A.POLICY

 

The College has outlined causes and formal steps that may lead up to termination of employment.

B.POLICY GUIDELINES

Causes relating to termination include but are not limited to the following:

 

1. Professional incompetence or failure to maintain an acceptable quality of job performance.
2. Insubordination or refusal to perform duties properly assigned as part of the employee’s obligations to the College.
3. Willful violations of stated rules and policies of the College or willful damage to College property.
4. An act involving moral turpitude, punishable by a criminal statute of the State of Ohio. Includes serious misconduct of moral, social, or physical nature unbecoming of a professional.
5. Others - It is impossible to detail all potential reasons for termination. Among them, include unheeded reprimands, gross neglect of work or duty, unsatisfactory completion of probationary period stated on annual appointment, or acts that jeopardize the safety of others.

 

Any of the steps may be omitted depending on the seriousness of the violations. A supervisor may issue a written reprimand, place on disciplinary probation, or terminate an employee with the concurrence of his/her supervisors and the appropriate senior administrator.

 

1. Verbal Warning: Normally, this is the first formal level of discipline given when an employee has performed unsatisfactorily. The supervisor shall indicate clearly to the employee, “I am giving you an official verbal warning,” “Consider this an official verbal warning,” etc.

After giving an employee a verbal warning, the supervisor will file a written note in the employee’s personnel file with a copy to the employee.

1. Written Reprimand: If a verbal warning does not correct the unsatisfactory performance, the supervisor shall issue a written reprimand to the employee. A copy will be put in the employee’s personnel file. The memo will specify the offense, describe the previous counseling, and specify the expected improvements.

1. Disciplinary Probation: This is the third level, or final warning. If specific improvement does not take place by a stated date (time tables stated in probationary period statement), the employee will be terminated. A written statement of the specific conditions of probation will be given to the employee with a copy placed in his/her personnel file.

The minimum/maximum periods of time that may be utilized for Disciplinary Probation will be:

 

FOR EACH OCCURRENCE
Category	Minimum	Maximum
Support	3 months	6 months
Professional / Administrative	6 months	12 months
Faculty	1 academic semester	3 academic semesters

 

1. Termination: If satisfactory improvement is not evident after exercising and or all of the applicable steps, the employee will be terminated.

Prior to a decision to terminate an employee, a due process hearing will be held. The employee’s supervisor, that person’s supervisor, and the Chief Human Resource Officer will meet with the employee to inform the employee that his/her termination is under consideration, to state the reasons such actions is being considered, and to provide the employee an opportunity to present mitigating or explanatory facts. Unexcused failure to appear for such a meeting, scheduled during the employee’s normal working hours, shall be interpreted as a waiver of this opportunity by the employee. An employee may bring a representative to this meeting.

The Zane State College Board of Trustees delegates to the President the responsibility for hiring and terminating of all employees with review by the Board of Trustees.

1. Due Process: As part of the due process, an employee who has been terminated can make an appeal to the President, the appointing authority of the College. As the appointing authority for the College, the decision of the President is final.

 

1. POLICY HISTORY

 

• For additional information, please refer to prior versions of the College Handbook
• Policy revisions approved by Board of Trustees February 2017
• Policy reviewed by the Human Resource Advisory Council April 2020; minor and inconsequential modifications were made to the policy

 

D.INITIATING DIVISION

Office of Human Resources

 

E.POLICY REVIEWERS

Office of Human Resources Human Resource Advisory Council