T0: Agency Heads, Agency Personnel and Affirmative Action Officers

FROM: Commissioner Valter D. Broadnax

SUBJECT: Accelerated Examinations Program

DATE: February 26, 1988

As part of our continuing efforts to improve services to agencies, I am pleased to announce an Accelerated Examinations Program (AEP). This program is intended to provide a mechanism which will enable agencies to make permanent appointments to newly classified titles. It will also expedite the filling of vacancies in existing titles where timeliness is critical. This program compliments our current examinations program and should go a long way in reducing the need for non-permanent appointments in these situations.

An agency may submit a request to its Staffing Services Representative for an "Accelerated Examination" for any title meeting the program's guidelines. In order to facilitate the examination process, AEP's will make use of off-line processing of the examination request, and announcement preparation, printing and distribution as well as for examination development and test scoring.

The AEP is intended for use when:

• There is a need to quickly fill a vacancy(ies) on a
  permanent basis.
• There are a small number of positions to be filled, as well
  as a small anticipated field of competition (usually less
  than 10).
• The requesting agency is willing and able to provide
  necessary information and assistance, and
• For newly classified titles, Division of Classification and
  Compensation approval has been obtained. It is not
  necessary to have obtained Division of the Budget approval
  to fill the position prior to requesting an accelerated
  examination. However, such approval will be required prior
  to holding the examination. No application processing fees
  will be required for accelerated exams.

An accelerated-examination represents both a shared commitment by and a shared responsibility of the Department of Civil Service and the Agency. To be successful, an agency may have to commit staff and resources to portions of the examination process where previously they may only have had limited responsibility. Areas of shifted or shared responsibility could include the writing, printing and distributing of examination announcements, recruitment, application review, test development and test administration. The party responsible for each AEP activity will be identified as part of the initial planning phasq and these agreements should be seen as a 'contract' between the Civil Service Department and the Agency.

Requests for an accelerated examination should include:

• an explanation why accelerated testing is appropriate
• a description of the duties and required knowledge, skills and abilities
• proposed minimum qualifications
• proposed test type
• a recruitment plan for open-competitive examinations or a description of the promotion field for promotion examinations.

The Staffing Services Representative will review the request with the agency and the Division of Affirmative Careers. If a decision to proceed with an accelerated examination is reached, Staffing Services, the agency and the Division of Affirmative Careers will meet to develop the selection plan, identify the party(ies) involved in each step in the accelerated examinations process, and establish a timetable for announcing and administering the examination.

This effort is only one of a series of steps that are being taken to improve our delivery of examination services. The Accelerated Examinations Program is being instituted on a trial basis and will be evaluated after the first year.

If you have vacancies to fill in a title which you feel may meet the criteria for an accelerated examination, please consider making use of this new program. All inquiries regarding the Accelerated Examination Program should be directed to your agency's Staffing Services Representative.

NYS Department of Civil Service
ACCELERATED EXAMINATIONS PROGRAM
-Overview-

Return to Top ^