MERIT BASED RECRUITMENT AND
SELECTION PLAN

William C. Harrison, Ed. D., Chairman, State Board of Education
June St. Clair Atkinson, Ed. D., State Superintendent, Department of Public Instruction
Jack R. Stone, Director, Human Resources Division

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 who apply. In recruitment and selection, the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction, (NCDPI) will give equal employment opportunity to all applicants, without regard to race, religion, color, creed, national origin, gender, age, disability, or political affiliation or influence. Recruitment and selection will be based solely on job-related criteria, consistently applied, nondiscriminatory, promoting fairness, diversity, integrity and will comply with all Federal and State laws, regulations, and policies.

COMMITMENT FROM MANAGEMENT

The State Superintendent for the N.C. Public Schools, the Department's Human Resources Director, and the senior leadership are responsible for ensuring that all hiring practices are applied consistently and equitably, demonstrating commitment and support of the merit-based recruitment and selection plan. This senior leadership team accepts 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 G.S. 126-14.2 - "Political Hirings Limited." The plan will also comply with established policies issued by the Office of State Personnel. Recruitment efforts will be made to attract qualified individuals including minorities, women, and persons with disabilities for applicant pools. In addition, the Human Resources Director and Department's senior leadership team will demonstrate efforts to consider and apply, as feasible, 21st century human resource management practices.

ETHICS STATEMENT

The citizens of North Carolina and the State workforce expect strong assurances that knowledge, skills, and abilities 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 demonstrate day-to-day a commitment of service over self interest. Preferential treatment will not be given to any private organization or individual based on political affiliation or influence.

COMMUNICATION

The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's Human Resources Department informs employees, applicants, and the general public of the merit-based recruitment and selection plan. The plan is available to all employees and the public via a link on the NC DPI job openings website (www.ncpublicschools.org/jobs). It is also available via link on the Office of State Personnel website (http://www.osp.state.nc.us/manuals/plans/rs.html) and upon request, is available in print from a Human Resources Division staff member. Questions may be directed to the NCDPI Human Resources Division at 919-807-3385. A declaration that the department is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer is provided on each vacancy announcement.

TRAINING

The Department of Public Instruction will provide merit-based recruitment and selection training to managers, supervisors and agency personnel staff on a scheduled basis. Updates and revisions to the Department's plan will be communicated through written materials and training sessions. Continuous one-on-one assistance is provided to departmental hiring officials each time a recruitment and hiring process is initiated by a division.

ROLE DEFINITIONS/EXPECTATIONS

The State Superintendent for the N.C. Public Schools is responsible for leadership in assuring that merit-based procedures are followed and demonstrates commitment and support for merit-based recruitment and selection. This commitment is delegated to the Human Resources Director for department compliance.
The Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Academic Officer, the Chief Information Officer delegate to their respective Division Directors and Section Chiefs the responsibility for evaluating staffing needs, the need for recruitment in order to fill vacant positions, maintain accurate position descriptions that match current organizational needs, and to demonstrate an understanding of and adherence to the concepts of a merit-based system. They assist in communicating the process to employees and applicants, demonstrate commitment and support by making every reasonable effort to achieve, and maintain a diverse workforce. All hiring decisions are based on merit, job-related principles, and every
The Human Resources Division is responsible for demonstrating commitment and support for merit-based recruitment and selection in daily operations. They provide technical assistance and advice to managers and supervisors, develop agency-specific policies and procedures for merit-based actions and ensure the training of managers and supervisors on a variety of issues relating to merit-based recruitment and selection. They monitor recruitment and selection activities, and maintain data to conduct employment trend analysis.
Employees and applicants are responsible for submitting required application materials and providing complete qualification information on the official employment application. Materials must be submitted for the vacancy by the established deadlines. Submission of a resume only does not constitute that you are an applicant for a position with the Department.

RECRUITMENT PROCESS AND ADVERTISING

The N.C. Department of Public Instruction will strive to recruit actively from a variety of sources to achieve and maintain a diverse workforce that successfully meets the needs and demands of the agency. This is done primarily through the use of web based internet resources, though targeted recruitment is often used when specific occupation or professional groups are contacted.

When a division has a position to fill (vacant or anticipated to become vacant), the hiring official (designated manager or supervisor) must submit an "Employment Recruitment/Job Vacancy Announcement", Form 200 to the Division Director; as appropriate the Associate State Superintendent (CFO, CIO, CAO) or State Superintendent signifies concurrence for recruitment to begin and then to the Human Resources Director. This form includes budget, advertising and posting information. Recruitment advertising will accurately reflect the present position functions and include the following information:

position title,
essential functions,
required knowledge, skills and abilities and minimum training and experience requirements as contained in the classification specification,
location of position if other than Raleigh, NC,
salary range,
how and where to apply,
recruitment closing date,
position number,
the equal opportunity/affirmative action statement, and
any additional job-related selection criteria and/or preferences.

