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0000 Introduction

0200 Roles & Responsibilities

0400 Affirmative Action

0600 Jurisdictional Classification

0800 Classification & Compensation

1000 Recruitment

1200 Examinations

1400 Eligible Lists

1600 Interviewing & Hiring

1800 Appointments

2000 Probation

2200 Separations & Leaves

2300 Reductions
in Force


2400 Training & Development

2600 Employee Services

2800 Automated Position and Personnel System

3000 Appendix

Disclaimer

State Management Personnel Manual

1200 Examinations

1240 Application Receipt

.1 BACKGROUND

.110 Purpose

.111 The purpose of application review is to identify a field of qualified candidates. Each applicant is responsible for supplying complete, relevant and accurate information. The Department of Civil Service is responsible for assuring that the minimum qualifications are clearly defined and articulated; providing sufficient opportunity for applicants to present their qualifications for review; and rendering fair, well-founded decisions as to whether or not the applicant meets the minimum qualification requirements. In addition, the Department of Civil Service has delegated to line agencies authority for reviewing applications for provisional and non-competitive appointments as well as for certain decentralized examinations.

.120 Legal Basis

.121 §50.2 of the Civil Service Law requires in part that the Civil Service Department shall issue announcements for each competitive examination setting forth the minimum qualifications required.

.122 §50.3 of the Civil Service Law states that the Civil Service Department will require prospective applicants to file formal applications during a prescribed time period in which they must demonstrate their qualifications for the position sought.

.123 §50.4 of the Civil Service Law permits the Department of Civil Service to disqualify applicants from competing when they are found to lack any of the minimum requirements and for a number of other reasons such as intentionally making a false statement on the application.

.124 §50.5 of the Civil Service Law permits the Department of Civil Service to collect fees from applicants.

.2 POLICY

.210 Application Fees

.211 Application fees are generally required for

    1. Each separately numbered open-competitive examination; or
    2. Each centrally administered open-competitive, continuous
      recruitment examination.

    .212 Application fees are NOT required for:

    A. Promotion examinations

    B. Military comparable examinations

    C. Transition examinations

    D. Decentralized open-competitive examinations

    E. State examinations held pursuant to CSR 4.2b (NCOC)

    F. State examinations held pursuant to CSL §70.4 (NCQ)

    .213 Applicants need not submit fees if

      1. They can demonstrate that they are currently receiving
        supplemental social security payments or certain forms of public
        assistance as stated under "Applicant Fee" on the examination
        announcement; or
      2. They are members of CSEA in the Administrative, Institutional or
        Operational Services units.

.214 Fee Exceptions - Under certain circumstances an exception to the fee policy may be made and only one fee required from each applicant regardless of the. number of examinations in the same series the applicant wishes to take.

Example:

Supply Clerk I - separate examination numbers for each geographic location

Social Worker I and Social Worker I (Spanish Speaking) - separate examination number given to the Spanish Speaking parenthetic

In such cases the 'exception must be stated on the examination announcement.

.215 Fee Refunds - Ordinarily, refunds are granted only in the case where an examination is cancelled.

.220 Application Deadlines

.221 The Department of Civil Service reserves the right to reject for lateness or to accept applications filed after the advertised filing period.

.222 Applications rejected due to lateness are forwarded to the Civil Service Department's Arrangements Section for record keeping purposes. Any fees submitted are returned to the applicant with a notice that the application was not accepted.

.223 Late applications received from provisional employees appointed -prior to the last date for filing will be accepted and processed provided examination arrangements can still be made. Such employees are considered to have become applicants as of the date of original provisional appointment.

.224 Under certain circumstances the last date for filing applications may be extended with the approval of the Staffing Services Program Manager and the Director, Division of Testing Services. Notice of such an extension must be sent to:

  • Examination Information Desk
  • Division of Affirmative Careers
  • Regional Offices - New York City and Buffalo
  • Supervisor of Examinations Processing

.230 Timeliness of Application. Review

.231 Generally, applications are reviewed for minimum qualifications prior to the examination date. This pre-review minimizes public relations problems, enhances examination security and facilitates timely establishment of eligible lists

.232 Review of applications for minimum qualifications after test administration may be authorized by the Staffing Services Program Manager when one or more of the following circumstances exist

  1. An extremely large number of applications makes pre-review
    impracticable or impossible; o
  2. Minimum qualifications are such that virtually all applicants are expected to meet the eligibility requirements.

.240 Consistency of Application Review

.241 Standards for review of applications against the announced minimum qualifications must be uniformly applied for all applicants. The minimum qualifications should be structured to leave little room for subjective or conflicting interpretations.

.242 Determinations made to clarify the minimum qualifications must be consistently applied to all applicants.

.250 Eligibility Limitations

.251 Promotion applications from individuals permanently employed in the title for which the promotion examination is being held will not be approved except that applications from such employees who have not yet completed the required probationary period will be conditionally approved.

.252 Applicants who meet both promotion and open-competitive qualifications for the same title may file for both. If successful, such candidates will only be certified for appointment from the promotion eligible list.

.253 Applicants who meet the anticipated eligibility requirements for taking the test but not the requirements for appointment, may apply for both the promotion and open-competitive examinations. If successful, they will no longer be eligible for appointment from the open-competitive list once they meet the time-in-title requirements for appointment from the promotion list.

.254 Applicants who qualify for both a transition examination and an open-competitive examination for the same title may apply for both and, if successful, be certified for appointment from both lists.

.255 Promotion applications will be accepted from employees who are currently on a preferred list or who are on a leave of absence provided they had sufficient permanent service in a qualifying title before being placed on the preferred list or on leave of absence.

.260 Part-time and/or Volunteer Experience

.261 Appropriate and verifiable volunteer experience will be accepted.

.262 Appropriate part-time experience will be accepted for an open -competitive examination on a pro-rated basis.

.263 Part-time experience in a qualifying title will be equated to full-time for purposes of meeting the time-in-title requirements for promotion examinations.

.270 Acceptable Degrees

.271 College degrees and credit for college courses received from a regionally accredited college or university or from one recognized by the New York State Education Department will be credited in meeting the announced education qualifications.

.272 Foreign degrees are credited toward meeting education qualifications if granted by schools listed as members of the Association of Commonwealth Universities or the International Association of Universities. Also acceptable, are degrees granted by non-member schools listed in the handbooks of these associations, who are recognized by the association's governmental authority as entitled to issue degrees in higher education.

.273 A foreign degree found acceptable for admittance to an advanced educational program by an accredited school in this country or by an "approved" foreign school as described above, will also be credited toward meeting education qualifications.


TM-11; 4/87

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