3356-9-02. Selection, appointment, and annual evaluation of administrative officers

(A) Policy statement. In the selection and annual evaluation of administrative officers of the university, the board of trustees is committed to the principle of collegiality where, as appropriate, members of the university community (students, faculty, and staff) have an opportunity to participate in the decision-making processes of the university. The board of trustees acknowledges the need for the establishment of processes for the selection and regular evaluation of administrative officers. The board also affirms the principles of collegiality and merit-based rewards in these processes that are directly associated with positive evaluation of these officers.

(B) Parameters.

(1) A position announcement, including the required and preferred qualifications, will be developed and brought to the president for review and approval prior to initiating the search.

(2) Advertising to fill administrative officer positions will be done in a manner that will create a diverse pool of candidates of racial, ethnic and social backgrounds reflecting a wide diversity of values, ideas, and beliefs.

(3) An individual selected to serve as an administrative officer will be identified from an applicant pool obtained as a result of a national search process. With the approval of or when deemed necessary by the president, a search firm may be utilized. Filling these positions on an interim basis may be done without initiating a formal process (see rule 3356-9-10 of the Administrative Code, "Acting/interim appointments of university administrators").

(4) In recognition of the principles of collegiality, advisory committees may be utilized during the process of searching, screening, and interviewing potential administrative officers.

(5) Evaluation involves an employee and supervisor in a yearly process of mutually identifying measurable objectives, regular review of progress toward their achievement, and year-end determination of whether or not the objectives were met.

(6) The evaluation process may involve merit salary considerations as part of the year-end session.

(C) Role of the administrative officers. Administrative officers of the university maintain management responsibilities for a specific segment of the campus. They also serve as an integral part of the university's leadership team that is responsible for the overall direction of the institution. Each serves as primary advisor on the various divisional advisory committees and as members of the executive and administrative staff council. Each dean , associate dean and chair has certain responsibility for one of the colleges and reports directly or through the chain of command to the provost and vice president for academic affairs. Associate vice presidents, associate provosts, assistant provosts, and executive directors are responsible for a major administrative unit and each reports directly to an executive level officer or the president. Administrative officers of the university include:

(1) College deans, associate deans, and chairs.

(2) Associate vice presidents.

(3) Executive directors.

(4) Associate provosts.

(5) Assistant provosts.

(6) Director of equal opportunity and policy development.

(7) Other positions designated by the president.

(D) Procedures for the selection of administrative officers. The procedures that follow provide an overall structure for administrative officer selection. It is recognized that these procedures may need to be adjusted to accommodate a particular situation, i.e., selection of chairs (see the YSU-YSU/OEA collective bargaining agreement). When an administrative officer vacancy occurs, the hiring manager will follow the prescribed electronic process to see approval to post the position and follow standard search procedures as established by the office of human resources. The following is a general description of the search process.

(1) When there is a need to identify a new administrative officer, the appropriate executive level officer (see rule 3356-9-01 of the Administrative Code) or designee appointed by the president will appoint a search advisory committee.

(2) This committee will include representatives of the affected university division and may include other members of the university community and other external members as appropriate.

(3) This committee will review all of the applications received, identify those meeting the pre-established qualifications, complete an initial check of references of the qualified candidates, and recommend a short list of candidates to be interviewed.

(4) This committee will be involved in the process of interviewing all of the candidates visiting the campus.

(5) The on-campus interview process may include a broad representation of the affected university division, other members of the university community, including the board of trustees and others identified by the appropriate executive level officer or designee appointed by the president.

(6) Upon the conclusion of the interview process, the search advisory committee will submit to the appropriate executive level officer or designee appointed by the president an unranked list of three to five candidates, with an assessment of each, that are recommended to fill the vacant position.

(7) The appropriate executive level officer appointed by the president, in consultation with the president, will review the list of recommended candidates to identify the person to be extended an offer. The office of human resources will extend an offer of employment that is contingent upon the approval of the board of trustees. The offer will be in the form of either an appointment or an employment contract.

(a) Appointments will include a ninety-day notice of termination clause. Appointments are contingent upon board approval; however, employees may begin employment prior to board approval. See rule 3356-9-05 of the Administrative Code, university policy 3356-9-05"Faculty rank and tenure for designated administrators." Administrators with tenure may be returned to faculty without providing the ninety-day notice period.

(b) When it is in the best interest of the university, the president may issue an employment contract for multiple years. Employment contracts must be approved by the board of trustees in advance of the employment start date.

(8) The chief human resources officer will prepare and submit a summary of all personnel actions (i.e., appointments, promotions, reclassifications, transfers, demotions, salary adjustments, and separations) to the university affairs committee for recommendation for approval by the board of trustees. The personnel actions shall be contingent upon approval by the board.

(E) Exceptions to the selection procedures. Exceptions to the above selection requirements may be granted in special circumstances where departure offers demonstrable benefits for the university. A request for such an exception must be submitted in writing to the office of human resources and the office of equal opportunity and policy development for review and recommendation. A request initialed by a hiring department, together with the recommendations of human resources and equal opportunity, will be submitted to the president, who will take final action on the request and report the recommendations and action taken to the university affairs committee of the board of trustees at or before its next meeting.

(F) Procedures for the evaluation of administrative officers. The procedures that follow provide an overall structure for evaluation. It is recognized that these procedures may need to be adjusted to accommodate a particular situation.

(1) The evaluation process is conducted on an annual basis.

(2) The process will be initiated with one-on-one session(s) between the administrative officer and the executive officer or the president.

(3) This initial phase of the process is devoted to dialog, whereby mutually acceptable annual objectives are identified and finalized in writing at the start of the calendar year.

(4) Throughout the course of the year, one-on-one sessions will be initiated by either party to review the progress being made toward the achievement of the objectives. Adjustments can be made to the objectives during these sessions.

(5) At year's end, during a one-on-one session between the administrative officer and the executive officer, the degree to which these objectives have been met is determined and preliminary salary adjustment considerations may be discussed. The board of trustees considers it important to have the evaluation of administrative officers include the perspective of their constituents and subordinates. Therefore, an important component of the overall evaluation will be input from a sample of constituents and subordinates.

(6) All administrative officers' merit considerations are reviewed by the executive officers in a group setting to ensure consistent application from an institutional perspective.

(7) When considering salary adjustments for administrative officers, the president will submit proposed adjustments to the university affairs committee for its review and comment prior to implementing said adjustment(s).

Effective: 7/20/2020
Promulgated Under: 111.15
Statutory Authority: 3356
Rule Amplifies: 3356
Prior Effective Dates: 11/04/1977, 08/15/1998, 04/24/2000, 06/16/2003, 07/10/2010, 08/23/2010, 02/10/2014, 03/10/2014, 08/31/2015, 04/04/2019