AR 7120.2 Classified Employee (CSEA Bargaining Unit) Recruitment and Selection

Position Authorization

Salaried positions are those with a 20 to 40 hours per week assignment.  Percent of Contract and Hourly positions are those with less than a 20 hour per week assignment and are not substitute or short term in nature.

1. Replacement positions and new positions require the line administrator/ supervisor to submit a Personnel Requisition online.  
   
   Requests for new or restructured replacement positions at one of the colleges must be reviewed by the appropriate President's Council or by the District Council for District Office positions.
    
2. Class Specifications on file in the Human Resources Department will be used for the individual job announcements.  Any special needs (e.g., bilingualism, evening hours, or other requirements) not included on the district class specification should be listed on the Personnel Requisition under special requirements. 

 Job Announcement Preparation
 
A.  The Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee reviews all Personnel Requisitions prior to the preparation of the Job Announcement and if necessary, will meet with the requester to review and clarify the criteria to ensure district compliance with the District Equal Employment Opportunity Plan.

B.  The Human Resources Department prepares the Job Announcement and distributes it to appropriate agencies, organizations and individuals.

Special Testing or Assessment

A.  Special tests or assignments that will be required of all applicants (e.g., computer proficiency), will be identified on the Job Announcement.  

B.  Any special testing or assessment recommended by the Screening Committee must be approved by the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee.

Announcement Procedures 

A.  The open application period is a minimum of 15 working days in order to provide adequate time for effective recruitment.  Following the closing date, the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee shall determine if an adequate applicant pool has been recruited.  The closing date may be extended if an adequate qualified pool is not achieved and additional recruitment efforts are required.

B.  The Job Opportunities listing is emailed to all RSCCD email users.

C.  Positions advertised "in –District only" are available only to current employees and employees on the 39 month rehire list.  (Excluding short-term and substitute employees).

D.  Current employees of the District wishing to be considered for open positions need to submit a district application and meet all requirements of the applications process (excludes transfer opportunities).  Former employees, who are on the 39 month rehire list, shall be treated in this process as though they were current employees.

E.  Job announcements will include screening criteria to be used during paper screening and interviews.  This will include: 

1. Educational experience (breadth and depth).
   
   
2. Work experience (breadth and depth).
    
3. Demonstrated ability to work cooperatively with others.
    
4. Bilingual ability (if needed).
    
5. Demonstrated experience in working with diverse socioeconomic communities.
    
6. Professional growth activities.
    
7. Specialized skills training.
    
8. Leadership skills.
    
9. Written and/or oral communication skills.
    
10. Presentation.
     
11. Problem solving.

 
Screening Committee Composition

A.  It is the responsibility of the hiring administrator to coordinate the development of the screening committee.  The committee shall consist of three (3) to seven (7) members, which includes as a minimum: the chair, an Equal Employment Opportunity Monitor appointed by the chair in consultation with the District Equal Employment Opportunity Officer or designee, and one non-management classified employee.  The chair shall notify the CSEA President of the CSEA unit members appointed to the committee.  It will be the responsibility of the CSEA President or designee to contact the chair within two (2) working days if CSEA wants to appoint a representative to the committee.  If trained, the chair may serve as the Equal Employment Opportunity Monitor on the committee.  The hiring administrator shall ensure that representation on the committee is complete and the first committee meeting is scheduled.  The screening committee may elect a co-chair to work with the chair.  All members of the Screening Committee must have attended EEO/Diversity training within the last two (2) years unless the Vice Chancellor, Human Resources grants an exception.

B.  The complete list of committee members is forwarded to the Human Resources Department.  The Equal Employment Opportunity Officer or designee will review the committee composition for appropriate diversity and to ensure that screening committee members are not applicants or related to any applicant by blood, marriage or domestic partnership.  If modification to committee membership is required, the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer or designee will consult with the screening committee chair.

 Scheduling

The chair will convene the initial meeting of the committee. Screening committees are responsible for scheduling their own meetings for the purposes of planning, screening, interviewing and deliberations.

Orientation

The Equal Employment Opportunity Officer or designee shall orient the screening committee before screening begins.  The purpose of this orientation is to familiarize the members with:

• The role of the Human Resources Department in the recruitment, selection and placement process.
• resources available to the committee
• the role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Monitor
• the charge of the committee, as well as the legal obligations and liabilities
• any other items of interest to the membership.

Responsibilities

Screening committees recommend finalists to the appropriate hiring administrator. As such, in the screening process, each is acting as an agent of the Board of Trustees. Therefore, it is important for members to know how screening processes work, to maintain the confidentiality of the deliberations and to follow EEO guidelines. Should individual committee members be named as defendants in a complaint or lawsuit, the Board will indemnify those members, provided each has followed prescribed policy and processes in executing his/her committee responsibilities. Screening committee members are expressly prohibited from meeting or conferring with one another outside of scheduled meetings to discuss any candidates or issues related to the screening process. All discussions of candidates or screening-related issues must occur with the entire committee at a scheduled meeting.

Committee members must submit all notes, screening forms or other screening materials to the chair at the conclusion of the screening process. These will be submitted to Human Resources for retention and storage. Should future complaints or lawsuits be filed, the notes, forms and/or other material will be made available to the committee members.

Persons serving on screening committees shall participate in both phases of the screening tasks (application materials screening, i.e., paper screening, and the interview phase). Any exceptions should be based on factors that do not adversely affect EEO, e.g., a subject matter expert is engaged to evaluate technical interview responses. Exceptions must be approved by the District EEO Officer or designee.

