Student Affairs Onboarding Guide for Supervisors
Onboarding is the process of getting new staff to higher levels of productivity, faster over the first 12 months. CU Boulder’s onboarding module includes four phases.
These are overlapping principles that guide our onboarding process and are supported by prior onboarding research.
Activate
Supervisors perform set-up tasks to ensure that payroll, benefits, logistics, schedule and technology needs are met.
Clarify
New staff go through orientation to the unit and organization. They develop an understanding of the job, competencies, expectations and how their role fits into the university mission.
Connect
New staff form interpersonal relationships and organizational, work and knowledge networks.
Excel
New staff apply the full range of competencies and skills to appropriate degrees of autonomy.
This person is generally responsible for onboarding their new hire. This includes preparing for their new hire’s first day, acclimating them during their first month and continued support throughout their first year. They may oversee a variety of duties including getting technology, setting up a workspace, scheduling trainings and ensuring the new hire is completing their own onboarding tasks.
This role may vary, as different portions of this role may be shared among multiple individuals.
The new staff member is responsible for completing set-up/onboarding tasks assigned to them from a variety of different systems on campus—from HR to Employee Services to their own department.
They will need the most support during their first month, and slowly integrate into their new role during their first year.
Your department may have a “buddy program” or include your new hire’s colleagues in the initial onboarding process. Your department may also have a departmental onboarding manager or someone specifically in charge of onboarding in lieu or in addition to the new hire’s supervisor/hiring manager.
These individuals may provide community and knowledge to your new hire in addition to their supervisor, greatly enhancing the onboarding experience and allowing new staff to feel connected to their team.
University Resources
The onboarding program manager works in central Human Resources and oversees onboarding for all research faculty, university staff and classified staff that are new to CU Boulder. They help answer onboarding questions for new hires as well as supervisors/hiring managers. They host programs like the New Employee Welcome Experience (virtual and in person), CU Discover and QuickStart. They are available for individual consultations to grow your departmental onboarding program.
Employee Services oversees payroll and benefits at CU at the system level. If a new staff member or supervisor has questions regarding these two items, they should contact their office. They also host in-person Pay/Benefit Orientations almost every other Monday in the afternoon in ARC 346 and video orientations on their website.
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Payroll: payroll@cu.edu, 303-860-4200, opt. 2
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Benefits: benefits@cu.edu, 303-860-4200, option 3
Division and campus-wide onboarding programs
This training provides new Student Affairs employees with useful information about the division and resources for staff. New staff are encouraged to attend a New Employee Orientation session within their first six months.
This all-day tour of central and east campus connects new hires and shares the story of how CU Boulder became the institution it is today. This is ideally scheduled within a new hire’s first two months.
Held monthly/bimonthly, these 1-hour virtual sessions present an opportunity to learn more about working in higher education and at CU Boulder.
Additional Resources
- Resources for Student Affairs Staff to review staff engagement opportunities, shared services and Spending Guidelines
- Division Communications include the SA Insider and Mulling it Over
- CU HR Onboarding New Employees
- SA New Employee Toolkit (Link to final pdf version)
- Virtual QuickStart Dates & Times