Unit Leader Onboarding Checklist
A TO Z
BUILDING SUPERVISION
Who are the supervisors for the buildings associated with your units?
Building Supervisors - Facilities Services
If you are the building supervisor, are you familiar with your responsibilities? Building Supervisor’s Handbook
Are you familiar with the safety procedures associated with your building?
If you would like a security walk-through, you can reach out to campus police to schedule that.
CENTER FOR FACULTY EXCELLENCE
The Center for Faculty Excellence (CFE) provides faculty development workshops, certificates, sabbatical information, and internal grant opportunities: Center for Faculty Excellence
Does your unit have a new faculty mentoring program?
The CFE has a resource page for new faculty: Welcome New Faculty
COMMUNICATION
Who is the University Communications/MSU News liaison for your unit? University Communications
Does your unit have a communication plan? How do you communicate with your unit and how to you communicate with your external stakeholders, friends, and alumni?
If you need support responding to media, contact VP of University Communications, Tracy Ellig (tellig@montana.edu or 406-994-5607).
Are you familiar with university branding policy? MSU Brand Guide
Are you familiar with the limits on political activity for state employees? Free Speech Policy For questions about this, contact Tracy Ellig (tellig@montana.edu or 406-994-5607).
COURSES AND SCHEDULING
Office of the Registrar: Office of the Registrar
To ensure you are the Registrar Listserv, or for general questions, contact registrar@montana.edu or call 994-6650.
Does your unit have a course scheduling process? Who are the key individuals involved with the process of scheduling, course fees and catalog changes?
Academic Term Calendar: Academic Calendar
Need help with Brightspace? D2L Help - Resources for D2L. Or email ecat@montana.edu
DATA & ANALYSIS
The University Data & Analytics provides access to useful data for planning, decision making and assessment: University Data & Analytics
Are you familiar with the current MSU Strategic Plan, Choosing Promise? Strategic Plan
Read about progress here: Goal Updates - Planning Council
You can find MSU’s institutional statistics here: Annual Institutional Reports?
Student Enrollment: Enrollment
Faculty and Staff Data: Faculty and Staff Data
See performance indicators for your unit and the university here: Academic Key Performance Indicators (KPI's)
Do you have access to Tableau Server: Tableau Server (mus.edu) so you can see secure (not available on the public facing website) data on your unit? If not, email opa@montana.edu.
Using Tableau, you can access your unit’s dashboard here: Workbook: Department Dashboards (mus.edu)
OPA also has a list of all the MSU committees and councils for your reference: MSU Committees and Councils
DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Diversity & Inclusion at MSU: Diversity & Inclusion Support
Have you met the Senior Diversity & Inclusion Officer? (Ariel Donohue: ariel.donohue@montana.edu)
Who is your unit’s Academic Diversity Partner? ADP - Diversity & Inclusion Support
Have you met the Director of the Diversity and Inclusion Student Commons? (Barbara do Amaral, diversity@montana.edu) : Diversity and Inclusion Student Commons
EMERGENCIES
MSU Police: University Police; call 911 for emergencies, 994-2121 for non-emergencies.
Have you met the Chief of Police? (Michael Stanley, mstanley@montana.edu)
Crime Reporting: Crime Reporting
Learn about MSU’s emergency management plans here: Emergency Management
Don’t forget to download the SAFE CATS APP on your mobile device.
FACULTY ANNUAL REVIEWS & STAFF PERFORMANCE EVALUATIONS
HR Policy for Performance Management: Performance Management: Performance Evaluation
Are you set up to use the annual review workflow for faculty annual reviews in Digital Measures/Faculty Success? Faculty Success
Faculty Annual Review Process: University Data & Analytics: University Data & Analytics. Contact Associate Director Ian Godwin (igodwin@montana.edu) for instructions and support.
Prior to the review, Ian Godwin will be emailing a list of faculty that you expect to have an annual review.
Do you have administrator access for campus labs to review faculty course evaluations? Electronic Course Evaluations. Contact Ken Silvestri (Kenneth.silvestri@montana.edu in the Center for Faculty Excellence for support/assistance.
Are you familiar with MSU’s Service Excellence Plan?
FISCAL SHARED SERVICES
Who is your unit’s fiscal shared services partner? Who in your unit is responsible for Business Operations (who is the BOM?). Who is your unit’s fiscal manager?
