eCALS

This summer I will be working on making improvements to the CALS HR website. The purpose of these changes is to make our website more user-friendly; therefore, any feedback or suggestions from users would be greatly appreciated. You can contact me, Maggie Willems, via e-mail at mwillems@cals.wisc.edu or by phone 0-2202. I will post updates about changes to our website here on eCALS.

Recent Updates:

• New Contacts Page: http://www.cals.wisc.edu/hr/contact/index.html
• Quick Links: http://www.cals.wisc.edu/hr/
• Resources for Equity & Diversity: http://www.cals.wisc.edu/hr/EquityDiversity/index.html

The American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE) awarded their 2009 Sterling Olmsted prize to CALS Assistant Dean Sarah Pfatteicher. The Sterling Olmsted award is the highest award given by the Liberal Education Division of the ASEE. It is given to those making significant and innovative contributions in the teaching and administering of liberal arts in engineering education.

Barring another last-minute deferral from the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the new Form I-9 and documentary requirements will go into effect on Friday, April 3, 2009. Please see the International Faculty and Staff Services (IFSS) web site for details about the changes and the link to the Form I-9 on the USCIS web site: http://www.ohr.wisc.edu/ifss/i-9/I-9.html. In addition, you should start using the February 2009 version of the UW-Madison I-9 Reference Manual, at the same site, for detailed information on the I-9 process and documentary requirements. (more…)

On April 1, all permanent CALS classified staff, academic staff and faculty received an email notifying them of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ Equity and Diversity Committee Climate Survey. If you are a member of this group, your participation in this survey would be greatly appreciated. This study has been reviewed and received ethics clearance through the Institutional Review Board at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and all information provided will be anonymous and grouped with responses from other participants for analysis. Your responses will be invaluable in the Committee’s efforts to improve organizational climate in CALS. (more…)

Attention Department Administrators: The Office of Human Resources has recently added a Rate/Title Adjustment System Manual to their website. The manual explains the functions of the new Rate/Title system and gives detailed directions on how to use the systems features. Follow this link  to access the manual: www.ohr.wisc.edu/ohr/informationsystems/Rate-Title-Adjustment_Manual.pdf

New Limited Term Employment resources have been added to the CALS Human Resources website.

• Limited Term Employment Supervisor Handbook. CALS Human Resources has created a Limited Term Employment Supervisor Handbook. The handbook is intended to provide supervisors of Limited Term Employees (LTE) and department administrators with general information about LTE appointments. Please refer to this document whenever you are considering recruitment for an LTE.
• LTE Justification Chart for CHRIS. This chart is intended to serve as a resource for anyone who enters LTE transactions into the Classified Human Resources Information System (CHRIS). We are required to provide justifications for LTE appointments. This chart provides guidance on what are appropriate entries for these justifications.

Both of these resources can be found at http://www.cals.wisc.edu/HR/classstaff/Recruitment/LTE.html.

UW System has created a very helpful fact sheet on the Rehired Annuitant Program. The document applies to all appointment types including faculty, academic staff and classified staff. Please review the document and reference it the next time you are considering employing a rehired annuitant. This quick guide can be found online at: www.bus.wisc.edu/hr/documents/RehiredAnnuitantFactSheetDec2008.pdf

CALS Human Resources has added a Checklist for Criminal Background Check to the HR website. This spells out the information that will be required for a CBC.

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has announced that it is delaying implementation of the new I-9 form and documentary requirements until April 3. The new form and requirements were due to go into effect Feb. 2 (see the Jan. 22 eCALS announcement New Form I-9 and documentary requirements.) (more…)

Effective Feb. 2, 2009, all employers in the United States will be required to use a new version of the Form I-9 and meet new documentary requirements. The new form is now available on the USCIS web site http://www.uscis.gov/i-9 along with the June 2007 Form I-9; however, until Feb. 2, 2009, the June 2007 version should be used. Don’t use the new form until Feb. 2, but after that, you MUST use it. (more…)