On Monday, May 23, 2022, Vice President of Human Resources Edward Pope sent College of Charleston staff the following message about the College’s new Employee Performance Management (EPMS) Policy, effective July 1, 2022:

Good morning.

The College is transitioning to a new Employee Performance Management System (EPMS) Policy for staff effective immediately.ย  The updated EPMS Policy is available online for review anytime.ย  There are a number of changes that have been approved by the Senior Leadership Team as a part of the new policy.

ย Overview of Changes:

ย We will have a new Universal Review Date: July 1.ย  This means that the annual evaluation cycle for staff will be July 1 โ€“ June 30 annually.ย  ย ย 

    • The first review cycle under the new policy will be July 1, 2022 โ€“ June 30, 2023 (evaluations will be due prior to July 1, 2023).
    • 2022-2023 Plans will be open on June 1ย in preparation for the July 1 cycle to begin.
  • The Values/Characteristics section now reflects the Collegeโ€™s Core Values and provides a better outline of the Collegeโ€™s expectations for employee performance.
    • These will be used as the definition for success criteria when evaluating the job duties and goals for employees. Values/Characteristics will no longer be rated.
  • Every employee will have a minimum of 3 goals that will be scored with one of the four ratings.
    • At least one goal must be an organizational objective that aligns with one or more of theย  Collegeโ€™s Strategic Planย initiatives.
    • Supervisors will be able to enter goals for the upcoming review period during the annual review process.ย  Those future goals will be automatically populated in the plan once the new plan is created.
  • Supervisors will also be rated on 3 Values/Characteristics and will be rated as Pass or Fail:
    • Leadership/Core Value of Integrity and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
    • Promoting Equal Opportunity/Core Value of Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion
    • Evaluation/Core Value of Integrity
  • There are four (4) performance ratings (Exceptional, Superior, Successful, and Unsuccessful).
    • Needs Improvement rating has been removed.
    • If during the performance period an employee is considered Unsuccessful in any essential job duty or goal that significantly impacts performance, a warning notice of substandard performance may be issued.

ย Why are we making these changes?

ย To comply with State guidelines

  • To better align with the Collegeโ€™s Strategic Plan and Core Values
  • To make the process more concise and user-friendly
  • To ensure evaluations are bringing more value
  • To align more closely with the fiscal and academic year calendars

Informational Sessions:

The Office of Human Resources will be holding open sessions for employees and supervisors to learn more about the changes to the EPMS form and process.ย  There will be two live sessions available via Zoom on the following dates and times.ย  Simply click on the link to join the session.

If you cannot make either of the live sessions, we will have a recorded session available to self-enroll and complete through CougarED. How to access this recorded session will be communicated to everyone once the recording is published.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at EPMS@cofc.edu.

Thank you,

Ed

Edward B. Pope, SHRM-SCP
Vice President of Human Resources
College of Charleston