The self-service portal
One portal holds the recurring employee tasks: view and download earnings statements and year-end tax forms, update direct deposit and tax withholding, check leave balances and request time off, complete benefits open enrollment and life-event changes, record effort on grants, acknowledge policies, and enroll in training. Set it up and bookmark it during onboarding; most "how do I…" questions for employees are answered there before HR.
What is required, and when
A few things are not optional and have deadlines. Benefits elections within your new-hire window (missing it defaults you into or out of coverage you may not want). Annual compliance training — typically information security, discrimination and harassment prevention, and, for some roles, FERPA, Title IX, lab or driver safety — assigned each year with a due date and a reminder cascade. Keeping your emergency contacts and your Porter Alert mobile number current. The performance-review cycle on your unit's schedule. For anyone who supervises, hires, spends, or handles student records, the role-specific training layered on top.
Support and consultation
HR for policy, pay, classification, and benefits; the ombuds for confidential, off-the-record help working through a conflict or a decision; the Office of Equity & Access and Title IX for discrimination, harassment, and accommodation matters; the employee assistance program — free, confidential, and run by an outside provider — for counseling, financial coaching, legal consultation, and elder- and child-care referrals; and, for represented employees, the union and its contract. The Center for Applied Teaching supports instructors specifically.
Perks employees forget
A tuition benefit that reduces or waives fees for employees taking courses, and in some cases a partial benefit for a spouse or dependent. Use of the recreation center at a member rate, library borrowing and databases, discounted arts and athletics tickets, the campus food pantry and emergency fund (staff are eligible too), a wellness program with premium incentives, retirement-planning sessions, credit-union access, and vendor and travel discounts through the state employee program. HR keeps the current list.
Questions?
See the full staff & office directory for any phone number or email. Because this is a fictional parody site, addresses and phone numbers are illustrative and do not reach a real university.