SUNY University-Wide Human Resources Manual
Orientation - Evaluation

last updated: Tuesday, November 9, 2004

Performance evaluation is important to employees, their supervisors, the individual campus, and to SUNY. The purpose of evaluation as spelled out in the "Memoranda of Understanding…" for UUP professional employees referenced below, provides guidance for the evaluations of all employees. These purposes of evaluation include to:

1. provide the college president [campus chief administrative officer] with consultation in making a decision to renew or non-renew a professional employee's appointment;
2. provide a base for performance improvement;
3. serve as a guide to reevaluate job functions;
4. provide the college president with consultation in a decision as to promotions and discretionary salary increase;
5. and provide a basis for career growth.

Additionally, the performance program required for the evaluation of all employees except academic employees, graduate/teaching assistants, and SUNY professional service managerial/confidential employees may become an important document to determine where a position fits within the organization in the event that retrenchments or layoffs become necessary. For academic employees, the annual report might be called upon to serve a similar purpose.

A supervisor's appraisal of employee work performance is a constant process. All employees are subject to evaluations of their job performance under established performance evaluation systems appropriate to their category of employment and the bargaining unit to which their official title is assigned. Except for academic employees, designated immediate supervisors are delegated responsibility for the evaluation, as required, of the work performance of employees reporting to them regardless of the performance evaluation system used. Such evaluations must be based upon a mutual understanding of the duties and responsibilities of the job and specific objectives, including professional development activities, for a specifically defined evaluation period that must be spelled out in a written employee performance program provided to employees at the beginning of such period. "Mutual understanding" does not mean that employees have the opportunity to choose what they will or will not do -- instead, it means that the supervisor develops a performance program consistent with the title and grade to which the employee is appointed and that, within that performance program, both the employee and the supervisor have a clear understanding from the performance program of what the basis for the next evaluation for the employee will be. Although evaluation is an on-going process, all employees, except academic employees, graduate/teaching assistants, and SUNY Professional Service Managerial/Confidential employees must receive a written performance evaluation at least once a year that includes an overall rating, along with a new performance program outlining objectives for the following year. Although annual evaluations of SUNY Professional Service Managerial/Confidential Employees are not mandated, they are highly recommended.

There are appeal procedures for employees who receive evaluations characterized as "unsatisfactory". Employees represented by Council 82 may also file an appeal in response to a "good" rating. Within the various collective negotiations agreements there are also provisions that allow employees to place written responses of reasonable length to statements in their evaluations that they consider adverse.

Academic Staff
Academic staff are normally not subject to a "top down" evaluation. Instead, in accordance with campus based procedures, they prepare annual activities reports for appropriate review. The number and level of reviews required might be related to the purpose of the review. For example, when academic employees are being reviewed for reappointment, promotion, and/or tenure, they develop substantial reports that may be reviewed by departmental committees, school or campus-wide committees, the chair, the dean, the vice president, and the president. On the other hand, a campus may only require a review by the chair and dean for academic employees already possessing tenure when no other personnel action is being recommended concurrently. If the report is associated with a personnel recommendation, each review level included in the campus's procedures will usually prepare an appropriate recommendation.

The President may also invoke a "top down" evaluation for an academic employee if warranted. Authority for such evaluations is provided in Article XII (Evaluation and Promotion of Academic and Professional Employees), Title A. (Evaluation of Academic Employees) of the Policies of the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York.

Campuses should consult with the SUNY Office of Employees Relations for step-by-step guidance before conducting a "top down" evaluation of an academic employee.

Classified Service M/C, Council 82, CSEA, NYSCOPBA and PEF
Evaluations for classified service employees represented by Council 82, CSEA, NYSCOPBA, or PEF and classified service managerial/confidential employees who are not represented, must be evaluated annually based upon performance programs prepared by their immediate supervisors. In all cases, supervisors must develop a new performance program for an employee (1) upon the employee's initial appointment, (2) as changes in the performance requirements, including a change in immediate supervisor, occur, and (3) when the annual evaluation is completed - a new performance program for the next evaluation period. The performance program information section of the evaluation form is completed at the beginning of the evaluation period and shared with the employee. Then the supervisor holds the original until the end of the evaluation cycle when the evaluation section of the form that measures performance against the performance program is completed.

