Question:  Where do I go online to check my leave balances?

Answer: Leave balances are now available online t hrough SAP ESS (Employee Self Service).

1. Go to the FAS website at www.fas.txstate.edu
2. Click on “Logon to SAP Production Portal”
3. Log in with your User ID and password
4. Click on ESS tab
5. Click on Time Accounts

Question: Who do I contact if I forgot my SAP password or never received a password?

Answer: You need to email sapsecurity@txstate.edu

• Please include your name and Texas State Id number
• Request a password for SAP ESS

Question: Some pay plan titles listed on the web do not show a job specification when you click on the job code. Why ?

Answer: Human Resources reviews, revises and creates job specifications every year. As part of our review process, we update approximately 25% of the university’s job specifications. As new job titles are created we also create the requisite specifications.

If you click on a link and the job specification does not appear, it means that a specification has not been created for that title yet. As part of the FAS project we have added many new titles to the pay plan. The job specifications are forthcoming. We have made creating job specifications for positions which do not have specifications a high priority this year. Please check the HR web site for new and updated job specifications regularly.

NOTE: Remember, that the GOJA is a job description for a position and lists the duties for that position. A job specification is a listing of duties that are appropriate for a particular title.

Question: Also, recently when a new position was created the position was automatically filled by someone in that same office. The position was never advertised so no one else was allowed to apply. I understand that this is an option for a supervisor but is this really the best way to promote Equal Opportunity and Access to employment and diversity on our campus ?

Answer: UPPS 04.04.03, “Staff Employment” provides account/hiring managers with the option of promoting from within their section or making other employment decisions involving internal selection. The appropriate segment from the UPPS follows:

04.01 Internal Selection

a. The hiring manager shall review all current regular staff employees, regardless of their length of service, to determine which are qualified for the position. Posting of the position is not required. The best qualified, shall be selected. As part of determining the best qualified the hiring manager must consider the most recent performance appraisal for the person under consideration. The performance appraisal must be demonstrated as a factor in determining the final selection for the position.

b. This procedure is only permissible when the vacancy and employee to be promoted or transferred are paid from the same account, or paid from different accounts under the same account manager. Exceptions to this require approval by the Director of Equity and Access. All regular employees of the department, including those with less than 6 continuous months employment, may be considered.

NOTE: Student and non-regular employees are not eligible for appointment under this option. They may compete, however, for positions under the Open Recruiting option.

Exceptions to the Internal Selection process must be approved by the Director of Equity and Access. In addition the Director of Equity and Access is a reviewer of the UPPS and therefore must review and approve of the policy before it is finalized.

Question: Is it appropriate and/or acceptable to give students documents such as vendor maintenance forms for completion, and is it appropriate for students to be given p-cards to make purchases ? Are these not duties that a staff member is responsible for handling ? If these tasks are simply given to students to perform on their own then what is the purpose of having administrative assistants ?

Answer: Account managers and supervisors may assign duties as they see fit to meet the goals of their department or section. This includes the assignment of duties to students in their area. They should know and understand the purchasing regulations when assigning duties. If they have questions concerning the appropriateness of assigning these duties to students they should contact the university’s Accounting or Purchasing departments for more information.

Question: During one’s Annual Appraisal, can someone other than your immediate supervisor sign the line designated for the “Supervisor’s Signature ?”

Answer: Policy provides for the immediate supervisor to sign the appraisal documents as part of finalization of the appraisal process. In unusual circumstances and with proper approval however, someone other than the immediate supervisor can sign the appraisal, as long as that person is within the section’s reporting line or “chain of command.” In other words a director can sign for an assistant director as long as they are in the same section and reporting line. This would naturally require that someone above the department director would sign on the “department director’s” signature line. The appropriate vice president can approve someone other than the immediate supervisor to sign the “supervisor’s” line.

In addition, recent changes to the “Staff Performance Appraisal Policy,” UPPS 04.04.20 also permit someone other than the current immediate supervisor to conduct the appraisal and sign on the “Supervisor’s Signature” line in instances where an employee transfers during the year or is simultaneously supervised by more than one supervisor. More on this policy can be found at: http://www.txstate.edu/effective/upps/upps-04-04-20.html.

Question: What is the purpose of an interview when hiring a new employee if you can not use any information from the interview to disqualify anyone ?

Answer: Questions concerning the appropriateness of using information gathered from the interview process should be addressed to the Office of Equity and Access. However, as a general rule, information gathered from the interview that is valid and relates directly to an assessment of the applicants’ knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) required to perform the essential functions of the job as represented in the job posting can be used to make a hiring decision. Interview questions must be valid and must relate directly to the knowledge, skills and abilities as provided in the job posting.

Questions related to the required KSAs are considered bona fide occupational qualifiers and the information derived from these questions can be used to assess an applicant and make a hiring decision. Remember, the interview process is not designed to “disqualify anyone” but rather to assess the best qualified and make a hiring decision. The process of determining which applicants meet the minimum qualifications must have been made prior to the interview process. Applicants who do not meet the minimum qualifications and who are “disqualified” should not be interviewed.