A guide for new employees
First Day and First Week
First Day
On your first day we want you to feel welcomed and be prepared to start working as you begin to understand what it means to be a part of Ohio State and your team.
- If you are an Ohio State Wexner Medical Center employee, you are scheduled to attend Medical Center Orientation on your first day. For questions, please refer to your letter of offer.
- All new faculty members are invited to New Faculty Orientation, hosted every August by the Office of Academic Affairs. Learn more and register on the OAA website.
- Finalize all hire documentation.
- Discuss the following with your leader:
- Orientation packet
- Your job description, including roles, responsibilities and expectations
- Your probationary period (if applicable)
- Your first week’s schedule and confirm meetings
- If you have not already, schedule your appointment to complete the I-9 Employment Verification Form. The Workday onboarding portal will provide instructions on how to schedule your appointment and what documentation you need to complete the verification process. All new employees need to complete this within the first three days of employment.
- Meet your co-workers and review the staff list/directory (including important telephone numbers).
- Introduce yourself to others in the workplace.
- Meet with your onboarding partner or mentor (if applicable).
- Obtain building or workspace access from your leader or human resources professional.
- Receive department or building-specific safety and emergency information.
- Set up personal work space.
- Obtain BUCKID badge.
- Take a tour of your building and learn about key areas:
- Restrooms, mail rooms, copy machine, bulletin boards, parking, printers, office supplies, water coolers, break rooms, vending machines, emergency exits, conference rooms
- Nearby food and services
- Obtain your parking pass (if not completed online or prior to your start date).
- Activate your Ohio State digital identity, including email address and BuckeyePass authentication (if not already completed).
- If you have multiple OSU email accounts, be it student or OSUMC, be sure to go to my.osu.edu to link your accounts to avoid missing HR and/or other emails.
- Meet with IT in your area for an orientation.
- Set up Outlook (or other email tool) and additional software on your work computer (if applicable).
- Set up voice mail (if applicable).
- Ask your leader or colleagues what tools are used for communication and collaboration in your area. CarmenZoom is often used for audio and web conferencing. Ohio State is moving toward Microsoft Teams for audio and web conferencing and other collaboration. Skype is also available in many units.
- Visit the Administrative Resource Center (ARC). This site provides guides, job aids, videos, and training for commonly used resources include Workday and Office 365.
First Week
During your first week, you should meet with your leader to build knowledge of internal processes and performance expectations. This is also a great time to engage with your new team members. Also, continue to work on the onboarding items assigned to you in Workday.
Benefits Overview
Review the Benefits Overview Book for new hires to learn more about Ohio State’s benefits. The Office of Human Resources also offers live webinars and recorded presentations to help you prepare for your benefit selections.
Health
You have 30 days from your eligibility date to enroll in optional benefits. See more about how to enroll.
Dependent Eligibility Verification
If you enroll your dependents in your health care coverage (medical, dental and/or vision), a dependent eligibility verification packet will be mailed to your home address following enrollment. Alight conducts dependent eligibility verifications on behalf of Ohio State. The verification packet will provide information on acceptable forms of documentation to verify your dependent’s eligibility. Failure to provide complete documentation by the specified deadline will result in coverage termination for any dependent(s) not verified.
Retirement
Employees of Ohio public colleges and universities do not participate in Social Security, other than contributions to Medicare. You are automatically enrolled in the appropriate state retirement system, OPERS (staff) or STRS (faculty). You will receive information directly from the state retirement system. If eligible, you have 120 days to elect Ohio State’s Alternative Retirement Plan (ARP). If you decide to remain in OPERS or STRS, you have until your 180th day to select a plan within OPERS or STRS. See more about retirement options.
Life Insurance
Complete beneficiary information for university-paid life insurance and and additional voluntary group term life insurance (VGLTI) in Workday.
Employee Wellness
Explore Your Plan for Health (YP4H), Ohio State’s employee wellness program that provides tools and resources for living a healthy life. YP4H gives participants an opportunity to earn rewards, including medical plan premium credit, Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) credits and PulseCash. You earn these rewards with healthy behaviors, such as completing a health assessment with biometrics, tracking physical activity and participating in wellness programs.
[review the Benefits Overview for new hires]
- Discuss with your leader:
- An organizational chart and how your job fits in the department, and how the job and department contribute to the unit, business area and the university
- Hours of work, unit practices for overtime and university policies for flexible work, vacation and sick leave, holidays, etc.
- How to navigate the unit’s culture to be successful
- Goal setting, mid-year check-in and performance review processes
- Discuss scheduled onboarding meetings and trainings and your initial assignments
- Recurring weekly/biweekly meetings, as well as 30-day and 90-day check-ins
- Review the process related to the probationary period (if applicable).
- Visit the Payroll Services website for details about direct deposit, paycheck, tax information and more.
- Chat with your leader or colleagues about the department to increase your understanding of unit goals and initiatives and the unit’s purpose within Ohio State.
- Set up individual meetings, informal lunches or coffee with team members to get to know them personally. Some things to discuss can include job duties, how your job roles interact, how you might work together in the future, past experiences, and hobbies and interests.
- Identify appropriate contacts to ask for additional information.
- Begin to meet others in the department.
- Take a quick tour of campus (virtually or by walking around) with your onboarding partner, mentor or leader. Some special locations to visit on main campus include Orton Hall, the Oval, the Ohio Union and Thompson Library. See visit.osu.edu.
- Enjoy a meal at one of the many restaurants on or around campus.
- Ensure you have access to a fully functioning computer and access to necessary systems.
- Identify IT resources and support.
- CarmenZoom Resources
BuckeyeLearn
Visit BuckeyeLearn, the university’s learning management system that has instructor-led and online learning courses offered at Ohio State. You can explore BuckeyeLearn for trainings that align with your personal and professional goals and interests, and your leader may also assign training to you. Your leader will share with you which training is required and which training is optional. Options include:
- Introduction to BuckeyeLearn (search for course in BuckeyeLearn)
- Institutional Data Policy (search for course in BuckeyeLearn)
- Report = Support: Identifying and Responding to Sexual Misconduct (required online course)
- This course is automatically assigned to employees between September and April each year. If a new employee starts outside of that window, they will not be assigned the course and will have to wait until September when the assignment window opens up again.
Office of the Controller
Financial Training within the Office of the Controller provides relevant training for Ohio State employees with fiscal and financial duties. To learn more about the different courses they provide, visit the Office of Business and Finance Financial Training website. If you have additional questions, please contact FinancialTraining@osu.edu
It is the responsibility of all individuals to identify and familiarize themselves with all applicable university and unit policies. Listed below are a few key university policies that should be reviewed during the early days of your employment. Please note, the top of each policy indicates if the particular policy applies to faculty, staff and/or student employees.
Work Environment
- Tobacco Free Ohio State
- Alcohol and Other Drugs
- Drug-Free Workplace
- Non-Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct
- Equal Employment Opportunity
- Workplace Violence
Technology and Information Security
Special Situations – Do these apply to you?
- Probationary Period (for CCS and bargaining unit staff)
- Youth Activities and Programs (for those who interact with minors)
- Privacy and Release of Student Education Records (for those who handle student education records)
- Student Employment (for student employees and those who supervise student employees)
- Intellectual Property (for those who create intellectual property)