Policy #1323
New Employee Orientation

Date of Current Revision: March 2009
Responsible Officer: Director, Human Resources

1. PURPOSE

To communicate and define the university's vision and plan for new employee orientation.

2. AUTHORITY

University administration has set forth the mandate that new employees will receive a thorough introduction to the university and their roles as members of the university community.

3. DEFINITIONS

Orientation
A systematic, strategic program designed to educate and inform new employees for the purpose of making their employment experience more fulfilling and their work more productive.

Administrative & Professional Faculty
A faculty member whose primary responsibility is management or administration with little or no teaching responsibilities (as opposed to instructional faculty).

Classified Employee
At JMU, a non-faculty full-time employee who is covered by the Virginia Personnel Act.

Instructional Faculty
Sometimes referred to as 'Teaching and Research Faculty" this is a faculty member whose primary responsibility is teaching, research and service. Instructional Faculty members also have specific guidelines for employment set forth in the University Faculty Handbook.

Wage employee
As defined by the Commonwealth, a wage employee is a part-time, temporary, or seasonal employee who is limited to working no more than 1500 hours in any 365-day period.

4. APPLICABILITY

This policy applies to all full-time classified employees, and where indicated, to wage employees, Administrative & Professional Faculty members and Instructional Faculty members.

5. POLICY

Orientation occurs in two phases. Phase One (traditional benefits and performance and compensation information) is required for all new full-time, classified employees. Phase Two (non-traditional benefits) is required for all new full-time classified employees and is optional for new wage employees, part-time and full-time faculty.

6. PROCEDURE

The orientation program is designed to provide new employees with general information about the university and its programs, benefits, and personnel policies and procedures. Employees also complete paperwork associated with their employment. Phase One orientation is held every two weeks while Phase Two orientation is held once per month. The new employee is scheduled for the Phase One orientation program closest to the employment date.

To assist supervisors in the orientation process, a departmental checklist, accompanied by the Welcome Letter, is sent to supervisors of classified employees by JMU's Employee Ombudsperson. Additions may be made to the checklist to cover unique departmental requirements. The completed checklist is returned to the Employee Ombudsperson and is then placed in the employee's HR personnel file.

7. RESPONSIBILITY

Division heads, deans, directors, department heads, and supervisors are responsible for the application of this orientation policy. As such, supervisors are required to ensure that all new, full-time employees covered under this policy participate in Human Resource's Orientation Programs. In addition, division heads, deans, directors, department heads, and supervisors are responsible for providing newly appointed, promoted, or transferred employees with job training and information specific to departmental operations.

Formal orientation sessions are the responsibility of Human Resources.

8. SANCTIONS

Sanctions will be commensurate with the severity and/or frequency of the offense and may include termination of employment.

9. EXCLUSIONS

This policy does not apply to faculty members. New Instructional Faculty Orientation is coordinated by the Office of Academic Affairs and occurs in late August before the start of the fall semester. All faculty (instructional and A&P) are encouraged to attend Phase Two New Employee Orientation.

10. INTERPRETATION

The authority to interpret this policy rests with the President, and is generally delegated to the Director of Human Resources.

Previous version: January, 2008
Approved by the President: April, 2002

Index of Terms
Orientation
New Employee Orientation