In accordance with Revised Code of Washington (RCW) 41.06.070, for a position to be considered eligible for Washington State University Administrative Professional service, it must qualify for one of the exemption criteria listed below. To remain in compliance with the RCW and the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Human Resource Services audits each position to determine the exemption, the official title, and whether or not the position is eligible for overtime. In general, administrative professional positions are exempt from the overtime provisions of the FLSA.
Exemption Criteria Definitions:
Academic
Individuals in an academic-exempt position are responsible for providing academic advisement for prospective and current students within a specified academic department or equivalent unit of a college. Such activities include but are not limited to, participating in the student recruitment process, analyzing applications, transfer evaluations and transcripts, assessing academic level, responding to academic inquiries, and developing individual academic plans.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
Administrative Assistant
A president or vice president may have individual(s) acting as his or her administrative assistant(s). The employee normally performs supportive work for his or her superior as an individual contributor without subordinates.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
Confidential Secretary
The offices of the President, Vice Presidents, the Provost, Vice Provosts or Executive Director for Budget and Planning may have individual(s) responsible for a variety of confidential office support and/or secretarial duties.
Title:
- Confidential Secretary-1154
Counseling
Individuals in counseling-exempt positions are responsible for directing and/or participating in providing academic, athletic, medical, career, financial aid, student activity, and/or personal counseling to students. Such activities include, but are not limited to, providing individual and group guidance services using recognized professional techniques and practices.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
Development
Individuals in these positions establish the unit’s fundraising goals, develop methods to accomplish those goals, and plan and conduct public contact programs designed to promote the public’s understanding of the unit’s activities and the cultivation of donors.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
Energy
Individuals in these positions administer energy education, applied research, and technology transfer programs.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
- Energy Engineer-1323
- Energy Engineer Supervisor-1322
- Energy Extension Program Manager-1321
- Energy Program Coordinator-1326
- Energy Project Analyst-1337
- Energy Project Analyst Supervisor-1403
Executive Heads
Executive heads of major academic or administrative divisions are analogous in the hierarchy to vice presidents, deans, and chairs. Directors may be executive heads as determined by HRS. An executive head is in charge of a separate budget unit and directs subordinates.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
- Vice President
- Executive Director-1449
The following titles may qualify for this exemption:
- Assistant Vice President-1410
- Associate Vice President-1416
- Director-1155
Extension/Continuing Education
Individuals considered exempt in this category are responsible for originating and developing formal education programs for the general public, usually involving close contact with faculty and staff or training or consulting with specific groups in the community to enable them to provide specialized training and/or services to the community.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
- Extension Coordinator-1132 - Sample PD
- Extension Coordinator Senior-1448
- Extension Coordinator Specialist-1325
- Extension Coordinator Supervisor-1324
- Extension Manager-1121
- Learning Design Consultant-1145
Graphic Arts and Publications
Individuals qualifying for exemption under this category will be involved in performing selected graphic arts or publication activities requiring prescribed academic preparation or special visual techniques, requiring original design and layout, and/or can be distinguished from positions associated with the standard editorial functions.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
Internal Audits and Investigations
Individuals in these positions examine and analyze fiscal records of the institution for compliance with various internal and external regulations and policies, effectiveness of established controls, efficiency of operations, and accuracy of reports and records. They report to management on audit results and make recommendations for improving operations.
Title:
Legislative Relations
Individuals in these positions promote information flow to and from local, state, and national governments; devise the institution’s lobbying strategies; and monitor and analyze bills and policies.
