Related Topics
Please see below the FAQ questions specific to Administrators.
Selecting the questions will expand and collapse the associated answers.
Steps in the Process/Workflow
What are the steps in a probationary performance evaluation process?
- Criteria are defined by the supervisor to be approved by the supervisor.
- The supervisor completes the evaluation and submits it for approval.
- The approver approves the performance evaluation.
- The supervisor shares the evaluation with the employee.
- The employee acknowledges the evaluation.
Detailed step-by-step instructions for the probationary performance evaluation process can be found here.
What are the steps in an annual performance evaluation process?
- Criteria are defined by the supervisor and/or the employee, to be approved by the supervisor. All functions and goals that an employee will be evaluated on for the current performance cycle must be defined during this step. Criteria cannot be added or edited once the Define Criteria step has been completed.
- The supervisor approves the criteria. To allow for updates to the criteria throughout the performance cycle, the supervisor should wait to approve the Define Criteria step until the end of the performance cycle.
- (optional) The supervisor and/or the employee can nominate additional staff participants to the evaluation process. One reason for nominating someone could be in the case of dual supervision.
- (recommended) The employee completes a self-evaluation.
- The supervisor completes the manager evaluation and shares it with their employee.
- The employee acknowledges the evaluation.
- The supervisor submits the evaluation for approval.
- The approver approves the performance evaluation.
Detailed step-by-step instructions for the annual performance evaluation process can be found here.
Locating Evaluations
How do I access my current performance evaluation?
- Go to https://ucpath.universityofcalifornia.edu
- Log in with their CruzID and gold password
- In the left navigation panel, click on ‘Performance Workcenter’
- Under the ‘Employee Self Service’ section, click on ‘My Current Performance Docs’
- Click on the relevant performance evaluation.
How do I access a completed performance evaluation?
- Go to https://ucpath.universityofcalifornia.edu
- Log in with their CruzID and gold password
- In the left navigation panel, click on ‘Performance Workcenter’
- Under the ‘Employee Self Service’ section, click on ‘My Historical Performance Docs’
- Click on the relevant performance evaluation.
How can I access evaluations that predate ePerformance?
appraisals.ucsc.edu automatically sent an email with a PDF copy of the completed evaluation. Please search your email for a message coming from appraisals@ucsc.edu to find that document. If you cannot find that email, either due to a change in supervision, or the email has been deleted, you can submit an Employee Request for Access to Personnel File for a copy of an evaluation record.
Technical Questions and Support
I keep getting logged out of UCPath. What do I do?
UCPath will log you out after ~20 minutes of inactivity. If you have multiple tabs open to UCPath, each tab is running its own timer. If any browser tab open to UCPath is left untouched for ~20 minutes, it will log you out of all tabs (even if you are actively working in another UCPath tab). We recommend closing any UCPath browser tabs you aren’t actively using to avoid an unwanted logout.
Please note, the Performance Workcenter automatically opens you into a new tab on your browser, creating the perfect scenario for you to be logged out while you are working.
Why can’t I access my employee self evaluation?
Before an employee can access their self evaluation, the supervisor must first approve the Define Criteria step. If, as an employee, you see a yellow half circle next to the Define Criteria step in your performance evaluation, you should reach out to your supervisor and ask them to approve the defined criteria. Please note, there is no notification sent to the employee when the Define Criteria step has been approved, so your supervisor will have to let you know when you can access your self evaluation.
Another possible issue, if your supervisor has completed their manager evaluation of you and shared that evaluation with you, you will be locked out from completing your self evaluation. If this happens, your supervisor is able to reopen the evaluation so that you can complete your self evaluation.
Will last year’s criteria show up automatically in the new evaluation?
No. Nothing will automatically populate, so you will need to add them in manually.
Can I follow along – i.e., see all inputs – as the supervisor rates and comments on each criteria?
Employees can see criteria that the supervisor has saved in the Define Criteria step, but they can’t see the supervisor’s evaluation of them until the evaluation is shared with them.
What is the character or word limit for the comment section of the Performance Evaluations?
There is no specific character or word limit.
Criteria (Function & Goals)
Can I add or edit items during the Define Criteria step?
Yes. During the Define Criteria step, employees are able to add items to the evaluation, and edit existing items. All functions and goals that an employee will be evaluated on for the current performance cycle must be defined during this step. Criteria cannot be added or edited once the Define Criteria step has been completed.
Can I follow along – i.e., see all inputs as the supervisor rates and comments on each criteria?
Employees can see criteria that the supervisor has saved in the Define Criteria step, but they can’t see the supervisor’s evaluation of them until the evaluation is shared with them.
Can I define criteria after the Define Criteria step of the evaluation?
No. Once the Define Criteria step has been completed (note the green checkmark next to the step in the Performance Process bar), criteria may no longer be updated or edited. Under limited circumstances the supervisor is able to reopen the Define Criteria step. See “I accidentally completed a step but need to go back. How can I go back a step?” on the Supervisor FAQ for more information.
