Kenneth Kuzicki, CSC Docket No. 2020-1016

Appellant's argumentKenneth Kuzicki requests that he be permitted to submit an application for the promotional examination for Police Lieutenant (PM0966A), Vernon after the application filing deadline.

BackgroundBy way of background, the announcement for the Police Lieutenant (PM0966A), Vernon, examination was issued on July 1, 2019 with an online application filing deadline of July 22, 2019 and all applications had to have been submitted by that date. It is noted that that the subject test was administered on October 10, 2019. The announcement for the 2019 Law Enforcement Series examination (S9999A) was issued on July 1, 2019 with an online application filing deadline of August 31, 2019 and all applications had to have been submitted by that date. A review of the record finds that the appellant filed an application for the S9999A exam on July 18, 2019.

Appellant's argumentIn an appeal filed on October 8, 2019, the appellant asserts that he “signed up for my Lieutenant’s exam while using the online process that I received from my police department (Vernon Township Police Department). I received what I believed to be confirmation for the exam via email. After not receiving my information on where I would be testing, I contacted Civil Service and spoke with a representative and explained my situation. It was then determined that I somehow si[gn]ed up for the entry level exam [i.e., 2019 Law Enforcement Series Examination (S9999A),] which I would not do since I have been an officer for 18 years. Sir[,] I don’t know how this happened.”

CONCLUSION

RuleN.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1(e) provides, in part, that applications for promotional examinations shall be submitted no later than 4:00 p.m. on the announced application filing date. N.J.A.C. 4A:4-6.3(b) provides that the appellant in an examination appeal shall have the burden of proof.

AnalysisWhile the appellant maintains that he “signed up for my Lieutenant’s exam while using the online process that I received from my police department (Vernon Township Police Department),” the appellant neither provides a copy of that process nor describes it. However, it is noted that the subject announcement indicated that only online applications would be accepted and directed candidates to “visit www.state.nj.us/csc and select ‘Job Announcements’ to view this announcement and to file an application.”1 Furthermore, it is also noted that the subject announcement, in the “Important Information” section, informed candidates:

If you are having difficulty submitting your application on-line, technical support and customer care are available during regular business hours, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. EST, Monday-Friday, excluding holidays and emergency closings. Please email:

OAS.support@csc.state.nj.us or call (609)292-4144. Please note that application support requests received outside of regular business hours on the closing date will not change the application filing deadline, so

PLEASE FILE EARLY.

On the “Job Announcements” page, candidates for the subject announcement should have selected the “View Promotional Announcements here” link

1The above noted web address takes candidates to the Commission’s website which provides a section for “Job Seekers” in the upper left corner of the page:

Thus, candidates should have selected the link for “Job Announcements and Testing Information.” It is noted that during the filing period for the Law Enforcement Series Examination (S9999A), July 1, 2019 to August 31, 2019, a specific link for that exam, “2019 Law Enforcement Announcement,” was provided in the right column.

(https://info.csc.state.nj.us/epoa/).2 Candidates for the subject test should have proceeded to the “Promotional Announcements for New Jersey Municipalities” section and used the pull-down menu in the “Select” box to choose “Vernon Township (SUSSEX COUNTY).” Once candidates selected Vernon, they would be taken to a screen (https://info.csc.state.nj.us/epoa/ListMunicipal.aspx) which listed all available promotional examinations for Vernon. It is noted that after a candidate selects a promotional symbol, he or she is taken to a warning screen in order to provide the candidate with another opportunity to verify that he or she is employed by the State, department, county or municipality, as applicable, before choosing to continue. If the candidate elects to continue, he or she is taken to a copy of the announcement which provides a link to begin the application process.

If an individual selected the link in the “Job Seekers” section for the 2019 Law Enforcement Series announcement, he or she would be taken to a copy of that announcement which provided, in pertinent part:

Furthermore, once an individual selected the link, under the “Requirements” section, to read the 2019 Law Enforcement Examination Fact Sheet, they were provided with the following, in pertinent part:

2019 Law Enforcement Examination (LEE) Fact Sheet

LEE Title Areas:

The Law Enforcement Examination (LEE) has been developed to assess candidate readiness for entry into law enforcement titles considered to have common knowledge, skills, abilities, and other

2 It is further noted that if a candidate is unclear as to how to proceed once he or she accesses the

“Job Announcements” page, links to the “Online Application System (OAS) User Guide” are provided to assist candidates in navigating the application process.

characteristics. Applicants file only one application and indicate their interest in the title areas by checking the box(es) on the application. A $50 application processing fee is required for this announcement whether you check one or all title areas on your application. No title areas can be added after the closing date. Title areas you may select include the following:

