Angela DeBiase, CSC Docket No. 2021-1679

BackgroundAngela DeBiase appeals the decision of the Division of Agency Services (Agency Services) that found that she did not meet the education and experience requirements for the promotional examination for Assistant Engineer (PC2743B), Ocean County.

The subject examination announcement was issued with specific requirements that had to be met as of the October 21, 2020 closing date. The examination was open to employees in the competitive division who had an aggregate of one year of continuous permanent service as of the closing date, and met the requirements. Those requirements included graduation from an accredited college or university with a Bachelor’s degree in Civil, Mechanical, or Electrical Engineering, AND one year of related experience in civil, electrical or mechanical engineering. A Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering Technology (BSET) in a field related to Civil, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering from an accredited college or university having a curriculum approved by the Accreditation Board of Engineering Technology (ABET) could substitute for the above education requirement. A Master’s degree in Civil, Electrical or Mechanical engineering, or a Master’s of Science in Engineering Technology (MSET) in a field related to Civil, Electrical or Mechanical engineering could be substituted for the required experience. Possession of a current and valid Professional Engineer’s License or an Engineer-in-Training Certificate issued by the New Jersey State Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors could be substituted for the college degree. As the appellant was the sole applicant, the examination was cancelled on May 14, 2021.

Appellant's argumentThe appellant indicated on her application that she possessed a Bachelor’s degree in Nuclear Engineering. She listed one position on her application, provisional Assistant Engineer from May 2018 to the October 2020 closing date, and listed her duties as “engineering duties for ocean county, NJ.” Official records indicate that the appellant’s titles included Analyst Trainee from May 2018 to May 2019, Assistant Administrative Analyst from May 2019 to June 2020, and Assistant Engineer from June 2020 to the October 2020 closing date. She was found to not meet the education and experience requirements.

On appeal, the appellant provides each of her positions by date, states that her Nuclear Engineering degree meets the educational requirement, and calculates her experience to be one year, eleven months and one week of applicable duties from May 2019 to the date of her appeal in May 2021. She provides a long list of duties in her position as an Analyst Trainee. and another list for Administrative Analyst Trainee and Assistant Engineer.

CONCLUSION

RuleN.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.6(a) provides that applicants shall meet all requirements specified in the examination announcement by the closing date. Further, N.J.A.C. 4A:1-1.2(c) states that the Civil Service Commission (Commission) may relax a rule for good cause in order to effectuate the purposes of Title 11A, New Jersey Statutes.

AnalysisInitially, Agency Services correctly determined that the appellant lacked the required education and experience by the October 2020 closing date. It should be noted that the appellant did not properly complete her application. She did not list each of her titles separately, and did not provide duties for the one position listed. The On-Line Application System User’s Guide cautions applicants to carefully review the application to ensure that it is complete and accurate before submitting, and to complete the application in detail. It states that failure to complete the application properly may cause the applicant to be declared ineligible. The instructions under the experience portion of the applications advise applicants to provide all employment information (not just current employment information), and if they have multiple positions, they need to make sure that they provide each one separately. The appellant should follow these instructions and properly complete any future applications for examinations. Additionally, the appellant should provide the duties of her positions in her own words.

Next, on appeal the appellant indicates that she performs the same duties for her positions as Assistant Administrative Analyst from May 2019 to June 2020, and Assistant Engineer from June 2020 to the October 2020 closing date. N.J.A.C. 4A:4- 2.6(c) provides in pertinent part that applicants for promotional examinations with open competitive requirements may not use experience gained as a result of out-of-title work to satisfy the requirements for admittance to the examination or for credit in the examination process, unless good cause is shown for an exception. In this case, while the examination is not competitive, the appellant did not provide any documentation from the appointing authority that she was working out-of-title. Nevertheless, the appellant provided duties for her Assistant Engineer position which indicate that she performs engineering duties. She remains in her provisional position and has accrued over one year of experience since her appointment in June 2020.

Further, the appellant possesses a degree in Nuclear Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. This is a rigorous curriculum in engineering that equals that of Engineering Technology, which is an acceptable substitutable degree, and it is in a field related to Civil, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering. The Civil Service Commission utilize the U.S. Department of Education’s current Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) as reference authority to determine if degrees and/or coursework falls within a specific academic discipline. According to CIP, the definition of Nuclear Engineering is a program that prepares individuals to apply mathematical and scientific principles to the design, development and operational evaluation of systems for controlling and manipulating nuclear energy, including nuclear power plant design, fission reactor design, fusion reactor design, reactor control and safety systems design, power transfer systems, containment vessels and structures design; and the analysis of related engineering problems such as fission and fusion processes, human and environmental factors, construction, and operational considerations. According to the Pennsylvania State University website, the program description for the Nuclear Engineering B.S. includes:

The first two years of the program stress fundamentals in mathematics, chemistry, physics, computer programming, and engineering sciences such as mechanics, materials, and thermodynamics. The last two years provide the breadth and depth in nuclear science, behavior of heat and fluids, reactor theory and engineering, and radiation measurement. The laboratory work includes experiments using the University's 1,000- kilowatt research reactor. Engineering design is incorporated in many courses from the freshman year to the senior year, but is particularly emphasized in the senior capstone design course, which integrates the critical elements of reactor theory, reactor engineering, safety considerations and economic optimization into a reactor design.

Thus, a graduate with a degree in Nuclear Engineering is on an intellectual footing with graduates with degree in Civil, Mechanical or Electrical Engineering. Moreover, the subject examination was cancelled due to the lack of qualified applicants, the appellant has clarified her experience on appeal, she continues to serve in her provisional position, and she possesses one year of experience upon acceptance of experience after the closing date. Under these circumstances, good cause exists to relax the requirements of N.J.A.C. 4A:4-2.6(a) to accept the appellant’s experience after the closing date, and to accept the degree in Nuclear Engineering as a substitute for the required specialized degree, and admit her to this examination on this one-time basis. The appellant is encouraged to complete a Bachelor’s degree in civil, mechanical or electrical engineering to advance in this career.

It is noted that this remedy is limited to the particular circumstances of this matter and does not set a precedent and any other matter.

ORDER

Therefore, it is ordered that this appeal be granted, and the appellant’s application be processed.

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