Title:
Manager
Managerial or professional level positions having substantial responsibility for directing or controlling program operations and who are accountable for the allocation of resources and program results or who are responsible for the formulation of institutional policy.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
- Administrative Manager-1205
- Animal Care Facility Manager-1185
- Area Finance-Administrative Officer-1147
- Assistant Athletic Director-1211
- Assistant Director-1157 – Sample PD
- Assistant Vice President-1410
- Associate Director-1158
- Broadcast Chief Engineer-1295
- Broadcast Telecommunications Director-1370
- Conference Manager-1130
- Construction Engineer-1267
- Director-1155
- Director Administrative Services-1194
- Facilities Project Officer-1262
- Fiscal Manager-1179
- Fiscal Officer Management Analyst-1175
- Finance Budget Manager-1143
- Food Service Assistant Manager-1245 - Sample PD
- Food Service Associate Manager-1246
- Food Service Manager-1247
- Manager-1162 – Sample PD
- Marketing-Development Manager-1341
- Program Administrative Manager-1204
- Scientific Laboratory Manager-1250
Personnel
Individuals in these positions exercise discretion and independent judgment in effecting, executing, and discharging personnel functions, such as employment, classification, benefits, affirmative action/equal employment opportunity, labor relations, employee relations, and training. Positions that perform clerical, secretarial, or technical duties in support of personnel functions are excluded from exemption under this definition.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
- Benefits Specialist-1230
- Human Resource Analyst-1223
- Human Resource Consultant-1225
Principal Assistant
Individuals serving as principal assistants to executive heads of a major administrative or academic division and who have major administrative or program responsibility within the division/department and report directly to the executive head. The employee must regularly exercises independent judgment and discretion in work directly related to management policies or department business operations and must have delegated authority to make commitments that affect department operations.
Note: Positions exempted using this definition shall not appear below the fifth level in terms of a reporting relationship to the President. Executive heads of major administrative or academic divisions may have more than one principal assistant exemption reporting to them as determined by HRS. In addition, a position exempted based on the principal assistant definition cannot have another position exempted based on the principal assistant definition reporting to it. These positions should rise to the level that they are exempt from the overtime provisions of FLSA.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
Public Information
Individuals in positions exempted under this definition plan and direct the development and communication of information designed to keep the public informed of the institution’s programs, accomplishments, and point of view. Incumbents exercise discretion in determining content of written copy. Other duties may include creating ideas, laying out artwork, contacting media representatives, and representing the institution directly before the general public.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
- Marketing Promotions Coordinator-1343
- Public Relations Communication Coordinator-1281
- Public Relations Communication Coordinator Senior-1282
- Public Relations Communication Manager-1284
Research
Individuals in research-exempt positions spend the majority of their time in one or more of the following activities: identification and definition of research problems, design of approaches or hypotheses and methodology to be used, design of specific phases of research projects, analysis of results, development of conclusion and hypothesis, and presentation of research results in publishable form.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
- Associate-1165 – Sample PD
- Instructional Lab Supervisor-1128
- Research Supervisor-1127
- Scientific Assistant-1161
- Scientific Assistant Senior-1160
- Scientific Laboratory Manager-1250
- Social Scientific Assistant-1183
Senior Computer Systems and Network Programming
Individuals in positions exempted under this definition require skill above the journey-level; independently perform work assignments; and devise methods and processes to meet new and unique work requirements and problems. The employee’s primary duty includes at least one of the following:
- The application of systems analysis techniques and procedures including consulting with users to determine hardware, software, or system functional specifications;
- The design, development, documentation, analysis, creation, testing, or modification of computer systems or programs, including prototypes based on and related to user or system design specifications;
- The design, documentation, testing, creation or modification of computer programs related to machine operating systems;
- A combination of these duties, the performance of which requires the same level of skills.
Note: Individuals in positions primarily engaged in the operation, manufacture, repair, or maintenance of computer hardware or related equipment and positions whose work relies heavily on the use of computers and computer software programs, but who are not engaged in system analysis or programming, are excluded from exemption under this definition.
Title may include, but are not limited to:
- Application Systems Analyst-Developer-1356
- Computer Systems Administrator-1220
- Data Architect – Database Administrator-1352
- Information Systems Coordinator-1137
- Information Services Director-1351
- Information Systems Manager-1142 – Sample PD
- Information Technologies Consultant-1355
- Instructional Design Coordinator-1296
- Web Coordinator-1358
