HR Services, Forms and Links

Human Resources

Office Hours: Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM

HR is located in the Cambridge Office Building (COB) on the 3rd floor. The parking garage is accessible via Entrance 3 off Main Street.

Physical Address - 6100 Main St., Houston, TX 77005-1892
Mailing Address - Rice University, PO Box 1892, Houston, TX 77251-1892
You can also reach us at people@rice.edu or call 713-348-2232

Our Services

HR Service Center and Benefits

The HR Service Center serves as the first point of contact for all Rice employees who need assistance from Human Resources. They are responsible for a wide range of HR needs, such as:

Greeting walk-in visitors,
Completing the federal I-9 form and E-Verify process (for all new and rehired faculty, staff, and student employees), and
Providing information or appropriate connections in response to HR inquiries (in person, by phone, or email).

The Benefits team works year-round to make taking care of you and your family easy, efficient, and affordable as possible. Rice's HRIS iO enrollment system is available to active Rice employees 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to enroll in or change health and welfare benefits. Services include:

Working with third-party administrators (Aetna, TIAA, etc) to provide a wide array of health and welfare and retirement benefits for faculty and staff.

Talent Acquisition

The Talent Acquisition and Compensation Operations (TACO) team leads and manages a range of processes and services for recruitment, selection, hiring, onboarding, immigration, job descriptions, postings, pay, and personnel actions for employees. Our Talent Acquisition Specialists advise hiring managers and administrators on the search, selection, hiring, and onboarding processes for employees, with the goal of attracting a high-performing, diverse workforce. Additionally, we partner with other HR colleagues in other functional areas to support managers in workforce planning and reorganizing staffing structures.

Organizational and Talent Development

Organizational and Talent Development partners with the Rice community to leverage, equip and empower talent so that there is "no upper limit" to transformation, achievement, and impact. The Organizational Development (OD) team works with leaders to make data-driven decisions and apply an OD lens to talent initiatives, which includes but is not limited to employee engagement, coaching (leader, career, team, and performance), performance commitment and accountability, talent and succession planning and a wide range of team development and coaching options.

Our OD group also works with schools, divisions, and departments to develop talent strategies through needs assessment and planning and supports leaders with change implementation and management, including the communication aspect of change. A crucial component of our group is our Human Resources Business Partner (HRBP) team which works closely with VPs, Deans, and managers to develop tailored strategies and provide performance consulting as needed for their assigned areas.

Talent Development encompasses a continuum of initiatives and programs including training (skill and competency development), professional, and career development. Through in-person and blended training, workshops, and events, such as our Career EXPO, we strive to meet the learning needs of Rice staff and faculty by offering a portfolio of programs designed to meet diverse skill levels and variations in how professionals learn.

Human Resources Information Systems

The Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS) team oversees all HR systems, including the configuration, testing and implementation of our new Human Capital Management (HCM) system Oracle Cloud and iO systems. This includes analyzing business processes and identifying areas for improvement in order to be efficient and effective with our employee data. HRIS also serves as the HR data steward and oversees the day-to-day governance and integrity of HR data.

Visit imagineone.rice.edu to learn more about the imagineOne system.

Benefits and Compensation

Rice University offers a wide range of benefits to all benefits-eligible employees. However, it can sometimes be hard to maneuver and understand all the options available. The Benefits team has set up new hire sessions every Tuesday and Thursday to answer any questions or concerns you may be having.

Please reference the links below to view the dates and times for these sessions and register.

To view the dates and times, click here.

To register for this month's sessions, click here.

Compensation

Our Compensation Specialists advise hiring managers and administrators on the development of position descriptions, staff pay and rewards, and university pay policies and practices, and, are responsible for the review and approval of all personnel actions.

Leaves

Accommodation Request

Can be obtained from the Disability Resource Center

FMLA

Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee's Serious Health Condition
Certification of Health Care Provider for Family Member's Serious Health Condition
Certification of Qualifying Exigency for Military Leave
Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of a Current Service Member - for Military Leave
Certification for Serious Injury or Illness of a Veteran for Military Caregiver Leave

Sabbatical Leaves of Absence

POLICY 208 - Sabbatical Leaves of Absence

Short-Term Disability

Benefits page
POLICY 423 - Short-Term Disability Pay Continuation
Please notify Benefits at benefits@rice.edu or create a service request in the iO HR/Finance Help Desk

Primary Caregiver Leave

Tuition Benefits

Rice employs a number of strategies to engage, cultivate, and inspire its employees in order to execute its mission and achieve its ambitious goals. The University’s tuition reimbursement program is one such strategy. It supports employee development of current and future job-related skills and knowledge. The tuition reimbursement program is available to all employees who are benefits-eligible and have completed the six-month employee probationary period (in the case of staff).

