Employee Onboarding Access

Table of Contents

Context

All UTD employees need essential Day 1 access for a smooth onboarding experience. Faculty and select roles also require early access before their official start date. Currently, these access needs are not consistently and timely met under the default roles assigned by the NetID system as authorized by UTD’s Gemini HR system (e.g., "Employee", “Staff”, "Faculty", “Student Employee”).

We are enhancing the access onboarding process by better aligning it with the Gemini HR system. This ensures that the new employees get timely access to campus resources like email, Teams, network services, and required training resources—when they need them.

To access campus resources, employees must have:

  1. Employee ID (Gemini HR) – A unique ID used for employee functions such job appointments, pay, time management, and benefits. It is also required to initiate campus resource access.
  2. NetID (NetID System) – A network login account required to access the campus resources, which cannot be created without an Employee ID.
  3. Employee Access Role (NetID System) – Grants basic access for email, Teams, timesheets, and employee communications. Assigned once the Gemini HR system confirms the individual is an active employee.

Current Challenges

There are two ways employees get their Employee ID and NetID today:

  1. Preferred: ePAR Submission – Automatically creates Employee ID and NetID. However, NetID activation depends on all departmental approvals and may be delayed beyond the start date.
  2. Workaround: PEARL Submission – Employee ID and NetID creation is manually handled by the Payroll and IGA teams, respectively, leading to inconsistent timelines and occasional ID duplication.

New Process

To address the gaps in the preferred option of ePAR submission in giving timely access, we are introducing two new transitionary roles:

  1. Early Onboarder Role – Offers pre-start access for specific positions, such as Faculty and Executive leadership, 90 days in advance. 
  2. Day 1 Role – All employees on their official start date at UTD will receive a Day 1 role if the ePAR process has not assigned the employee role. This role will offer essential access required for onboarding. Please note: Early Onboarder role-eligible employees will also receive the Day 1 role on their official start date.

New Business Process Aligned with Updated System Workflow

A flowchart illustrating the process of creating an employee ID and NetID. It begins with submitting the ePAR, which triggers the creation of the employee ID. The next step checks whether the employee has started or qualifies for early access. If yes, within 24 hours a NetID is created. The final step is to look up the NetID in PEARL and submit a request for additional access.

Important: Please note that NetID requests for campus visitors and contractors should continue to be submitted through PEARL.

FAQs

  1. Where can the NetID be found after an ePAR has been submitted?
    • The NetID of a new employee will be available in the PEARL application under the “View User” option within 24 hours of the ePAR submission.
  2. When will the email address be created for a new hire?
    • The email address is created when the NetID is assigned.
  3. When the ePAR is submitted, will the department receive a notification that the NetID is available?
    • No, the department will not receive an email notification concerning the NetID. NetIDs can be found in the PEARL application.
  4. How will the department know if a new employee will receive Early Access?
    • Early access is only available to faculty and executive leadership positions. Early access is role based and is automatically assigned based on job code and start date.  An early access hold will be visible on any ePAR submitted prior to 30 days in advance; however, early access is granted only to faculty and executive leadership positions.
  5. How does the early access hold work?
    • An ePAR containing an early access hold has a timer counting down to an automatic 30-day release. At 40 days and 35 days from the start of the employment assignment, the ePAR submitter will receive an email notification stating the ePAR will be released soon. The email notifications are simply reminders and no action is required. For example: if the start date of the employment assignment is August 1st, the ePAR submitter will receive email notifications on or around June 22nd and June 27th
  6. When is the Early Access hold removed?
    • Any ePAR containing an early access hold will automatically be released into workflow 30 days prior to the start date of the employment assignment.
  7. What happens if I need to make a change to the ePAR while it is on hold?
    • The ePAR submitter can call back an ePAR at any time during the approval process to make an adjustment. However, once the ePAR status has changed to “approved”, changes are no longer allowed. 
  8. What resources will employees have access to on Day 1 and through Early Access?
    • Employees will receive access to the following resources:
      • UTD Email
      • Office 365 applications, including Teams
      • KnowBe4 for compliance training
      • eLearning platform
  9. How can I request early access for a new position/job code?
    • Job codes have already been assessed for early access needs. As new job codes are created the faculty and executive leadership roles, the compensation team will evaluate the job code at that time. Please refer to the Eligible Job Codes document found in the Attachment(s) section of this page (right side, underneath the Details section).
Print Article