Graduate/Teaching Assistants
Campuses have some discretion in whether or not to formally evaluate graduate/teaching assistants. If they choose to, they should be guided by Article 22 of the agreement negotiated with the Graduate Student Employee Union that states:

Where written employee evaluations are conducted, employees shall be notified in writing of the procedure used for such evaluations. Within ten calendar days of the employee's receipt of a written evaluation, the employee may submit a formal written response that will be attached to the evaluation. The written evaluation and the employee's formal written response shall be placed in the employee's official personnel file.

Employees shall have the right to comment upon existing written evaluation procedures, to comment upon changes to such written evaluation procedures, or to comment upon newly developed written evaluation procedures.

Professional Employees
Professional Employees in the unclassified service must receive an annual evaluation based upon a performance program developed by the immediate supervisor within 30 days of a professional employee's initial appointment, as changes warrant, and again at the end of each annual evaluation. Guidelines for the preparation of the Performance Program and the conduct of the Annual Evaluation are contained in the Memoranda of Understanding relating to Evaluation and Promotion for Professional Employees referenced below. Campuses have some discretion in scheduling the annual evaluations of professional employees except that employees must receive evaluations and recommendations made by the immediate supervisor pertaining to reappointment no later than 45 calendar days prior to the date upon which notice of non-renewal is due.

SUNY Professional Service Managerial/Confidential Employees
Campuses are free to develop and implement evaluation systems of their own choosing for SUNY Professional Service Managerial/Confidential Employees and are encouraged to do so.

Reference(s):

Evaluation and Promotion of Academic and Professional Employees, Article XII SUNY Polices
http://www.suny.edu/Board_of_Trustees/PDF/Policies.pdf

Memorandum of Understanding Between State University of New York and United University Professions (UUP)
Relating to Systems of Evaluations and Promotion for Professional Employees
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/CNA/1999to2003/uup/appendix_a-28.htm (old)
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/cna/1999to2003/uuppsnu/08appa28.html (new)

Performance Evaluation" in appropriate collective bargaining agreement (Check both contract articles and appendices for performance evaluation)
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/CNA/agreement.html (old)
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/cna/bucenter/index.html (new)

Arbitration Decision from 1977 relating to evaluation that established some standards

Form(s):

Performance Evaluation Appeal Form for CSEA, Classified M/Cs and PEF

Performance Evaluation Appeal Form for Security Services Employees

Performance Evaluation Appeal Form for Security Supervisors

Performance Evaluation Form for CSEA (ASU, ISU, OSU) (MSWord non fill-in) or (MSWord fill-in) or (PDF non fill-in) or (PDF fill-in)

Performance Evaluation Form for M/C classified service employees (MSWord non fill-in) or (MSWord fill-in) or (PDF non fill-in) or (PDF fill-in)

Performance Evaluation Form for PS&T (PEF) employees (MSWord non fill-in) or (MSWord fill-in) or (PDF non fill-in) or (PDF fill-in)

Performance Evaluation Form for Security Services employees (to be developed)

Performance Evaluation Form for SUNY Professional Employees (SUNY Original)

Performance Evaluation Form for SUNY Professional Employees (SUNY Modified Original)

Performance Program Form for SUNY Professional Employees (SUNY Original)

Performance Program Form for SUNY Professional Employees (SUNY Modified Original)

Performance Evaluation Forms for SUNY Professional Services -- on this page you will find two samples each of a Performance Program Form and a Performance Evaluation Form for SUNY Professional Employees but campuses are free to create their own forms. However, such forms must be in compliance with the "Memoranda of Understanding Between State University of New York and United University Professions Relating to Systems of Evaluation and Promotion for Professional Employees Revised 1989".