Welcome to the University of Nebraska-Kearney! We are excited for you to join our campus and the Loper community.
We want you to have a strong start at UNK. We are here to help guide you through the onboarding journey and foster your success at the university. Keep in mind that the path to becoming fully acclimated may take time. Take your time to get to know your immediate work environment and the university.
You can download the UNK New Hire Checklist to guide you through this journey.
Questions can be directed to your supervisor, or our office at 308-865-8184 or at humanresources@unk.edu
During your first day at UNK, you will be asked to complete several forms and tasks so that we can get you set up for payroll, benefits, computer access, etc. Your supervisor or the Human Resource team may provide you with these forms. This includes:
Forms
Tasks
As you start to familiarize yourself with UNK, you will need to complete different courses and tasks throughout your first month at UNK. Your supervisor or the Human Resource team may provide you with these forms. This includes:
Every employee's first six months following their hire date is considered their "probationary period" for the purpose of determining an employee's suitability for the position they occupy.
An employee may have their "probationary period" extended, normally not longer than 180 days, unless extenuating circumstances exist resulting in an extension of no more than 12 months.
If it is determined during the "probationary period" that the services of an employee have not been acceptable, the employee shall be notified in writing of the date employment is to be terminated. In such cases of termination, an employee shall not have recourse through the grievance process except for cases of alleged discrimination.
UNK offers a variety of training programs throughout the year, including safety, computer, professional development, health and wellness, and many more. The training schedule is not predetermined each year, but training sessions are normally announced via the UNK All Subscribers' e-mail and through campus mailings.
Employee performance evaluations are designed to provide a channel of communication between the supervisor and the employee. The evaluations help the employee understand what the immediate supervisor expects, as well as giving the employee a means of measuring how well his or her performance has met those expectations.
Managerial/Professional employees are evaluated each year and are due May 1st. Supervisors of Managerial/Professional employees may elect to use the evaluation forms provided by Human Resources or may devise their own evaluation forms.
A performance evaluation may be completed on each Office/Service employee when the 180-day initial probationary period is completed at the supervisor's discretion; additional performance evaluations are made each year thereafter on each regular full-time and regular part-time employee, usually around May 1.
Performance evaluations may also be used on occasions when the supervisor wishes to record specific instances of noteworthy performance--either favorable or unfavorable.
After completing the evaluation, the immediate supervisor and employee will discuss the performance evaluation, reviewing the employee's strengths and weaknesses. The employee should sign the evaluation. The signature merely indicates that the employee has read the evaluation; it does not necessarily mean that the employee agrees with the evaluation. If an employee feels he or she was evaluated unfairly, he or she should notify the Human Resources Office in writing. The performance evaluation becomes a permanent part of the employee's personnel file in Human Resources.
Supervisors are expected to complete evaluations in a timely manner. Evaluations may be used to decide any number of personnel actions (e.g., promotions, demotions, salary increases,) so it is important that the evaluations accurately reflect the employee's job performance.
All new UNK employees whose responsibilities will include business transaction processing and/or oversight will be assigned to a Business & Finance resource person. The resource person will contact the new employee to assist them in identifying training needs, scheduling training, requesting administration system account IDs, and explaining the online resources available to them.
Click on topic for a class description and registrations will open a new window. Contact trainer to schedule a training time or register for the class if that is an option.
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General information for UNK employees
Benefits and Employee Handbook
SAP/Firefly Basic Navigation
SAP/Budget/Accounting Terminology - (Self Study)
Will you have HR/Payroll responsibilities?
HR/Payroll Forms
SAP Personnel Action Coordinator
SAP Time Entry
Will you have hiring responsibilities?
Employment System - SuccessFactors
Will you make purchases and/or pay bills?
Bill Paying Process - UNK
Parked Invoice Entry
Will you place orders for your department?
SAP Ariba Requestor Training
Will you be a Department Chair/Responsible Person for a cost object?
SAP Ariba Approver Training
Do you have a purchasing card responsibilities?
Purchasing (Procurement) Card Policies/Procedures
Do you have purchasing card reconciliation responsibilities?
Purchasing Card Reconciliation
Do you have cash/check receipt responsibilities?
Cash Receipt Handling
Do you have budget and financial responsibilities?
SAP Basic Financial Reporting
SAP Advanced Financial Reporting
SAP Financial Transactions Online Reconciliation
Journal Entries and Budget Transfers
SAP Project Accounting
Grants Management Overview
Fiscal Year End Procedures and Information
Reading Department Financial Reports
University of Nebraska at Kearney Campus Map
Firefly is the University's online self-service enterprise portal that serves as your single access point to business-related information. within Firefly, instantly access ESS, My Staff and SAP from the same web-enabled workspace.
Employee Self-Service (ESS) is a web application that allows employees to interact with their own SAP data, such as pay inquiries, addresses, and current benefits options. It is a convenient and secure method for employees to get information without the hassle of forms or lines. More information can be found at: firefly.nebraska.edu.
Bridge is the University of Nebraska’s learning management solution that houses employee learning and professional development. Bridge has a collaborative team of ITS, campus compliance, and HR leads that support the system. You can access Bridge via Firefly.
Sapphire is an employee support system dedicated to providing employees with the information they need on a just-in-time basis. Information can be anything that assists users with completing their job, including SAP online help, business forms, reference guides, news articles, etc. Sapphire contains the following areas, tools, and links. To access, look for the Sapphire Home Button in Firefly.
Sapphire Training Registration is a web site that lists upcoming professional development opportunities being held on the UNK campus. There are a variety of free, hands-on training sessions that are offered to faculty, staff and students.
SAP (Systems, Applications, and Products in Data Processing) is the administrative software for the University of Nebraska. Currently, the University has implemented the following modules: Financial Accounting (FI), Controlling (CO), Human Resources (HR), Materials Management (MM), and Project Systems (PS). An SAP ID can be requested through Sapphire.
SAP Navigation is a basic set of instructions on how to get around in SAP.
mynulook is a web interface to the University of Nebraska Data Warehouse “nulook”. While most financial information can be viewed in SAP, detailed budget information can only be found in mynulook. Contact your Dean or Vice Chancellor’s office or the Budget Office for access to mynulook.
Flashpoints is an electronic informational newsletter published by the Division of Business and Finance to reduce the number of e-mails sent by the Division and to consolidate the Division’s communications to the campus into one monthly e-mail.
Business & Finance Policy & Procedures is an online procedure manual designed to give departments a general overview of business processes on the UNK campus as well as detailed steps and forms needed to accomplish specific business tasks.
Business & Finance also communicates information on current events, special programs, important changes and procedures. The Division of Business & Finance is comprised of the Vice Chancellor’s Office, Business Services, Budget, Facilities Management and Planning, Finance, Human Resources, Marketing and Creative Services, Police and Parking Services as well as contracted providers UNK Dining Services and Antelope Bookstore.
ITS Helpdesk is a team of specialists that can make your experience with UNK technology as easy as possible. Assistance is available to employees and students for Outlook email, disk problems, password problems, Microsoft application support, operating system questions, and other computer-related issues. Many problems can be solved over the phone. If that is not possible, your problem is logged in a call-tracking database and assigned to an Information Technology Services specialist or technician. You can contact the Helpdesk at 865-8363 or by email at nusupport@nebraska.edu.
