About Career Conversations
Career Conversations are the annual performance feedback and career growth process for staff. Here's how it works.
Your Steps in the Process
1. Enroll in and complete the e-Learning module
RECOMMENDED The Career Conversations Staff Training module in EDGE Learning is available now, takes approximately 20–30 minutes, and covers the full process, how to complete each section, and what to expect.
2. Complete Your Career Conversations Checklist
The staff window runs Aug. 3–31. Complete your Career Conversations Checklist in EDGE Learning and submit by Aug. 31. After you submit, your supervisor reviews your submission in September and assigns a rating.
3. Meet With Your Supervisor to Discuss
Between Oct. 1 and 30, you and your supervisor meet for a dedicated 1:1 to review ratings, discuss your work, and align on expectations.
Live training sessions and open office hours are scheduled through the fall. Use the link(s) below to enroll in EDGE Learning to receive the Zoom attendance link. Your HR team is also available for questions specific to your situation.
Understand the full process before you begin. Each step builds on the one before it.
Getting Ready for Your Checklist
Resources below are organized by section, so you can jump to what you need. Working through these before you sit down in EDGE Learning makes the actual writing faster. You'll already have your thoughts down, rather than starting from a blank page.
Self-Reflection and Self-Rating resources help you reflect on the year and rate your performance. Goal Setting and Growth Planning resources help you build SMART goals tied to your role and think through and plan where you want to grow. Conversation Preparation resources help you prepare to discuss your ratings and goals with your supervisor in October.
Self-Reflection and Self Rating
Goal Setting and Growth Planning
Conversation Preparation
LinkedIn Learning
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. The 2026 process is completed in EDGE Learning and includes a performance rating for the first time. Work completed in the old process, including any conversations you already had with your supervisor, does not carry over as a completed submission.
That said, anything you drafted or discussed earlier, like accomplishments, goals, notes from your conversation, can be repurposed when you complete the EDGE Learning sections. You won't be starting from scratch.
You’re still included in Career Conversations. When you return from leave, you’ll have 30 days to complete your self-reflection and another 30 days for your calibration conversation with your supervisor. This must be completed by Nov. 27.
If you know your leave is coming, talk to your supervisor or HR team beforehand. In some cases, you may be able to complete your sections early. If your situation is more complicated, for example, your supervisor is also on leave, your HR team can walk you through what to expect.
It depends on your hire date relative to the August window.
- Hired within 90 days of Aug. 3: You'll skip the self-reflection and rating sections, but still complete the goal-setting and growth plan sections.
- Hired Aug. 1 or later: You'll begin with the next Career Conversations cycle instead.
The five-point scale is: Exceeding, Meeting, Evolving, Developing, and Not Measurable.
Exceeding should reflect impact that goes clearly beyond the normal scope of the role, not just doing the job thoroughly. Think about if the staff member’s contributions stand out in terms of scope, reach, or effect on the team or university.
Meeting is the expected and appropriate rating for most staff. It means you are doing your job well.
Evolving means you are partially meeting expectations. There are gaps, and your supervisor should be having a conversation with you about them before October.
Developing means performance is not meeting expectations. This rating requires prior documented coaching conversations before it can be assigned.
Not Measurable is for situations where performance cannot be fairly evaluated, for example, if you recently joined your team, returned from extended leave, or worked under circumstances significantly outside your control. Note: this rating will not be used in year one.
Note: Complete the staff EDGE Learning module training for more detailed definitions with observable behaviors.
The October calibration conversation is specifically designed for this. It is a two-way discussion, not a one-way delivery of your rating. You will have the opportunity to share your perspective.
If there is a significant discrepancy between your self-assessment and your supervisor's rating, that gets flagged and reviewed at the next level of management.
If you have concerns about fairness or the process, contact your HR team.
In 2026, ratings will not directly determine compensation. This first year is focused on establishing a university-wide baseline, consistent data that the institution has not had before.
The university is evaluating how ratings may inform compensation, promotion decisions, and workforce planning in future cycles. No decisions have been made about merit linkage at this time.
Your HR team is the first point of contact for concerns about how this process is being applied in your area.
If you have feedback about the process itself, you can raise it through your HR team or at any of the live training sessions.
The checklist fields accept only plain text. If you copy and paste from another source (Word document, Notepad (.txt), or the provided worksheets), then any text formatting will not carry over.
If you know that you don’t have a supervisor on record, please still complete your employee portion of the checklist. HR is tracking employees without an assigned supervisor and will determine how these records are completed administratively.