New Employee Orientation

Date: November 2018

Purpose and Philosophy: All new employees are required to attend New Employee Orientation to introduce them to the campus community and assure that they become familiar with the College’s policies and procedures in a timely fashion.

Bowdoin College New Employee Orientation is held on campus monthly (or at the beginning of the fall semester for faculty). All employees hired since the previous session are required to attend this important program which covers many aspects of employment at Bowdoin, including general College policies, use of all facilities and services, and occupational health and safety topics. All new employees are also encouraged to take a campus tour (by joining one of the scheduled Admissions tours) when it best fits their schedule.  You and your supervisor will receive an invitation with available orientation dates and times. Supervisors should insure that new employees are released from work to attend the orientation.

Benefits eligible employees will receive a benefits packet from Human Resources.  Employees have 30 days from the benefits eligible hire date to enroll using Workday, the College’s employee self-service system. Workday is used for your onboarding, benefits enrollment, updates to personal information and for viewing compensation and pay details, etc.  The benefits enrollment will be available in the Workday inbox on the date of hire providing all steps of onboarding are completed prior to the employee’s first day of work. 

If an employee has questions about the benefits offered or needs assistance enrolling, one should schedule a one-on-one benefits orientation with Mary Cote, Assistant Director of Benefits and Absence Management, by emailing mcote@bowdoin.edu or by calling (207) 725-3033.  Some benefits may begin immediately or have specific waiting periods.  Workday will display the effective date of each benefit elected along with a per pay period cost and deduction begin date specific to each employee.  If employees do not enroll within 30 days, they default to "no coverage" for the remainder of the calendar year unless a qualified event occurs providing a special enrollment period mid-year.