The role of the Equal Employment Opportunity Monitor on the screening committee will be the following: 

1. Serve as a voting member of the committee.
    
2. Monitor the screening process for adherence to established personnel procedures and practices.
    
3. Serve as a resource in the area of equal employment opportunity.
    
4. Serve as a liaison between the committee and the Human Resources Department to address issues and concerns regarding equal opportunity.  If the EEO Monitor resigns from the committee, the chair will contact the Equal Employment Opportunity Officer or designee to find a replacement.

If a committee member has concerns about the screening process, those concerns should be brought to the
EEO Monitor. If the EEO Monitor is unable to address the concerns, the committee member should bring the concerns to the chair and the District EEO Officer or designee.

Committee Procedures

The committee will establish the screening process, calendar, screening criteria, interview questions, and any other employment tests before paper screening begins.

In consultation with the committee, the chair will determine if the prepared set of questions is to be (a) given to the interviewees prior to the interview, (b) given to the interviewees during the interview session, or (c) asked of the interviewees during the interview.  The preference of the committee shall be communicated to the Human Resources Department.

All interview questions shall be job-related.  The questions should be based on the criteria for selection as published on the job announcement.  The approved questions shall be asked consistently of all applicants.  Follow-up questions may be asked to clarify a response given by an applicant if the response is unclear or if the candidate obviously misunderstood the question.

The Screening Committee is responsible for developing and administering any special testing or assessments, with the exception of the clerical skills evaluation, which is administered by Human Resources.

 As a standard procedure, the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee reviews all questions, special tests or assessments to ensure compliance with District and federal regulations.  When appropriate, the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee will consult with the chair on items in question.

The committee will attempt to reach consensus regarding the selection of candidates. Consensus is defined as unanimity. Prior to paper screening, the committee must agree by 2/3 majority on a procedure to follow if consensus cannot be reached. Some suggestions for the committee to consider are:

*Super majority (e.g. 2/3 majority)
*Simple majority

The committee must provide job-related reasons for the non-selection of applicants.

Paper Screening

A.  Paper screening will be scheduled following the close of the application period. The screening packet will be transmitted electronically to the chair.

B.   It is the responsibility of the chair to review the Job Announcement with the committee highlighting specific requirements and qualifications, screening criteria, the paper screening process, interview questions, other screening options, and the method of choosing candidates.  Screening at this point in the process must be based solely on the application materials submitted.  

C.  Utilizing the Paper Screening Review Form, the committee shall review all applications and evaluate them on the basis of job-related qualifications and competencies.  Evaluation criteria must be applied consistently to all candidates.  Applicants not selected for an interview shall have at least one job-related deficiency.

D.  The committee will complete a Paper Screening Review Form indicating those to be interviewed.  
 
Paper Screening Process – Review and Follow-up 

A.  The Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee will review materials submitted by the committee to ensure consistency of screening criteria and the reasons for recommending or not recommending applicants for interviews.  

B.  The Human Resources Department will coordinate the scheduling of interviews.

C.  Interviews will be scheduled no sooner than 5 working days following receipt of the paper screening materials in the Human Resources Department.

Interviews 

A.  Before interviews begin, the committee shall decide how finalists will be selected should consensus not be possible.  Sufficient time should be provided to allow a proper assessment of the candidate's qualifications.

B.  The interview packet will be transmitted electronically to the chair.

C.  Following the interview process, the committee will consider the qualifications of those interviewed and will submit an unranked list of finalists to the Human Resources Department.  The chair shall indicate on the Interview Report Form specific reasons for not recommending applicants as finalists.  No less than two finalists should be recommended to the hiring administrator, unless written justification is provided by the committee to the hiring administrator.  Upon submission of the Interview Report Form and the Finalist Recommendation Form to the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee for review, the hiring administrator may initiate the reference check process.

D.  There may be a final interview, which shall be scheduled and conducted by the hiring administrator.

Reference Check Process 

A.  It is the responsibility of the Human Resources Department to ensure that reference checks are made on all recommended finalists using the standard Reference Check form.  Additional questions may be added to the form, as long as the question(s) is (are) asked about all finalists.  In such cases, all additional questions shall be reviewed and approved by the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee.  The hiring administrator shall be responsible for the reference check process.  The co-chair may conduct the reference checking in conjunction with the hiring administrator.

Selection and Recommendation 

A.  The hiring administrator will review the recommendations of the committee and submit to the Human Resources Department a list of acceptable candidates in ranked order, along with reference checks and application packets.

B.  The Human Resources Department shall contact the top candidate and offer the position.  If the first candidate does not accept the offer, the Human Resources Department will consult with the hiring Administrator to determine if another candidate will be selected or if the position will be reopened.

 Notification of Employment 

The Human Resources Department will notify the program administrator of the candidate's acceptance.  

Board Approval 

A.  Candidates recommended for hire are submitted to the Board of Trustees at the first regularly scheduled meeting following acceptance of the position.

B.  Placement on the salary schedule is based on the approved Salary Schedule provisions and reviewed by the Vice Chancellor of Human Resources or designee.

C.  The Human Resources Department notifies the successful candidate in writing of favorable Board action and salary placement. 

Revised:  August 10, 2015
Revised:  September 19, 2016
Revised:  January 29, 2018