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Onboarding Resources

Greetings and welcome new faculty members!

We are delighted you have chosen Williams, and we welcome you to the campus community.

This page will help you navigate the faculty onboarding process at Williams.

First Steps

  • If you have not already done so, please take a moment to complete our New Hire Form. This is a secure process and will ensure that our records are as accurate as possible.

  • Employment at Williams is contingent on the verification of background information and a criminal record check. Please keep an eye out for an email from our vendor, Accurate. For more information, please review our Background Check Policy. We will notify you when the background check process is complete to confirm your new appointment.

  • Following completion of the background check, the Office of Real Estate will reach out to new faculty about housing options.

    Williams owns and manages a number of faculty/staff residential housing units in Williamstown, from single homes to multi-family apartments. Residential housing is offered to eligible faculty and staff at market rates through a housing points and lottery process that occurs semi-annually. At other times, available housing is offered to new employees on a first-come, first-served basis. More information about faculty housing can be found in the Faculty/Staff Housing Handbook.

    Additionally, the College makes subsidized mortgages available to eligible faculty and administrative staff in order to assist them in acquiring homes in the Williamstown area. More information about this program can be found on the Mortgage Program page on the Office of Real Estate website.

    For additional questions about housing, please contact Sharon Marceau by email at [email protected] or by phone at 413-597-2195.

  • Newly hired employees must complete the Form I-9 (confirming work eligibility) and provide the College with their Social Security number. This is done in Workday.

    If you do not have a Social Security number, you can obtain one from the Social Security Office in North Adams. Application forms are available in Human Resources.

    You are always welcome to privately discuss individual questions with a Human Resources team member. Please contact Carol Rand or call x4162.

Before Your First Class

  • Due to the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, (FERPA), the Registrar’s Office requires a signed form from faculty to access course enrollment and student information online. Please review the Williams College FERPA Guidelines before requesting access. After reviewing the guidelines, please complete the Request Access to Williams Student Records.

  • As part of our ongoing work to ensure that Williams College is an inclusive community where members can live, learn, and thrive, all faculty members are required to complete the two following online training courses to inform and educate us about issues of harassment, discrimination, and sexual violence:

    • Mosaic: Prevent Discrimination and Harassment: Faculty & Staff
    • Mosaic: Prevent Sexual Violence Together

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    Access/Register for both modules on the EduRisk Learning Portal

    Please follow these steps.

    1. Click here
    2. First-time users should select the link to “Register” to create new account
    3. Once your account is created, you will receive an email with a temporary password to log onto the site.
    4. Log onto the site with the temporary password, you will be prompted to enter a new password.
    5. On the main page, under Welcome to the Learning Portal, you can begin each Mosaic:Prevent… by clicking on “Access course”.
    6. When you have completed the course, you will receive an email confirmation.

  • Book order requests arrive very early: mid-November for the spring semester and mid-April for the fall semester. You shall receive an email about this, offering online book request submission.

    You may also place your book orders by email to the Williams Bookstore, the local Follett’s branch. Please bear in mind that although some of your students may purchase required texts through other vendors, students on financial aid must use the Williams Bookstore to receive the books through their financial aid package. Required books are fully covered by financial aid, but only during the first few weeks of the semester. Books you add later in the course may pose a financial burden for students on financial aid.

    For more information about creating a course reading packet, please see here.

    Course material can also be placed on reserve. For more information about this service, please see here.

Getting Connected

  • You will receive your username and Williams College email address in an email from our identity manager Okta. You can find the username and email address in the email below the link to activate your account.

    • When you receive this email, the first step is to activate your Williams account. Please follow the link in that email from Okta to activate your Williams account. The link expires after 7 days so please follow the link even if your start date may be in the future.
    • As you first log in to your account and choose a password, be aware that you will need a smartphone or tablet to install the Okta Verify app for our multi-factor security requirement. If you do not have one please contact OIT.
    • Once you are activated and logged into Okta you should see links to Williams Google Workspace Email on the Okta dashboard. You can use that link or access email directly at gmail.com.

    For more information on setting up your email account, please see Initial Account Setup Directions.

  • There are three administrative systems at Williams - Human Resources, Student Academic Records and Finance. Human Resources System Self-Service allows you to view and update your personal information and emergency contacts. It is also where you will complete payroll tax and direct deposit information as well as view your paycheck and total benefits statement. You will also need access to the Student Academic Records System in order to view both course and student information.