Are you familiar with all of the indices associated with your unit, as well as their purpose?
Are you familiar with the spending rules for state, grant, and designated indices?
Are you familiar with Time and Effort reporting?
FUNDRAISING
Who is the MSU Alumni Foundation liaison for your unit?
Resource: MSU Alumni Foundation - Home (msuaf.org)
HUMAN RESOURCES
Who is the Human Resources Business Partner for your unit? Human Resources
Are you set up to approve Time Sheets for your supervisees?
Are you familiar with the payroll schedule? Pay Calendar - Biweekly Payroll
MSU Human Resources: Human Resources
Professional Development Opportunities: Professional Development & Training (also see ‘Center for Faculty Excellence’ above)
Are you familiar with ATS (Applicant Tracking System)? Applicant Tracking System
Are you familiar with the search committee process? Recruitment, Hiring & Onboarding
Are you familiar with MSU’s Collective Bargaining Agreements? Collective Bargaining Agreements
INSTITUTIONAL EQUITY
Office of Institutional Equity: Office of Institutional Equity
You are a mandatory reporter—have you taken the training? Equity Training - Institutional Equity
File a Report: Protected Class Discrimination and Harassment (maxient.com)
INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMS
Does your unit conduct international programs? Office of International Programs
LISTSERVs
Contact the Office of the Provost to ensure you are on the Department Head Listserv (Julie Heard: jheard@montana.edu)
POLICIES & PROCEDURES
Review the Faculty Handbook (and remind your faculty that most policies are clearly stated here): Faculty Handbook
MSU Policies and Procedures: MSU Policies and Procedures
Policies of special interest to unit leaders:
Graphic Identity and Branding Policy
Relationships with Students Policy
Procurement Policy and Procedures
PROVOST’S OFFICE
Provost’s Office: MSU Office of the Provost
The Provost’s Office provides links to many useful resources for faculty and staff: Faculty & Staff Resources
RESEARCH and ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT:
Office of Research and Economic Development
Who is the Office of Sponsored Programs liaison for your unit? Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP)
Are you familiar with IRDs? Institutional Research and Development (IRD) funds
Are you familiar with IPRs? Incentive Program for Researchers
What human resource infrastructure does your unit have to support faculty research and PIs?
Does your unit have policies and procedures related to grant activity such as training, pre-proposal requirements, course buyouts, etc.?
Have you met the staff in the Office of the VP for Research and Economic Development? Staff - Office of Research & Economic Development
GRADUATE EDUCATION:
Contact the Graduate School to ensure you are on the Department Head and other Listservs: Graduate School Staff
RETENTION, TENURE & PROMOTION
Have you been trained to conduct RTP reviews? Contact the Office of the Provost (Julie Heard: jheard@montana.edu) for training opportunities.
Review the Faculty Handbook
RTP process, deadlines, and workflow: Retention, Tenure & Promotion
RTP documents can be found here: Role and Scope documents
Does your unit have a shared system for tracking faculty through the RTP process (do you know where each family member is in the process)?
How do you collect important documents like Letters of Hire, MOUs, and previous review letters?
STUDENT ADVISING
Who are your unit’s professional academic advisors?
Advising Commons: Advising Commons
Advising Commons locations: Advising Centers
Does your unit have an Advising Plan?
Who is your unit’s student success coordinator or Assistant Dean? Assistant Deans' Council
STUDENT ISSUES
Have you met the Dean of Students?
Office of the Dean of Students: Office of the Dean of Students
Make a CARE Referral for a student or employee: MSU CARE Program
What is the student concern process in your unit? If students have concerns or complaints, does your unit have a process?
Are you familiar with the Student Code of Conduct and how to report a violation?
TRAINING
Employees are required to complete IEFA training: Indian Education for All in Montana for One MUS
Mandatory Reporter Training: Equity Training - Institutional Equity
OSP offers PI training: Principal Investigator Training - Office of Sponsored Programs
Safety & Risk Management offers other required training for PIs: Training Requirements - Safety & Risk Management
The Office of Research Compliance offers training regarding conflicts of interest: Conflicts of Interest Training - Office of Research Compliance
Additionally, Equity Training is offered through MyInfo, login and select “MyApps”.
UNIVERSITY INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (UIT)
Bozeman Help Desk: 406-994-1777, helpdesk@montana.edu
Who is your UIT Strategic Partner? UIT