What material do I input in the Define Criteria section of the evaluation? Do I input the job description information or my self evaluation content?
During the Define Criteria step, you would be entering the job description content on the Functions tab, and goals for your employee for the current performance cycle on the Goals tab. You will not be entering your evaluation of the employee at this time. Once you approve the Define Criteria step, you will be able to rate and evaluate your employee on those criteria in the Complete Manager Evaluation step.
Both the supervisor and the employee have the ability to add and save criteria during the Define Criteria step. Toward the end of the performance cycle, once they have reviewed all content in the Define Criteria step, the supervisor would click the ‘Approve’ button.
Will last year’s criteria show up automatically in the new evaluation?
No. Nothing will automatically populate, so you will need to add them in manually.
How and where do you set up goals for the upcoming year?
Goals for the upcoming performance cycle would be entered in the evaluation created for that performance cycle. For example, the goals for the 21-22 performance cycle would be entered in the 21-22 performance performance evaluation, once that evaluation is created.
Performance Notes
Can I create performance notes about myself?
Yes. In the Performance Workcenter, under Employee Self Service there is a link called ‘Employees Performance Notes’.
Who can see the Performance Notes I enter about myself?
Only the employee that created the Performance Note can see that Performance Note.
Am I able to delete a performance note?
Yes. When you search for a performance note, on that search page when results are displayed, you can select one or more notes by checking a checkbox. When you do, a yellow ‘Delete’ button becomes available. We recommend deleting performance notes once the performance period in question has passed, and the relevant performance evaluation is completed.
Are performance notes purged from UCPath after a certain retention period?
No. At this time, there is no purge process in place for performance notes. If you do not want performance notes to persist, you would want to go in and delete them after you’ve completed the relevant performance evaluation.
Peer/participant nominations and evaluations
How do I nominate a participant?
In the Performance Process panel, select ‘Nominate Participants’ and then click the ‘Add Nominees’ link. Next, in the main panel of the page click the ‘Add Peer’ link. Search for the UCSC staff employee you would like to nominate, check the checkbox next to their name and click ‘Ok’. Click the yellow ‘Save’ button in the upper right corner of the page to save your work.
Please note: nominating a participant does not automatically invite the participant to give feedback on the employee’s performance. Once a nomination has been saved, the supervisor needs to review, and then either accept or reject the nomination. If the supervisor accepts the nomination, they should click the ‘Submit Nominations’ button in the upper right corner to send the invitation to the nominated participant. If the supervisor wishes to reject the nomination, they should click the trashcan icon to the right of their name to remove them from the list of nominations.
Making Changes
I submitted by self and now need to make edits. How do I do that?
If your supervisor has not yet submitted their manager evaluation for approval, they are able to reopen your self evaluation for you.
To reopen an employee’s self evaluation: They will need to click on the ‘Review Self Evaluation’ link in the Performance Process bar, and then click ‘View Self Evaluation’. This will open a new tab on their browser. In that new tab, a ‘Reopen’ link will display directly above the Functions and Goals tabs.
If your supervisor has already shared their manager evaluation with you, they will first need to reopen the manager evaluation before they will be able to reopen your self evaluation.
To reopen the manager evaluation: They will need to go into the ‘Complete Manager Evaluation’ step and click the ‘Reopen’ link directly above the Functions and Goals tabs. Please note, they will not have this reopen option if they have already submitted the evaluation for approval. If they have submitted the evaluation for approval and need to make changes to the evaluation, they will need to reach out to their Employee Relations Analyst to have them reopen the evaluation for them.
Evaluation Creation and Timing
How and where do you set up goals for the upcoming year?
Goals for the upcoming performance cycle would be entered in the evaluation created for that performance cycle. For example, the goals for the 21-22 performance cycle would be entered in the 21-22 performance performance evaluation, once that evaluation is created.
What material do I input in the Define Criteria section of the evaluation? Do I input the job description information or my self evaluation content?
During the Define Criteria step, you would be entering the job description content on the Functions tab, and goals for your employee for the current performance cycle on the Goals tab. You will not be entering your evaluation of the employee at this time. Once you approve the Define Criteria step, you will be able to rate and evaluate your employee on those criteria in the Complete Manager Evaluation step.
Both the supervisor and the employee have the ability to add and save criteria during the Define Criteria step. Toward the end of the performance cycle, once they have reviewed all content in the Define Criteria step, the supervisor would click the ‘Approve’ button.
Will last year’s criteria show up automatically in the new evaluation?
No. Nothing will automatically populate, so you will need to add them in manually.
How do I…
How do I access my current performance evaluation?
Go to https://ucpath.universityofcalifornia.edu
Log in with their CruzID and gold password
In the left navigation panel, click on ‘Performance Workcenter’
Under the ‘Employee Self Service’ section, click on ‘My Current Performance Docs’
Click on the relevant performance evaluation.
