• UMPSA Home Page
• Membership Form
• Campus Contacts
• UMPSA Officers
• State Association
• Meetings and Events
• UMPSA Information

• Current Bargaining Agreement
• UMPSA Constitution
• UMPSA By-Laws
• Join the E-Mail List
• Join UMPSA Now
• Benefits of Membership
• Dues Schedule (PDF)
• UM Chapter News
• Grievance Form (Step 1)
• Grievance Form (Setp 2)

• State of Maine
• University of Maine System
• University of Maine System Labor Relations Act
• Legislative News
• Contact a Legislator

• Maine Education Association
• MEA Higher Education

• NEA Higher Education
• Almanac of Higher Education
• Advocate Online
• National Education Association
• Member Benefits

Article 13 - Evaluation

A. The University and the Association agree that a meaningful and effective performance appraisal system promotes and enhances on-going, two-way communication between supervisors and employees in order to:

a) establish mutually understood performance expectations/goals;

b) provide feedback on accomplishments and areas in need of improvement;

c) develop a plan for maintaining job performance at a satisfactory level or for improving performance;

d) deal with specific serious performance problems as they occur.

The formal, written evaluation for each evaluation period summarizes the employee's job performance for that period.

B. The University shall conduct annual evaluations for the continuing assessment of each unit member's job performance. Each evaluation shall be based on applicable evaluation criteria, which shall be related to skills, abilities, knowledge, and other factors relevant to the performance of the unit member's assigned duties.

C. 1. Annual evaluations shall be conducted at least once each year after the probationary period is completed,
and as scheduled in Article 6, Appointment, Reappointment and Non-Reappointment, for employees within their initial probationary period.

2. A unit member will normally be evaluated within the thirty (30) day period preceding the anniversary of employment. A campus or department may establish an alternate annual schedule for evaluation of unit members, which shall be communicated to affected unit members within sixty (60) days of the execution of this Agreement. If the annual evaluation is not conducted within thirty (30) days of when it should have been conducted, the evaluation shall be considered satisfactory for that year. A statement to that effect will be placed in the unit member's personnel file upon written request of the unit member to the campus Human Resources Office.

D. The unit member's performance shall be evaluated by his/her supervisor. The supervisor may request additional input from other persons, including but not limited to other University employees familiar with the unit member's work, peers, clients or users of services. Such input, where utilized in the evaluation of a unit member, will be systematically requested. In those units where such additional input has been obtained in the past, this practice shall not be arbitrarily discontinued. Nothing in this section shall prohibit a unit member from requesting such input from other University employees, peers, clients or users of services.

E. The unit member and the supervisor responsible for conducting the evaluation shall meet to discuss the unit member's performance, workload demands, and job description. This meeting shall not be recorded by means of an audio or video recorder without mutual consent of the participants. The written evaluation and/or discussion shall include specific comment on the unit member's strengths and weaknesses, and where necessary, shall suggest or direct specific methods for improvement.

F. Confidentiality of the information is the shared responsibility of the unit member, the supervisor, any reviewing administrator(s) and the file custodian. Evaluation documents shall be handled in accordance with the provisions of Article 5.

G. A copy of the final written evaluation shall be provided to the unit member within one week of its completion by the supervisor.

H. The unit member shall sign and return a copy of the evaluation to the supervisor within seven (7) calendar days of its receipt by the unit member only for the purpose of acknowledging receipt of the evaluation. An unsigned copy of the written evaluation shall be placed in the personnel file if a copy of the evaluation is not signed and returned within the seven (7) day period.

I. The Unit member shall have the right to append a written response or comments to the evaluation after receipt of the final written evaluation.

J. The evaluation and timely response, if any, shall become part of the personnel file.

K. In the event a grievance has been filed by a unit member concerning an action of his/her supervisor, the provisions of Article 15, E.1 shall apply to future evaluations.

L. The form contained in Appendix C may be used for the evaluation of any unit member. Where a department, division or campus wishes to use a different evaluation form or procedure, the campus director of human resources or the equivalent officer must certify that the alternate form or procedure meets the requirements of this Article. A copy of any alternate form or procedure shall be forwarded to the Association