Officer of Administration (OA) Probationary Period

Information about the Officer of Administration (OA) Probationary Period can be found in section III (B) of the OA Separations Procedure.

An employee’s first 9 months as an OA is considered a probationary period. The probationary period applies to OAs who:

  • Were recently hired into their first position at the university,
  • Were previously employed by the university in another employee category (e.g. classified staff, faculty),
  • Were employed as OA but had a break in service longer than 90 days.

The probationary period does NOT apply to OAs who have moved from one OA position to another.

With University HR approval, a supervisor may request to extend the probationary period of an OA for an additional 3 months.

Purpose

The probationary period exists to determine whether the OA has the skills, knowledge, and work performance necessary to be successful in the position. During this period, the supervisor carefully considers whether the OA is able to meet the standards and expectations of the position by appraising the OA’s:

  • Ability to learn and perform job duties
  • Quality of work
  • Productivity
  • Work habits
  • Cooperation
  • Attendance
  • Punctuality
  • Other standards and expectations specific to the OA’s work situation

Performance Management

Extensive performance management is not required during the probationary period. However, University HR strongly recommends that supervisors:

  • Provide regular feedback to a new OA so that the OA has an opportunity to address any performance concerns.
  • Utilize established performance management tools as appropriate (360 review, performance evaluations, informal written feedback) to highlight performance strengths and/or concerns).

Probationary Period Release

  • The supervisor, in consultation with HR, may determine that OA serving in a probationary status is not meeting the expected performance for the job.
  • An OA may be released during the probationary period with 30 days advance written notice of separation. Different notice periods must be approved by University HR’s ELR team.
  • The appropriate VP/Dean must approve a probationary period release.