1. Municipal Police Officer

County Police Officer

Park Police Officer

Campus Police Officer Recruit*

Police Officer Recruit Human Services*

Police Officer Palisades Interstate Park*

2. Correctional Police Officer (Department of Corrections)*

3. Sheriff’s Officer

4. County Correction Officer

5. Correctional Police Officer, Juvenile Justice Commission*

*State Title

The S9999A announcement also provided a link to apply via the Online Application System (OAS). After an applicant signed into the OAS, they were taken to the application for the S9999A exam. It is noted that the following appeared at the top of each page of the application:

Application for Open Competitive Examination

Closing Date: Symbol: Title: 08/31/2019 S9999A LAW ENFORCEMENT SERIES

Moreover, as part of the application process, applicants were required to select the title area or areas they were interested in, as indicated above, which did not include Police Lieutenant. After entering all required information, applicants were taken to the payment page which provided the following at the top of the page:

Payment Method

You are almost finished! Please enter your payment information.

Learn more about payment options.

Application Summary

Title Name: LAW ENFORCEMENT SERIES

Symbol: S9999A

Closing Date: 08/31/2019

Department: STATEWIDE

Application Fee: $50

After applicants completed the payment process, they were provided with a confirmation page which indicated:

Confirmation

This confirmation page has also been sent to your e-mail address, xxxxx@xxxxx.

[Print Confirmation] [Print Application Form] [Logout]

Application Summary

Applicant Name: xxxxxxx

Profile ID: xxxxxxx

Confirmation Number: S9999Axxxxxxx

Title(s): MUNICIPAL POLICE OFFICER; COUNTY POLICE OFFICER;

CAMPUS POLICE OFFICER RECRUIT; POLICE OFFICER

RECRUIT HUMAN SERVICES; POLICE OFFICER PALISADES

INTERSTATE PARK3

Symbol: S9999A

Closing Date: 08/31/2019

Department: STATEWIDE

Date & Time Submitted: xxxxxxx

Fee Due Date: xxxxxxx

Application Fee: $50

As indicated above, an email containing this information was also sent to applicants.4 Finally, it is noted that on September 13, 2019, S9999A candidates were sent an email containing information regarding scheduling and preparation guides. The email provided in part:

Sent: Friday, September 13, 2019

To: XXXXXX

Subject: LAW ENFORCEMENT EXAM CANDIDATE PREPARATION GUIDES AND SELF-SELECT TEST

DATE/LOCATION LINKS

Dear Candidate:

This is an automatically generated email. Please do not reply. Should you have any questions about this email, contact the New Jersey Civil Service Commission’s Information Center at

609-292-4144.

Your application has been received and you have been found eligible to take the examination for one or more of the following law enforcement title(s): Law Enforcement

Exam (S9999A), Parole Officer Recruit (S1000A), Parole Officer Recruit Bilingual in Spanish and

English (S1001A), Parole Officer Recruit Juvenile Justice (S1002A) and Parole Officer Recruit

Juvenile Justice Bilingual in Spanish and English (S1003A).

Carefully read/review the information provided in this email, it contains an attachment which pertains to the Preparation Material. The attachment will provide you with the instructions and a code for accessing the candidate preparation materials.

The examination for these titles will be administered on six test dates (two sessions on each test date – 8:00 AM and 1:00 PM) at various Community College locations. The six test dates are . . . Thus, as indicated above, S9999A applicants were clearly informed throughout the application process that they were applying for the Law Enforcement Series examination (S9999A). In other words, at no point in the Law Enforcement Series application process is the PM0966A symbol, Police Lieutenant title or Vernon Township indicated.

3 The Municipal Police Officer title area is presented as an example as the appellant selected this title area on his application.

4 It is noted that a review of the record finds that in an email sent on October 8, 2019 to the Division of Agency Services, the appellant provided a copy of the S9999A confirmation email sent to him on July 18, 2019.

In this regard, the appellant does not provide any explanation as to why he did not seek assistance when he was unable to locate the PM0966A symbol, Police Lieutenant title or Vernon Township when applying. As noted previously, if a candidate has questions or concerns regarding the application process, there are available resources, i.e., the OAS User Guide and/or technical support, to assist him or her. The appellant does not indicate that he attempted to access the OAS User Guide or contact technical support at the above noted phone number or email address prior to the July 22, 2019 application filing deadline. Again, the appellant provides no explanation as to why he did not stop at any point during the application process and seek assistance.5

ORDER

Therefore, it is ordered that this request be denied.

ClosingThis is the final administrative determination in this matter. Any further review should be pursued in a judicial forum.