Devin Thompson, CSC Docket No. 2021-1497

BackgroundDevin Thompson appeals the determination of the Division of Agency Services (Agency Services) which found that he did not meet the minimum requirements in experience for the open competitive examination for Supervisor Information Technology (C0353B), Ocean County.

The subject examination had a closing date of March 6, 2020 and was open to residents of Ocean County who possessed a Bachelor’s degree from an accredited college or university, and five years of experience in an Information Technology Operational Support unit for a large public or private information processing facility, including at least three years of experience with an information technology operational support unit supporting a multiplatform Client Server LAN or WAN environment or Mainframe operation. Thirty semester hour credits in Information Technology could be substituted for one year of experience, and a Master’s degree in Information Technology or related studies could be substituted for one year of experience. Also, additional experience could be substituted for the four years education requirement on a year-for-year basis, and training hours approved by the Civil Service Commission can be substituted for the education requirement where sixteen contact hours equals one semester credit hour. The appellant was found to be ineligible based on a lack of experience. Nine candidates were admitted to the examination, and the eligible list has not yet been certified.

The appellant did not provide a resume and listed four positions on his application: 1) IT Manager with Matrix New World from July 2019 to the closing date, March 6, 2020; 2) IT Consultant with VCS Software from April 2019 to July 2019; 3) Support

Engineer with Commvault from July 2015 to July 2018; and 4) Tech Lead with Key Software from June 2013 to June 2015. It is noted that the appellant received a provisional appointment in the subject title in January 2021. The appellant’s eight months of experience in the first position was accepted for both the specific and general experience. The appellant listed identical duties for the second position, and was credited with an additional three months in that position. He was also credited with five years, two months of general experience in the third and fourth positions. Thus, he was found to be lacking two years, one month of experience with an information technology operational support unit supporting a multiplatform Client Server LAN or WAN environment or Mainframe operation.

Appellant's argumentOn appeal, the appellant provides a resume with two additional positions. He also adds up his time in all four positions and concludes that he meets the requirements. As to the specific requirement, the appellant states, “All these positions but especially Commvault Systems [Support Engineer] supported LAN and WAN environments. Commvault users provided backups that must be sent over various network connections ranging from in-house LAN to globally situated WAN networks.”

CONCLUSION

RuleN.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.3(b) provides that applicants shall meet all requirements specified in the open competitive examination announcement by the closing date.

N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1(f) states that, prior to the announced application filing date, an applicant may amend a previously submitted application

AnalysisA review of the appellant’s application reveals that the decision by the Agency Services, denying the appellant’s admittance to the subject examination due to the fact that he does not possess the required experience, was correct. The appellant received credit for his experience in all four positions for the general requirement.

For the specific requirement, the appellant received credit in the first two positions. The Supervisor Information Technology title organizes, supervises and directs the operation of a Network support unit (mainframe and/or client server environment) of at least five employees responsible for development, implementation, and maintenance of multi-network, multi-user Local Area Networks (LAN), Metropolitan Area Networks (MAN), and/or Wide Area Networks (WAN), and the provision of tier 3 technical support to end users. The incumbent provides lead support in the diagnosis and resolution of complex operational problems; directs problem diagnosis; supervises the monitoring and allocation of staff resources, the use of productivity aids, and the maintenance of software and hardware in mainframe and/or client/server environments with related peripherals; plans, evaluates, tests, implements and maintains network technology solutions as appropriate for the technology unit assigned. As such, the experience requirement includes specific experience with an information technology operational support unit supporting a multiplatform Client Server LAN or WAN environment or Mainframe operation. That means that the candidate has experience providing system administration support, in addition to the end-user support suggested by the general experience.

A review of the appellant’s duties for the first two positions indicates that, while the appellant was credited with specific experience, this was tenuous based on the duties provided. For both of these positions, the appellant listed IT helpdesk duties as the primary focus. The only system support duty listed was “responsible for datacenter uptime.” That is, the appellant made certain that the network (server/host) was online in the hours of operation. He also stated, “New implementations greatly increased server resiliency and durability increasing productivity for all users.” This is not a duty per se, but a description of the effect of new implementations. It is unclear if the appellant made new implementations which he selected, made implementations that others selected, assisted with implementations or performed other services regarding implementations. A review of additional duties provided on appeal in a resume does not establish that applicable duties specific to supporting a network were performed. Rather, they solidify that helpdesk services were the primary focus.

For the positions of Support Engineer and Tech Lead, the third and fourth positions on his application, the appellant provided no duties that corresponded to information technology operational support supporting a multiplatform Client Server LAN or WAN environment. Rather, the duties were all customer care and support. On appeal, the appellant claims that customers provided backups on network connections.

In this respect, the Supervisor Information Technology supervises the information technology unit’s activities in multiple areas of development, testing, implementation, maintenance, and specialized support. Examples of these technology units include, but are not limited to: Server Administration, Networking (LAN/WAN), Information Systems management, Hardware and Software deployment, and End-user technologies. Creating backups in case of an issue is one minor concern of information technology operational support in a multiplatform Client Server LAN or WAN environment. The main responsibility includes addresses concerns and problems of the system, such as ensuring that security is regularly updated, addressing system crashes, running system updates and ensuring correct upgrades, patches and conversions, responding to systems/operations errors identified by server logs and/or network devices, and overseeing Wide Area network administration, among other duties. This was not the primary focus of any of the appellant’s positions. Rather, his focus was help desk duties and responsibilities, and any duties in support of a multiplatform Client Server LAN or WAN environment were ancillary to these responsibilities.

The appellant provided two additional positions on his resume, Technical Manager for CEC Entertainment and Warehouse/Office Manager for PC Richard & Son. Pursuant to N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.1(f), any supplemental information received after the closing date cannot be considered. As such, any positions described on appeal cannot be considered. Even so, the appellant did not provide all requisite information for those positions, such as full- or part-time hours or supervisory information. As there is a complete list of nine eligible candidates, good cause does not exist and these positions cannot be considered. A cursory review of the positions indicates that they are not applicable as they do not have the announced experience requirement as the primary focus. In sum, the appellant lacks three years of experience with an information technology operational support unit supporting a multiplatform Client Server LAN or WAN environment or Mainframe operation.

An independent review of all material presented indicates that the decision of Agency Services that the appellant did not meet the announced requirements for eligibility by the closing date is amply supported by the record. The appellant provides no basis to disturb this decision. Thus, the appellant has failed to support her burden of proof in this matter.

ORDER

Therefore, it is ordered that this appeal be denied.

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