How do I access a completed performance evaluation?
Go to https://ucpath.universityofcalifornia.edu
Log in with their CruzID and gold password
In the left navigation panel, click on ‘Performance Workcenter’
Under the ‘Employee Self Service’ section, click on ‘My Historical Performance Docs’
Click on the relevant performance evaluation.
How can I access evaluations that predate ePerformance?
appraisals.ucsc.edu automatically sent an email with a PDF copy of the completed evaluation. Please search your email for a message coming from appraisals@ucsc.edu to find that document. If you cannot find that email, either due to a change in supervision, or the email has been deleted, you can submit an Employee Request for Access to Personnel File for a copy of an evaluation record.
How do I add or edit items during the Define Criteria step?
During the Define Criteria step, employees are able to add items to the evaluation, and edit existing items. All functions and goals that an employee will be evaluated on for the current performance cycle must be defined during this step. Criteria cannot be added or edited once the Define Criteria step has been completed.
When an employee adds a new item to an evaluation, their name will display at the bottom of that item following the words “Created By”.
When an employee edits an existing item in an evaluation, their name will display at the bottom of that item following the words “Last Modified By”.
Employees are able to delete items that they themselves added to the evaluation, but cannot delete items added by their supervisor.
It is up to the supervisor whether or not they would like their employee to add or edit items to the performance evaluation. When starting a performance evaluation, the supervisor should clearly communicate with their employee their expectations around employee involvement during the Define Criteria step.
How and where do I set up goals for the upcoming year?
Goals for the upcoming performance cycle would be entered in the evaluation created for that performance cycle. For example, the goals for the 21-22 performance cycle would be entered in the 21-22 performance performance evaluation, once that evaluation is created.
How do I nominate a participant?
In the Performance Process panel, select ‘Nominate Participants’ and then click the ‘Add Nominees’ link. Next, in the main panel of the page click the ‘Add Peer’ link. Search for the UCSC staff employee you would like to nominate, check the checkbox next to their name and click ‘Ok’. Click the yellow ‘Save’ button in the upper right corner of the page to save your work.
Please note: nominating a participant does not automatically invite the participant to give feedback on the employee’s performance. Once a nomination has been saved, the supervisor needs to review, and then either accept or reject the nomination. If the supervisor accepts the nomination, they should click the ‘Submit Nominations’ button in the upper right corner to send the invitation to the nominated participant. If the supervisor wishes to reject the nomination, they should click the trashcan icon to the right of their name to remove them from the list of nominations.
How do I create performance notes about myself?
In the Performance Workcenter, under Employee Self Service there is a link called ‘Employees Performance Notes’.
How do I delete performance notes?
When you search for a performance note, on that search page when results are displayed, you can select one or more notes by checking a checkbox. When you do, a yellow ‘Delete’ button becomes available. We recommend deleting performance notes once the performance period in question has passed, and the relevant performance evaluation is completed.
How do I edit my self evaluation after it’s been submitted?
If your supervisor has not yet submitted their manager evaluation for approval, they are able to reopen your self evaluation for you.
To reopen an employee’s self evaluation: They will need to click on the ‘Review Self Evaluation’ link in the Performance Process bar, and then click ‘View Self Evaluation’. This will open a new tab on their browser. In that new tab, a ‘Reopen’ link will display directly above the Functions and Goals tabs.
If your supervisor has already shared their manager evaluation with you, they will first need to reopen the manager evaluation before they will be able to reopen your self evaluation.
To reopen the manager evaluation: They will need to go into the ‘Complete Manager Evaluation’ step and click the ‘Reopen’ link directly above the Functions and Goals tabs. Please note, they will not have this reopen option if they have already submitted the evaluation for approval. If they have submitted the evaluation for approval and need to make changes to the evaluation, they will need to reach out to their Employee Relations Analyst to have them reopen the evaluation for them.
How can I add comments to my appraisal after my supervisor shares it with me?
On the Overall Summary tab, employees have the ability to leave any final comments about their evaluation. As long as the employee has not yet acknowledged the appraisal, they should be able to access this tab which is located in Section 5 – Employee Comments.
How can I learn more about ePerformance?
To learn more about ePerformance, Staff HR offers three resources:
Sign up for a class:
Employee Relations offers instructor led courses on ePerformance. You can register for the first course, ‘ePerformance Part 1: Defining Criteria and Goal Setting’ through the UC Learning Center. Additional courses on how to complete a performance evaluation will be offered toward the end of the annual performance cycle.
View Training Presentations:
The full ePerformance Tool Trainings and step by step instructions can also be found here.
View Step-by-Step Instructions and Workflow:
How do I get help if I have additional questions?
Contact your Employee Relations Analyst with any further questions you have about ePerformance.