Orientation and Onboarding

The university seeks to recruit and retain top talent. A well-designed orientation and onboarding plan reinforces a new employee's decision to join Wright State, minimizes unwanted turnover, shortens the time to full productivity for a new employee, and enhances employees' job satisfaction and engagement.  In addition, orientation activities support compliance with federal and state laws and regulations.

A.  Definitions

1. Orientation - Orientation is often a one-time event and set of activities completed within the first week of employment to fulfil new hire requirements and learn more broadly about the university's mission, goals, benefits, and policies.
    
2. Onboarding - Onboarding is a series of events (including orientation) that helps new employees understand how to be successful in their day-to-day job and how their work contributes to the university's overall business and academic mission.

B.  Orientation and Onboarding

1. Common start dates will apply to all new employees, graduate assistants, and student employees. Managers may not hire outside of these pre-determined start dates.
    
2. Each unit is responsible for hiring and managing their specific employees, which includes supporting new employees in their onboarding experience.  Employees acquire the necessary knowledge, skills and socialization to become effective team members when managers are especially active in onboarding new employees from the first date of hire and throughout the first year of employment.
    
3. Orientation of a new employee requires completion of federal, state, and other forms managed by Wright State's central offices of Human Resources (HR), College of Graduate Programs and Honors Studies, and Student Employment.
    
4. Employment eligibility (Form I-9) must be verified for all employees, (including graduate assistants and student employees), and the University requires employees to have an I-9 on-file by the end of the first day of paid work.  This process is managed only by the central office of HR on the Dayton Campus and may not be completed outside of this central process by any other University department on the Dayton campus.  A sole Lake Campus official has been designated to complete the I-9 for all employment categories at that location.  If remote verification is necessary, HR will initiate those services with an approved and authorized representative.  This process requires that knowledge of any new hire be communicated promptly to the appropriate offices.
    
5. The Federal Work-Study Program is a federal employment program for undergraduate and graduate students.  Student applicants must meet eligibility requirements for federal student aid, such as Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements.  Students must also have financial need.  The student must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by Wright State University's priority deadline.  When completing the FAFSA, the student must indicate that he or she is interested in employment.  Funds are awarded as available. Once the student receives an Award Notice, the student must accept Federal Work-Study via WINGS Express in accordance with the instructions provided on the online Award Notice.  After accepting Federal Work-Study, the student may search for available Work-Study jobs to find employment.
    
6. Employees must undergo background checks in accordance with the Background Check policy (8130), as must student employees who hold certain types of positions (e.g. IT, Registrar, and Pre-College Programs).

C. Types of Student Employment

1. Student employees are an employment class at Wright State, paid from the university bi-weekly payroll. On-campus student employment offers part-time positions that do not require a degree and usually do not require a specific major. Student employment positions accommodate a student’s class schedule. Career Services administers the student employment job posting, hiring, and termination processes. Hiring departments are responsible for initiating student employment personnel actions; supervision of student employees; assigning, monitoring and approving work hours; compliance with employment law and Wright State policies; and other employment policies and procedures. Student employees may not simultaneously hold a staff position or graduate assistantship. Review student employment policy information.
    
2. Graduate Assistantships combine an educational experience and a financial support package for full-time graduate students, whose primary occupation is the pursuit of their degrees, and include tuition remission and a minimum stipend. The terms of graduate assistantships are governed by the Graduate Assistants policy (5120).
    
3. Employment of international students is subject to federal regulations and special restrictions may apply. Consult the F-1 International Students policy (3020) and the University Center for International Education International Student Services team at askucie@wright.edu regarding the employment of international students.
    
4.  Full-time equivalency (FTE) and hours for student employees and graduate students:
   1. Student employees are hired on a temporary, part-time basis. Visit the Career Services website at career.wright.edu for policy information related to Student Employment positions. 
   2. Student employees may hold multiple student employment positions, but may not hold graduate assistantships. The positions must be the same Fair Labor Standards Act status (i.e., exempt or nonexempt) and must not total more than 70% FTE.  Graduate assistants cannot hold any position at WSU other than a graduate assistantship (see Policy 5120.7).
   3. If a student employee works more than one Student Employment position, then the total number of combined hours for all positions in a single week must not exceed the total allowable maximum working hours. Domestic students may work a maximum of 28 hours per week in all student employment jobs combined.
   4. International students may work a maximum of 20 hours a week in all student employment jobs combined, during the weeks of an academic semester. International students who are registered as full-time (12 or more undergraduate; 6 or more graduate credit hours) may never exceed 20 hours per week, at any time, per immigration regulations [8 C.F.R. § 214.2(f) (9) (i)]. International students may work 28 hours a week during their international student Academic semester official break (during Summer, Fall or Spring semester) if they are pre-registered for the required hours for the upcoming semester immediately following their break. This official break must be approved by the University Center of International Education (UCIE).
       
5. A student position cannot be changed to a staff or faculty position without following the applicable procedures for the creation of and hiring for a staff or faculty position. See the Hiring policy 8110.
    
6. State of Ohio employment laws applicable to minors must be followed when hiring individuals under 18 years of age and see the Children on Campus and Working with Minors Policy 13410 for more details.

 

1. Supervisors are responsible for ensuring their new hire attends and/or follows orientation protocols to include timely completion of the I-9. Failure to do so will result in the issuance of a written warning to supervisors and the new hire being asked to cease any further work until the issue is resolved, as such individuals are not authorized to work until the I-9 is completed.
   
   The following chart highlights key effective dates:

	Orientation Deadlines
1	Prevent Discrimination and Harassment Together	By End of Week 1
2	Prevent Sexual Violence	By End of Week 1
3	I-9 Paperwork	Day 1
4	Payroll / Direct Deposit	Day 1
5	Benefits Enrollment	Due Within First 31 Days of Hire
6	Retirement Enrollment - OPERS	Due Within First 180 Days of Hire
7	Retirement Enrollment - STRS	Due Within First 180 Days of Hire
8	Retirement Enrollment - Alternative Retirement Plan	Due Within First 120 Days of Hire
9	Receipt of Ohio Ethics Law Statement	Day 1
10	Ohio Auditor Fraud Reporting	Day 1
11	Orientation - Required Topics	Day 1

 

B.  Supervisors and their student employees must ensure that student employees adhere to work hour restrictions across all of the student employee’s university positions, and supervisors should collaborate with other supervisors as necessary.

C. The personnel designated to process I-9s in Human Resources and the Lake Campus must complete regular I-9 training and meet compliance requirements.

D. Managers are encouraged to formulate relevant onboarding plans for new continuous employees and a template is provided for assistance. Consultation is available through Human Resource Business Partners.

 

Supervisor New Hire Onboarding Guide

Working with Minors Policy

https://policy.wright.edu/policy/13410-children-campus-and-working-minors-policy

Hiring

https://policy.wright.edu/policy/8110-hiring

Background Checks

https://policy.wright.edu/policy/8130-background-checks

Immigration Policy

https://policy.wright.edu/policy/8140-immigration-policy-and-procedures-employment-or-sponsorship-foreign-nationals