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
- Each separately numbered open-competitive examination; or
- 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
- 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
- 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
- An extremely large number of applications makes pre-review
impracticable or impossible; o
- 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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