EPA Non-Faculty

Three types of positions have been exempted from coverage under the State Personnel Act.   Such “EPA” (Exempt from the Personnel Act) positions comprise the following categories:
 

  • Instructional positions
  • Research positions
  • Senior academic & administrative officers (“SAAO”)

For the first two categories (Instructional & Research positions), agreements between the UNC Board of Governors and the Office of State Personnel (OSP) have delegated the authority for determining EPA qualification to the individual campuses in the University System.
Authority has not been delegated to the individual campuses for the third category (SAAO). In order for a position to be established or reclassified as an SAAO, a request must come from a campus Chancellor to an advisory committee of the Office of the President (the EPA HR Advisory Board, or HRAB).   Upon recommendation of HRAB, the UNC System President determines final approval of all SAAO designations.
Instructional and Research positions require at least a Bachelor’s degree and involve significant responsibility and independent experience surrounding the academic and research mission.

Position Classification

  • As with SPA positions, Human Resources is available to provide assistance and consultation concerning EPA positions. To initiate an EPA consultation, managers may contact the Academic Personnel Coordinator to discuss the responsibilities of the position or may submit a brief, yet specific, summary of duties and educational requirements for preliminary review. For existing positions, any additional duties, as well as changes to current duties, can be provided to determine if the change is significant enough to consider a change in title, or if the changes support the existing title, but warrant a salary adjustment.

Create a New EPA Position

  • Departmental growth and restructuring often creates the need for new position support. To request a new position, managers should complete the EPA Personnel Action Form . The position responsibilities are reviewed to ensure adherence to the guidelines for establishing EPA positions. Managers may find the EPA Analysis Tool helpful in determining whether or not a position should be classified as EPA, based on the responsibilities. Once a position has been approved for EPA designation, the Academic Personnel Coordinator enters the action in the HR system to generate a position number and communicates the necessary information to the College/ Division and the department.
  • Note:  Requests to create and reclassify (or re-title) faculty positions are coordinated by Human Resources and are requested using the processes described above. However, the Office for Equal Opportunity is the approval authority for establishing or re-titling faculty positions and approval notification will be provided by a representative from that office.

EPA Salary Adjustments

  • EPA salary adjustment requests are made using the EPA Personnel Action Form and are submitted to either Adalia A. "Jessie" Sova, Director EPA Administration or Ryan Bernarduci, EPA HR Consultant for review.  Adjustments to an EPA employee's salary may be requested based on one or more of the following reasons.
    • Additional Duties- To compensate for changes in responsibilities as documented in the position description. These changes must impact the complexity, scope, variety, and/or overall level or work.
    • Equity-To correct situations in which salaries of employees (within a department performing the same type and level of work) differ when education, skill, related work experience, length of service, and performance levels are considered.
    • Market/Retention-To reduce or avoid turnover due to the labor market. Market salary data may support adjustments to compensate and retain employees in mission critical roles that require unique/specialized skills for which recruitment is difficult.
    • Counteroffer-To retain valued employees who have received a formal offer of employment from an institution other than NC State University.
  • Salary increases greater than or equal to 15% and $10,000 or more above the employee's previous, June 30 salary require approval of both the Board of Trustees (BOT) and the Board of Governors (BOG).
  • Departments should consult the BOT/BOG deadlines to ensure timely submission of such requests and should electronically submit the cover sheet for EPA actions requiring approval of the BOT and/or the BOG.
  • Human Resources will contact the requesting department once all necessary approvals of the salary increase request have been obtained.