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 713-348-2514
- Our Services
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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 and Compensation
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 departments to support managers in workforce planning and reorganizing staffing structures.
Our Compensation Specialists advise hiring managers and administrators on the development of position descriptions, staff pay and rewards, university pay policies and practices, and, are responsible for the review and approval of all personnel actions. The TACO team also manages the staff job structure and pay ranges for Rice as well as the university's applicant tracking system.
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 Enrollment
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Benefits Enrollment
Enroll in benefits Annual Enrollment 2022-23Retirement plan beneficiary designations are made online with either TIAA or Fidelity. Log in with your username and password.
- Leaves
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Accommodation Request
- Can be obtained from the Disability Resource Center
FMLA (access forms HERE)
- 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
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
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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.
- Employment Verification
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All requests for employment verification or Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) documents 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, employees without Social Security Numbers in iO, and those employed prior to 2015. Employees paid through Payroll would send an employment verification request to people@rice.edu.
Individuals that are paid through Procure-to-Pay (P2P) or are unpaid would contact their department to request a Verification of Employment letter.
- Training and Development
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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
Request for Individual Leadership and/or Career Coaching
Request for Organizational or Talent Development Consultation
Apply for a Coaching Circle
- Employee Engagement and Recognition
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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
- Performance
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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
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
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It is important to ensure the voluntary termination process is completed in a timely manner 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/benefits/leaves-and-notices
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
Checklist for Supervisors - visit Supervisor Hub
- Additional Resources for Employees
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Visitor Guidelines for the Academic Visitor Management (AVM) System
Get Started: Visitors (Office of Information Technology)
All IT-related inquires: 713-348-4357 / helpdesk@rice.edu
- Employment Notices
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For further information about any of the notifications below, feel free to contact the Human Resources Office at people@rice.edu or at 713-348-2514.
- Employment Posters (English)
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The following posters are posted in accordance with federal and state laws in the following locations:
- Cambridge Office Building – Human Resources Office
- BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) – first-floor break room
For further information about any of the posters below, feel free to contact the Human Resources Office at people@rice.edu or at 713-348-2514.
Employee Rights under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA)
Job Safety and Health – Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA)
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) is the Law in Texas
Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Supplement
Employee Rights and Responsibilities Under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA)
Employee Polygraph Protection Act Worker's Compensation E-verify (English)
Office of Special Counsel Employee Rights Poster (English)
The National Labor Relations Act
The Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act (COBRA)
Office of Injured Employee Counsel – Ombudsman Program
Your Rights Under the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA)
- Employment Posters (Spanish)
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The following posters are posted in accordance with federal and state laws in the following locations:
- Cambridge Office Building – Human Resources Office
- BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) – first-floor break room
For further information about any of the posters below, feel free to contact the Human Resources Office at people@rice.edu or at 713-348-2514.
Derechos de Empleados – Bajo La Ley de Normas Justas de Trabajo
Seguridad y Salud en el Trabajo – Administración de Seguridad y Salud Ocupacional
Derechos y Responsabilidades del Empleado Bajo la Ley de Ausencia Familiar y Médica (FMLA)
Ley Para la Protección del Empleado Contra la Prueba del Polígrafo
Compensación para Trabajadores
Office of Special Counsel Employee Rights Poster (Spanish)
La Ley Nacional de Relaciones del Trabajo
La Ley Omnibus Consolidada de Reconciliación Presupuesta (COBRA)
La Oficina de Asesoría Publica para el Empleado Lesionado – Programa del Ombudsman