Position Changes
Business needs and positions change over time due to increased job complexity, responsibilities, departmental restructuring, and / or organizational change. Portland State has best practices and procedures in place for managing these scenarios for both temporary and permanent position changes. Interested in seeing how position changes and career goals could intersect? Visit our Professional Development materials.
Changes In Position Placement / Reclassification
Depending on the Position Type, permanent changes are managed differently. These changes may be guided by a collective bargaining agreement.
Unclassified & Unrepresented (Un/Un)
Position descriptions or other documentation should be updated to reflect new responsibilities as changes to business needs occur. Supervisors should submit changes via PeopleAdmin. Significant changes to positions may require a letter of offer, a new position, and / or additional paperwork. Please contact HR for information and assistance.
Classified Positions
(Represented by Service Employees International Union (SEIU))
The SEIU Collective Bargaining Agreement addresses how changes to position classification impact an employee when the University’s needs dictate a change to duties and responsibilities. Supervisors typically initiate the first step if there are changes to the position job duties that seem to fit better in a different classification. To recommend a classification change, supervisors must first submit the position updates to the Compensation & Classification Team via PeopleAdmin. Please do not guarantee any changes to employees regarding their positions without full approval by HR.
Academic Professional Positions
Academic professional positions are influenced by the AAUP Collective Bargaining Agreement which outlines requests for review of a position's placement in a Job Family or Career Track. A supervisor may make changes to positions and then directly request a position placement review through HR, but there are specific steps that an employee must follow in order to submit a placement review request themselves.
Fixed-term instructional and research faculty position change guidelines are set by the employee’s individual contract and school where the position resides. Further information on these positions can be found in the contract as well.
Minor modifications
Major modifications
Representation Status Changes
If conditions are met for exclusion under statute and the position should no longer be represented, the supervisor should discuss this with the Compensation & Classification Team (compensation@pdx.edu).
- The supervisor will submit a memo outlining the reasons for exclusion and include an updated position description to the Comp/Class Team for review.
- The Comp/Class team will review the proposed changes and determine if the request warrants an exclusion.
- If approved by Comp/Class, then the Supervisor will establish a new position in PeopleAdmin.