The Human Resources Division places all advertisements and conducts all recruitment efforts in accordance with the Office of State Personnel guidelines. For the purposes of DPI vacancy postings, there are three types of advertisements: internal to agency, internal to state government, and external, as follows:

Internal to agency: Any part-time or full-time permanent, time-limited, or probationary employee holding a position within the Department of Public Instruction.

Internal to state government: Any internal agency candidate as listed above and any part-time or full-time permanent, time-limited, or probationary employee from other state government agencies.

External: Any type of candidate can apply.

Regardless of type, an individual wishing full consideration must submit a complete employment application during the advertised recruitment period.

The hiring official may request that the recruitment be either:

Limited to internal applicants with the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and, upon request, at a later date, available to external applicants if necessary; or
Limited to state government applicants and, upon request, at a later date, available to external applicants if necessary; or
Initially available to both internal and external applicants.

For the purpose of DPI job vacancy advertising, there are two types of jobs, professional level and office support.
Professional level jobs will be advertised internal to agency for a minimum of seven calendar days, internal to state government for a minimum of 15 calendar days, or externally for a minimum of 30 calendar days. Office support jobs will be advertised internal to agency for a minimum of seven calendar days, internal to state government for a minimum of seven calendar days, or externally for a minimum of seven calendar days.

Internal advertisements are posted on the NC DPI Intranet Internal posting webpage for department employees' consideration. Job vacancies that are advertised internal to state government and externally are normally listed with the Office of State Personnel, the Employment Security Commission, and on the Department's website. Other electronic and print advertising may include additional newspapers, trade journals, prominent electronic web recruiting sites, college and university placement offices, and professional organizations.

APPLICATION PROCESS

Applicants must complete an "Application for Employment State of North Carolina" form (PD-107) or the Department's HR-107, "NCDPI Application for Employment." If a permanent NCDPI employee, a completed "Career Advancement Application and Career Advancement Request" form (NCDPI HR-101) will suffice in lieu of a PD-107 or HR-107. Note: An individual who submits an unsolicited resume is not given consideration in lieu of the submission of the required completed application.

All applications must be received in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction's Human Resources Division on or before 5 p.m. on the closing date indicated in the recruitment advertising. The Human Resources Division responds to all applicant requests, reviews and evaluates all applications, establishes all recruitment records, and tracks the status of each application.

Following the closing date and completion of the applicant tracking process, a work force availability analysis is conducted to determine if the demographic representation of the applicant pool is adequate in terms of the department's commitment to diversity. If significant deficiencies in representation are identified in a category for which the Equal Employment Opportunity Affirmative Action Plan has an established hiring goal, additional recruitment efforts may be necessary. If the demographic composition of the pool is acceptable, those applications are evaluated that meet the state's minimum qualifications for the position classification and those identified as among the better qualified in relation to specific position requirements are then forwarded to the hiring official. Other items referred with the applications include:

the Hiring Process Instructions including Guidelines for an Effective, Legal Job Interview and Reference Checks;
the Recruitment/Selection Equal Employment Opportunity form;
the Applicant Referral Record Worksheet; and
the Employment Checklist along with applicable forms to be filled out when hiring a new employee.

SELECTION PROCESS

As appropriate, priority status considerations are identified by the Human Resources Recruiter to determine eligibility and ensure that hiring officials are compliant. The Human Resources Recruiter is responsible for assuring compliance when there are applicants/employee candidates with eligibility for the priorities required under the State Personnel Act.

Priority Considerations

These priorities include:

priority reemployment for Reduction-in-Force employees
priority reemployment for Exempt Policy-Making and Exempt Managerial employees,
Promotional Priority Consideration for career state employees in certain circumstances,
Veterans' Preference (when accompanied by an official discharge paper - DD-214)
Workers' Compensation return-to-work priority.

Review and Selection

The hiring official or designee will evaluate the better qualified applications that have been forwarded by the Human Resources Division, conduct an analysis of the applicants in the pool, and then select the candidates to be interviewed and conduct the interviews. The hiring official also conducts reference checks on the top candidates as a part of the evaluation process.

