University Hall in the distance on a sunny day with a line of flowers in the foreground

Office of Organizational Learning and Development

Starting Strong online orientation

95% of new employees report that the Starting Strong online orientation helped them understand information and resources they need to begin employment at UM.

Managers should ensure that new employees complete the course within their first week. It will remain available to them as a reference. 

This online orientation provides essential information needed to get started as a UM employee, including: 

  • Mission, vision, priorities for action, organizational structure 
  • Payroll, types of leave, holidays, guidance and critical information about selecting benefits (note: benefits must be selected within 30 days from first date of employment) 
  • Wellness support, professional development, tuition waiver, campus recreation and other perks of working at UM 
  • Transportation, parking, Griz cards, keys 
  • Accounts, logins, email access 
  • Community values, community conduct guidelines, campus engagement opportunities and campus safety 
  • Overview and training for commonly used campus software and systems 
  • Shared governance and unions 
  • Student support services and resources 
  • Directions and links to complete required trainings 

How to Enroll in Starting Strong

New, recruited and/or benefits eligible employees who start on the biweekly start dates and complete the preboarding process on time will be enrolled in the Starting Strong at UM online orientation.

All employees may also self-enroll in this Canvas course. To self-enroll, please follow these steps:  

  1. Click on Starting Strong at UM online orientation's self-enrollment link
  2. Log in to Canvas using your NetID and associated password
    • Note: Canvas accounts will be automatically created for new UM employees after they complete the preboarding process.
    • If you have yet to log in to UM's systems, please reset your NetID password before logging in to Canvas. To do this:
      • Visit GrizPortal
      • Enter your NetID (you may find your NetID by using the NetID Lookup tool; the NetID format is two letters and six numbers (e.g., "ab123456e"). The "e" on the end indicates it is an employee NetID)
      • Your intial password is the last six digits of your University Identification Number (usually starts with 790)
      • Prompted by GrizPortal, reset your password
      • Once your password is reset, you may log in to Canvas
    • If you find you don't have a Canvas account, please submit a Request Canvas Account ticket to IT.

For Canvas-related questions, please call UM Canvas Support at (406) 243-4999.

If you have questions about online orientation or enrollment, please contact Zoe Dansie, Onboarding Specialist.