New Employee Connections is a Zoom-based meetup where recent university hires can meet other new employees, hear about resources and services at OSU and ask questions during their first few months of employment.
University Human Resources started the program in summer 2024 in response to the university’s strategic plan, Prosperity Widely Shared. New Employee Connections is designed to help accomplish the goals of recruiting, supporting and retaining outstanding and diverse faculty and staff.
“We wanted to assist new hires with feeling like the OSU community was both accessible and available to them,” said Alicen Billings, the UHR onboarding support coordinator.
Entering such a large university ecosystem can be overwhelming, they said. By welcoming people in small groups via New Employee Connections, UHR hopes to introduce new hires to programs and communities where they can get involved and help OSU feel a bit smaller.
Participants are sent a questionnaire before joining the Zoom call so Billings can compile some information for them. In a recent session, group members submitted photos of “something meaningful they look at during the day,” then took turns (if they felt comfortable) sharing the stories behind their photos.
After a brief introductory segment, participants are split into breakout rooms and given a list of get-to-know-you questions. They’re also encouraged to share their contact information in the chat. The sessions are 45 minutes long.
Billings says the program aims to help new employees feel comfortable with reaching out to UHR with questions. They also want folks to meet their peers and make connections so they have resources around campus they can reach out to, even for a coffee break.
Billings is working on a brochure that explains all the different president’s commissions and affinity groups on campus, such as the President’s Commission on the Status of Black Faculty and Staff Affairs; the Holcomb Center for the military and veteran community or the Pride Center for the LGBTQQIAA community.
The brochure will also include social groups associated with the Family Resource Center, such as Beaver Dads, and Billings will provide links to websites during the New Employee Connections sessions to point people toward more information about these groups. The pre-meeting questionnaire enables Billings to tailor the presentation based on participant interests.
“They can browse through the hundreds of opportunities and find something that does resonate with them,” they said. “We wanted to provide local event information as well so those who are new to the campus community feel like they can integrate into their community.”
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