The Graduate Senate Staff Appointment & Reappointment Policy

Appointment and Reappointment Policy

Graduate Student Senate

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

This policy shall set forth the procedures by which University of Massachusetts graduate students are appointed or reappointed to staff positions in the Graduate Student Senate in accordance with Article 23 of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Graduate Employee Organization (GEO) and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Staff

Staff Positions

1) Staff positions shall be created or eliminated by Senate.

Job Responsibilities

1) Job responsibilities and hours for staff positions shall be determined by Senate. Job responsibilities may be added after appointment by Executive Committee, but all changes shall be negotiated with staff members. Detailed job descriptions shall be made available to all graduate students through the GSS website at least two weeks before the closing of the application period. Job descriptions must include expected duties, expected hourly workload, and the duration of the position.

Eligibility

1) All UMASS graduate students shall be eligible to apply for GSS staff positions.

Posting of Positions

1) Notice of staff positions shall be sent to the Student Employment Office and the Assistantship Office at the Graduate School and shall be available on the University's website.

Funding Decisions/Assignments (Hiring Committee)

1) Senate shall appoint a hiring committee by April 1 of each year. The hiring committee shall make all appointments.

2) Experience, skills, qualifications, and past experience which pertain to each position, along with an effort to maintain a diverse work environment, shall be factors in ranking job candidates. Every effort shall be made by the executive committee to appoint staff in a way that respects and fosters diversity across all lines.

Notification

Appointees shall be notified of their selection by the day after the Hiring Committee makes the appointments when possible. Otherwise, notification shall be made as soon as possible. Appointees, in addition to notification, should receive a letter with detailed job descriptions and a copy of the Appointment/Reappointment Policy of the Graduate Student Senate. The Executive Officer shall be responsible for all notification of staff.

Evaluation

The Executive Officer shall be responsible for evaluating the performance of the staff at least once per semester. These evaluations shall be considered in future hiring decisions. The written evaluations should be provided to staff members.

Reappointment

There shall not be any automatic reappointments. In the event that a staff member applies for a previously held position, they will be considered on a par with other applicants.

Vacation

The job description of staff members shall indicate whether or not she in excepted to work either during the winter break or the spring break.