If the hiring official decides that a panel interview would be more effective, the panel members will:

be selected from the same or closely related field to the position being filled;
include a Human Resources Division representative designated by the Human Resources Director as an advisor to ensure that merit-based policies and procedures are consistently applied;
be familiar with selection guidelines;
represent the organization's profile in terms of race, gender, and age;
consist of two or more members depending upon the number of applicants being rated;
assure confidentiality in regards to those under consideration and the selection criteria.

The hiring official makes the final selection decision documenting selection and non-selection reasons that are objective and based on job related knowledge, skills and abilities. Completion, including appropriate signatures, of the Recruitment/Selection Equal Opportunity form, the Department of Public Instruction Personnel Action Request, form 210 and the Applicant Referral Record Worksheet is mandatory. The Applicant Referral Record Worksheet must indicate job-related, selection or non-selection reasons for each applicant, reference information, and those candidates interviewed. These forms and the Applications For Employment are returned to the Human Resources Division Director. The Human Resources Division staff will be available for guidance and assistance to the hiring official at any time during the selection process.

APPROVAL PROCESS

The Human Resources Director will review the recruitment/selection documentation to ensure that priorities are properly afforded, that all required documentation is complete and properly signed, and that the documentation shows due diligence by the hiring official. If approved, the Human Resources Director will authorize the hiring official to extend the official employment offer of the position at the approved salary, as determined by Human Resources. Applicants not selected for the position will receive timely written notice of the selection decision upon completion of the approval process.

DOCUMENTATION OF SELECTION DECISION

The Department of Public Instruction's Human Resources Division maintains documentation of the merit-based recruitment and selection process 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 decision for a minimum of three years. Each file will contain:

Department of Public Instruction Personnel Action Request, Form 200,
Vacancy Announcement and other advertisements,
Applications received,
Recruitment/Selection Equal Employment Opportunity Form,
Applicant Referral Record Worksheet,
Completed Form 210,
Department of Public Instruction Employment Checklist,
Hiring official's interview notes, and as appropriate, work samples, performance tests, and criminal background check (for positions of trust)
Reference Check Guidelines and Reference Check documentation,
and Hiring Process Instructions.

APPEALS PROCESS

Applicants and State Employees

The following appeal rights apply to an applicant or State employee who may file a complaint regarding the selection process and hiring decision made by the hiring authority in the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction. (An appeal must be filed within 30 days after receipt of notice of non-selection and may be appealed directly to the State Personnel Commission under procedures established by the Commission, unless otherwise specified below):

Illegal discrimination based on race, color, creed, age, national origin, religion or disability;
Illegal discrimination based on gender including both impermissible distinctions based on sex and unlawful workplace harassment;
Denial of veteran's preference as specified by State law and Office of State Personnel policy;
Illegal discrimination based on political affiliation/influence;*

*Direct appeal to the State Personnel Commission on the basis of political affiliation is provided only to employees who have achieved career status pursuant to G.S. 126-1A or in positions subject to competitive service. Eligible employees may appeal the hiring decision directly to the Civil Rights' Division of the Office of Administrative Hearings within 30 days after receipt of notice of non-selection. All of the following conditions must apply for complaints regarding political affiliation/influence:

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 the
hiring decision was in violation of G.S. 126-14 through 14.2 based upon political affiliation or political influence.

Additional Appeal Rights for Career State Employees

The following additional appeal rights exist for a career state employee who may file a complaint regarding the selection process and hiring decision made by the hiring official in the NC Department of Public Instruction. (Appeals must be filed within 30 days after receipt of notice of non-selection and may be appealed directly to the State Personnel Commission under procedures established by the Commission):

A violation of the State of North Carolina's Priority Re-employment Consideration for an Employee in Reduction-In-Force (RIF) status where the employee believes that RIF priority consideration was denied;
A violation of the State of North Carolina's Promotional Priority Policy.

In addition to State laws (G.S. 126 and G.S. 168), the Civil Rights Act of 1991 includes State governments.
The Human Resources Division is available to answer questions and provide assistance to employees or applicants regarding the use of the above appeal rights and procedures.

MONITORING/EVALUATION

The Human Resources Division will periodically review program data across the agency to ensure the recruitment and selection activities are in compliance with the agency plan. Human Resources will compile and analyze an annual summary of selection activity for the State Superintendent and the senior leadership team. This report will include analysis of the impact on demographic groups, exceptions to policy, and other relevant factors. The Human Resources Director will make appropriate efforts to comply with the reporting and plan update requirements from the Office of State Personnel.

MERIT BASED RECRUITMENT ANDSELECTION PLAN