Tuition Remission

Rice University provides eligible dependents a remission of undergraduate tuition at Rice University (and at other universities having reciprocal tuition arrangements with Rice).

Tuition Waiver and Auditing Courses

Rice University's success in executing its mission and achieving its ambitious goals significantly depends on excellent faculty and staff performance. To recruit, retain and develop an excellent staff, Rice University strives to provide high-quality career-related professional development opportunities to increase staff effectiveness in current positions and to support career progression. To learn more about eligibility, please read Policy 409.

POLICY 409 - Tuition Waiver and Auditing Courses at Rice
For more information on this benefit, please visit the Office of the Registrar

Employment Verification

All requests for employment verification must be processed through The Work Number® (TWN) from Equifax. The previously used employment verification process or consent form will no longer be accepted. (*see the exceptions below).

Employment verifications may be required when applying for a mortgage or loan, a reference check, leasing an apartment, establishing credit, or any other instance where there is a need for proof of employment or income.

The Work Number® from Equifax is a simpler and more discreet way to help get proof of your employment and income information to credentialed companies when needed. This service is free for employees and is available 24/7 so that you can get the decisions you need when you need them. Live support with TWN is available during normal business hours by calling 800-367-2884.

For more detailed information, please refer to the TWN Employee Guide and FAQs.

*Exceptions: these employee types will not be able to use TWN: Graduate RA/TAs, Graduate Fellows, and employees without Social Security Numbers and those employed prior to 2015. You may submit a request for employment verification by sending an email to people@rice.edu.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)

To be considered for PSLF, you only need to submit a PSLF form. The easiest way to do this is by using the PSLF Help Tool. If you've already completed the form, you may have it sent to people@rice.edu for HR's review and signature.

Training and Development

Rice offers a range of training and development experiences including but not limited to skill development, supervisor, leadership, and career development, as well as a range of team and organizational development options.

Visit Organizational and Talent Development

Resources

Individual Development Plan

Request for Individual Leadership and/or Career Coaching

Request for Organizational or Talent Development Consultation

Apply for a Coaching Circle

Employee Engagement and Recognition

Rice is committed to enabling a culture of appreciation, high performance, and excellence. We realize this by recognizing the efforts and achievements of our world-class staff in support of Rice’s mission and values. There are several ways to recognize staff, and in order for recognition efforts to be successful, they should include a mix of formal and informal recognition.

At Rice, formal recognition follows standard policies and procedures of the university or of the specific department or division. Through formal recognition practices, employees see that the senior leaders of their departments and of the university value the work they do.

There are a few awards given annually such as the Board of Trustees Recognition Award and the Elizabeth Gillis Award for Exemplary Service.

Resources

All About Me & All About Us

Performance

Managing performance is one of the most important aspects of a Supervisor’s role. Rice University expects that all employees will perform their job duties in a responsible and ethical manner, act with honesty and integrity and respect others in the workplace. Performance Commitment & Accountability is Rice’s expectation and approach to the full scope of managing performance and is a continual, ongoing process between a supervisor and an employee.

Resources

Coaching Toolkit

S.M.A.R.T. Goal Setting

Visit the Supervisor Hub to access the full suite of resources related to Performance Commitment and Accountability

COMING SOON: iO Goal and Performance Management: Setting Goals, Performance Appraisal, and Corrective Action (forms and processes)

Exiting Rice

It is important to ensure the voluntary termination process is completed promptly and that all required actions are completed in iO (including submission of the employee’s final timecard) in conjunction with the payroll deadlines. For questions about this process, please send your request to HRBP@rice.edu.

https://knowledgecafe.rice.edu/leaving-rice

Reminders

Develop a transition plan (request Role Transition template via hrbp@rice.edu) in order to ensure appropriate knowledge transfer occurs
Complete the termination process through iO
Encourage all employees who are leaving Rice or transferring to another department to complete the online exit survey
In-person exit interviews are available upon request with one of our HR Business Partners
Please send a request to hrbp@rice.edu
Check with your employee on their last day and collect their ID card, purchasing card, Faculty Club card, keys (turned in to RUPD), parking card, and any other Rice-issued equipment (e.g. laptop) prior to their final departure
The cards should be sent to Human Resources.
If an employee is moving please have them update their address in iO
Consider having the employee put an Out of Office message

Resources

Leaving Rice Resource Sheet

Life Events

Exit Survey

Checklist for Supervisors - visit Supervisor Hub

Additional Resources for Employees