Unit Onboarding/Offboarding Initiative
Overview
The Unit Onboarding/Offboarding Initiative has been established to assess the current practices around unit onboarding and offboarding, identify the needs and best practices of a new program, and then develop resources that could be used by any unit. The team is made up of about 50 participants from all classification and experience levels. Each member is serving on a volunteer basis in a leadership, advisory or team member role. Through initial leadership meetings, five subgroups were established. Each subgroup had a specific focus, with one being the unit offboarding process, and the others targeting unit onboarding by specific employee type (executive management, faculty/academic staff, support staff and temporary/on-call/student employees). The team has started the building stage of the project. Sub-groups have shifted from a focus on employee type to be more timing and date-driven around the associated needs to successfully onboard someone (pre-onboarding, first day/week/month, three/six/nine touchpoints, and offboarding).
Onboarding and offboarding recommendations will include resources and best practices that can be tailored to meet the unique needs of each unit’s employees. These recommendations are not intended to mandate one process for the entire university, nor to alter existing university-wide policies, procedures, and/or systems.
Definitions
- Onboarding: the intentional process by which a new Spartan becomes a fully integrated member of the MSU community.
- Offboarding: the intentional process by which a Spartan transitions to a new role with support from the MSU community.
- Employees: individuals with an appointment at MSU in one of the following employment categories: Executive Management, Faculty, Academic Staff, Support Staff, or Temporary/On-Call/Student.
Opportunities to Participate
The group hosted nine Listening Sessions which allowed all employees the opportunity to participate in the conversation about how to improve these programs at MSU.
Employees can continue to share ideas through the MSU Ideas portal or provide feedback anonymously using this Qualtrics survey, which mirrors the questions that were discussed at the Listening Sessions. Lastly, you can provide direct feedback to the project leadership team via email: onboarding@msu.edu.
Initiative Goals
- Create awareness about the importance of strong onboarding and offboarding.
- Provide a consistent and aligned framework to connect new employees to the community and culture of excellence at MSU.
- Provide unit onboarding and offboarding resources and best practices that can be tailored to meet the unique needs of each unit’s employees.
University Team
Leadership Team:
Kari Ceo-Grulke, IQ/BioMedEngineering
Breanne Harvey, Osteopathic Medicine
Jake Lathrop, MSU Human Resources
Erin Laudenslager, Psychology
Sharri Margraves, MSU Human Resources
Hannah O'Mara, Lyman Briggs
Michelle Rutkowski, IPF
Alice Smith, MSU Human Resources
Matt Stehouwer, IT Services
Jennifer Tetreau, Linguistics POD
Advisory Team:
Katie Dyjach, James Madison
Nancy Gray, Social Work
Heather Hazzard, IQ/BioMedEngineering
Tami Kuhn, RHS
Cindi Leverich, AAN
Amy Martin, Undergrad Education
Angela Matlock, Controller's Office
Sondra Olin, RHS
Barbara Roberts, WorkLife Office
Keri Rowley, MSU Extension
Paulette Russell, OIII
Chris Townsend, FRIB
Kara Yermak, Academic HR
Sub-group Team Members:
Mitchell Avant, University Adv
Lisa Bila, General Counsel
Lindsey Brownlee, EHS
Sue Carpenter, CREATE for STEM
Amanda Carter, CED Operations and Finance
Kathie Elliott, MSU HR
Matthew Fehrenbach, IPF
Lynn foltz, CED Operations and Finance
Jackie Fondren, Media and Public Information
Amanda Goll, Office of the President
Tracy Halloran, Sponsored Programs
Jason Kerschke, MSU HR
Sarah Kovach, Osteopathic Medicine
Kathryn Kuzendo, Vet Med Dean
Rachel Kramer, MSU Extension
Julie Lowman, CABS
Jessie Ness, Osteopathic Medicine
Jeanna Norris, Great Lake Bioenergy Research
Allison Petersen, REHS
Kristi Porrell, Neighborhood Success
Will Simons, FRIB
Jen Spitzley, Comm Arts
Lakiya White, MSU Human Resources
Lori Whittaker, Business
Lauren Woodworth, OIE
