RISD spends more than 60% of its budget on total compensation. Therefore, it is important that we have a staffing model that best meets the needs of RISD and individual areas that is consistent, fair and equitable, and fiscally responsible.
The Position Review Committee (PRC) was created to address the request and approval of non-faculty position changes. This includes new non-temporary positions, increases in FTE/hours, promotions/reclassifications, replacement positions, stipends, salary adjustments and term positions.
Position Review Process Goals
- create clear and transparent processes to 1.) identify and communicate a needed or desired position change and 2.) evaluate and act upon each request
- deploy processes that help create and maintain a diverse workforce in accordance with RISD’s SEI goals and commitment to open and transparent job searches
- execute the process efficiently and deliberately as appropriate to the situation
- maximize the effectiveness of constrained resources to achieve institutional priorities
Position Review Committee (PRC)
RISD’s Position Review Committee (PRC) is comprised of members of the President’s cabinet, including the Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration, Human Resources, and others. Committee membership is subject to change periodically.
The committee reviews position requests on a set schedule, considering new requests and working toward resolving requests that require further deliberation and analysis. Following each review period, the committee clearly communicates status updates to cabinet members and managers with outstanding position requests.
Evaluation Criteria
In evaluating requests, the PRC balances institutional needs and funding and considers the following criteria:
- Whether the requested resource will provide relief for critical duties that cannot be met with current resources.
- Whether failure to approve the request would create an immediate public safety concern, accreditation risk, and/or compliance issue.
- Whether the requesting department or division has the current or future funding available.
- Whether the request aligns with RISD’s strategic plan, initiatives and financial plan.
Definitions
- New position: a newly created position within a department or division (note, a reconfigured existing/former position is considered a “Reclassification”)
- Increase in FTE/Hours: an increase in the number of hours per week or months per year
- Reclassifications/promotions or salary adjustments: material changes to the duties in the job description and/or increases to the compensation of an existing or modified position based on external market conditions or an internal assessment of comparable work.
- Replacement: an unoccupied position due to resignation, reorganization, retirement or other separations. May have minor edits to job description and title, however the grade remains unchanged.
- Stipend: additional pay for a temporary assignment due to a vacancy or leave of absence.
- Temporary/On-Call: a position to be held for six (6) months or less
The applicable cabinet member or their designee must authorize the hiring of a temporary or on-call employee. Please contact your HR Partner for additional information.
Process Steps
The position review process consists of the following steps and related roles and responsibilities:
Evaluating and Scoping the Staffing Model
Department head/manager:
- seeks conceptional approval from their leadership for proposed change for conceptual approval and budgetary considerations
- reviews proposed change, current work distribution and impact of proposed changes with HR Partner
Human Resources:
- HR Partner consults on job design and determines whether HR Compensation needs to evaluate the request
- HR Compensation is engaged as follows:
- compensation review is required for all requests related to new positions (regular and term positions), promotions, reclassifications, and market or internal equity adjustments.
- replacement positions do not require compensation review if the job duties are not changing, the desired pay does not exceed that of the previous incumbent and the salary range was last reviewed less than a year ago.
- compensation review is also not required if pay is determined by a collective bargaining agreement or for multi-incumbent jobs with an approved, standardized pay rate.
- if applicable, Compensation performs a full review of the request, determines the appropriate job classification, sets the pay range taking into consideration external competitiveness and an internal assessment of comparable work
- provides department head/manager with information for Workday submission
Submitting the Workday Request
Department Head/Manager
- submits a request in Workday
- ensures cabinet member has the background and information to be able to discuss requested changes with the position review committee
Compensation
- reviews the submitted request and advances those whose details match the job evaluation outcomes
- sends back applications with information that does not match the job evaluation
- requests that were not submitted for a required compensation review will not be advanced
Budget Office
- reviews submitted requests to determine whether there are sufficient funds to cover the requested action
- may approve the application, send back for additional information or deny the request
Cabinet Member
- upon receipt of Workday notification, approves, sends back or denies the request
- if approved, the request moves forward for PRC consideration, schedules or delegates the review meeting with the position review committee
Presentation to PRC
- the Cabinet Member or their designee will present their request to the PRC
- PRC will deliberate upon the request
- may approve the request as submitted, request additional information, or deny the request