BACKGROUND: DESIGN PHASE

The Exempt/Administrator Performance Appraisal System (EAPAS) was developed during the 2002-2004 academic years by a committee of five exempt and administrative employees: Marie Zimmermann, Lorna Ovena, Marc Lentini, Marion Davis, and Jonathan Brown. Prior to this time, there was no campus-wide evaluation system for these employees, although several departments on campus were regularly evaluating these staff.

Formed in late 2002, the EAPAS committee first investigated best practices at comparative institutions and researched similar approaches in business and academic environments. With extensive campus input from surveys and focus groups, the committee then developed the procedures, forms, and related training. A pilot was run with 27 exempt and administrative staff members in Winter 2004, and modifications to the system were made based on the results.

EAPAS was rolled out to campus with three training sessions in May and June of 2004, with employees completing the job descriptions, goals, and development initiatives during the summer and fall of that year.

THE SYSTEM

The resulting system meets the vision for the system: to develop a performance appraisal system that helps achieve personal and institutional excellence. As recommended by research into performance appraisal systems, EAPAS is not used as a method for determining salary increase or for disciplinary review. It is designed to support "personal and institutional excellence" by:

• Providing a tool for performance improvement at the unit level.
• Establishing a process for institutionalizing individual professional development.
• Strengthening the quality of communication between supervisors and employees.
• Developing campus connections around services provided.

The EAPAS evaluation cycle spans a three-year period, mirroring the college’s highly successful post-tenure review process for faculty. This timeframe provides opportunity for more substantive development initiatives and ensures that the process is sustainable within employee workloads.

The process occurs in four phases:

• Job Description and Goals: the start of the process, in which employees and supervisors clarify the position and the goals for the employee.
  
  
• Development Initiatives: the employee and supervisor define professional and organizational development goals for themselves and their area.
  
  
• Mid-term Review: an 18 month checkup, to assess progress toward goals and development initiatives, and to include changes in the work environment or job needs.
  
  
• Full Evaluation: a complete evaluation of the employee’s performance on the job, goals, and development initiatives, followed by establishing an updated job description, goals, and initiatives.

THE NEXT STEPS

At the end of 2004, over 90% of campus exempt and administrative employees had completed the first phase of the EAPAS process. The first mid-term reviews (for the pilot group) will occur in June of 2005, and by December 2007 the employees who first started EAPAS will have completed the first full evaluation.

Evaluation of the system is an on-going process, with reviews planned for each of the major milestones in EAPAS: after the first round of mid-term evaluations, then after the first round of full evaluations.

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Department of Human Resources | Highline Community College
 2400 S. 240th Street | P.O. Box 98000, M.S. 99-200
 Des Moines, WA  98198-9800
 Phone:   (206) 878-3710, ext. 3812 | Jobline: (206) 870-3751
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