have the authority to make all final hiring decisions based upon careful review of the candidate or candidates recommended by a committee. This includes the right to reject all candidates and to order further review by the screening committee or reopen the position where necessary to further achievement of the equal employment opportunity plan or to ensure equal employment opportunity. However, a consistent pattern of not hiring qualified candidates from a monitored group who are recommended by screening committees may give rise to an inference that the selections are not consistent with the objectives of equal employment opportunity that are required.

XX. Definitions

a. Adverse impact: Adverse impact means that a statistical measure (such as those outlined in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s “Uniform Guidelines on Employee Selection Procedures”) is applied to the effects of a selection procedure and demonstrates a disproportionate negative impact on any group defined in terms of ethnic group identification, gender, or disability. A disparity identified in a given selection process will not be considered to constitute adverse impact if the numbers involved are too small to permit a meaningful comparison.

b. Business Necessity: Business necessity means circumstances which justify an exception to actively recruiting from both within and outside the District work force because compliance would result in substantial additional financial cost to the District or pose a significant threat to human life or safety. Business necessity requires greater financial cost than does mere business convenience. Business necessity does not exist where there is an alternative that will serve business needs equally well.

c. Equal Employment Opportunity: Equal employment opportunity means that all qualified individuals have a full and fair opportunity to compete for hiring and promotion and to enjoy the benefits of employment with the District. Ensuring equal employment opportunity also involves creating an environment which fosters cooperation, acceptance, democracy, and free expression of ideas and is welcoming to men and women, persons with disabilities, and individuals from all ethnic and other groups protected from discrimination.

d. Ethnic Minorities: Ethnic minorities mean American Indians or Alaskan natives, Asians or Pacific Islanders, Blacks/African-Americans, and Hispanics/Latinos.

e. Monitored Group: Monitored group means those groups identified for which monitoring and reporting is required: Gender, ethnic group identification, and disability.

f. Projected Representation: Projected representation means the percentage of persons from a monitored group determined by the Chancellor to be available and qualified to perform the work in questions.

g. Reasonable Accommodation: Reasonable accommodation means the efforts made on the part of the District to remove artificial or real barriers which prevent or limit the employment and upward mobility of persons with disabilities.

h. Reasonable Period of Time: A reasonable period of time means three years, or such longer period as the Community College Chancellor may approve, upon the request of the Equal Employment Opportunity Advisory Committee and the Superintendent/President, where the District has not filled enough positions to appreciably affect its work force in the job category in question.

i. Screening and Selection Procedure: Screening or selection procedure means any measure, combination of measures, or procedure used as a basis for any employment decision. Selection procedures include the full range of assessment techniques, including but not limited to, traditional paper and pencil tests, performance tests, and physical, education, and work experience requirements, interviews and review of application forms.


SLD/zg

BP 4000 Employment Selection Procedures

References: Sections 51010 – 53025 of chapter 4 of division 6 of Title 5 of the California Code of Regulations

Governing Board Review: 12/16/92

Revised: 1/27/03
Shared Governance Approval: 1/29/03
Governing Board Review: 2/19/03
Governing Board Review: 1/21/04

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