    To log in to the Administrative Systems, you must have activated your Williams email address.

    More information on how to set up your account can be found here.

  • As one way to enhance the security of your online data and the college’s electronic resources, all new faculty members are required to use 2-factor authentication with their Williams email accounts. This security measure should be established as soon as your email account is set up. Further explanation and instructions can be found here.

    You will also receive an email with instructions for completing the security awareness training program offered by the SANS Institute on behalf of Williams College. This training is designed to inform you of the steps you can take to protect yourself, your family, and our organization from malicious cyber activity. We ask that you complete this training by the date indicated.

  • As a new faculty member, one of the first and most important steps that we need to take prior to your arrival is to introduce you to the students. The Office of the Dean of the Faculty posts a short blurb about each new faculty member. Information might include a few keywords identifying your academic specialty and research interests, a sentence about where you did your graduate work and/or where and what you've taught previously, and perhaps another sentence about a major academic publication or research project, an extracurricular interest, or a skill. The only real directive is that they should not be lengthy. Please email Gerrit Blauvelt at [email protected] with your brief introductions.

    Additionally, the Williams people directory and the course catalog links to your faculty profile. Please double check to make sure that the information on your faculty profile is accurate. If information is incorrect on your faculty profile, please email Gerrit Blauvelt at [email protected]. Information on updating your directory photo can be found here. You will need an account on your department’s website before you can make changes to your profile. If you have an account, you should be able to log into the site. If you can’t log in, contact your department’s administrative assistant or the web team to set up an account for you. More information on personalizing your profile can be found here.

Additional Resources

  • You may need guidance in navigating the wide spectrum of benefits offered by the college. Visit Human Resources for more information on benefits and tips on getting connected in the community.

    Payroll Tax Withholding

    All employees are subject to Federal income tax withholding, Massachusetts income tax withholding, and Social Security (FICA) tax withholding.  Federal and Massachusetts income tax is withheld from your wages based on marital status and the number of allowances claimed on the forms. You may also specify an additional dollar amount to be withheld or indicate that you are exempt from withholding. To change your withholdings from year to year, sign into Workday.

    As of June 2024, Williams is registered for withholding tax in the following states: Massachusetts, Vermont, New York, and Connecticut. If you work in a different state than you live in, move to a different state on this list, or begin working remotely in one of these states, you will need to complete additional state tax elections so you have tax information on file for the states where you live and work.

    Navigate to the Pay and Benefits app in Workday. Select Pay from the list of options to reveal additional submenus for state and federal tax elections.

    Direct Deposit

    The College encourages staff, faculty, and student employees to set up direct deposit and to opt out of printing whenever possible as an important part of our commitment to sustainability. Employees may have their net pay deposited automatically each payday into single or multiple accounts in the same or different financial institutions:

    • By amount or percentage
    • To checking or savings accounts

    To set up or change your Direct Deposit, also called payment elections, please sign into Workday and navigate to the pay and benefits app. On the Overview menu, under Tasks and Reports, select Payment Elections.

    Benefits

    Williams 2024 Benefits Guide

    View your benefits elections, initiate a life event change, and change your retirement contribution… all in Workday.

    If you have a question about benefits, please contact Megan Childers (mab7) or Leslie Perra (lyp2) in HR.

    Need Workday support? Contact the OIT Help Desk at [email protected] or by phone x4090.

    State law requires we provide information regarding Massachusetts Paid Family and Medical Leave. Please take a moment to read and acknowledge this required notice.

    Retirement Income Plan

    The Retirement Income Plan requires one year of employment before participation may begin. However, if you have performed duties within the three-year period immediately preceding employment by the College in a non-student capacity, the plan also provides for crediting prior eligible college/university employment. Have the Service Credit Form completed and returned to Megan Childers at [email protected].

    You are eligible to enroll in the Supplemental Retirement Income Plan without a waiting period. For information on the plan please visit Williams College Retirement Income Plan. Enrollment materials for the Retirement Income Plan are available on the HR Forms page.

  • A variety of workshops, presentations, and receptions designed to introduce and orient new faculty to work at Williams are offered annually during the latter half of August. Attendance is encouraged but not required.

  • The NetWorks program helps coordinate programs for all faculty that support our teaching, creative endeavors, and service to the college and profession at large, and provides information about the College’s resources in support of that work.

  • The Pedagogy Corner provides resources for course design and syllabus construction.