Among other things, this tool provides access to electronic copies of employees' current and past pay stubs, tax forms and employment history as well as available vacation and sick hours. Employees can also update their home and office addresses and add emergency contact information -- changes that previously required contacting University Human Resources or the payroll department and filling out a form.

This new system also benefits the university by helping reduce administrative expenses and protecting the environment by eliminating paper forms.

Employee training sessions offered this month

University Human Resources and the payroll department will conduct open houses this month to educate employees about the My Personal Information system.

The one-hour informational sessions -- which focus on how to navigate the My Personal Information application -- will take place in Human Resources Training Center 254 five times a day each Tuesday in December.

Interested faculty and staff must reserve a space in advance by following these steps:

1. Click here for online registration
   
   
2. Enter your Oak login and password
   
   
3. Click on "Register Yourself"
   
   
4. Scroll down to Human Resources/Payroll; click on "My Personal Information Tool"
   
   
5. View the workshop sessions being offered to determine which ones have open seating
   
   
6. Click on "I'll Take This One" to register

Updating employee race and ethnicity data for compliance with federal guidelines

The My Personal Information system also provides a means for employees to update their race and ethnicity data, which is used for many federally mandated reports. This information needs to be updated because the U.S. Department of Education has adopted new guidelines for obtaining and reporting race and ethnicity data for employees of all educational institutions. In the past, employees were limited to choosing one category to describe racial or ethnic identity.

The new method, which is required by the federal government, includes a two-part question that addresses ethnicity as well as racial heritage, and allows an employee to choose more than one category to describe his or her racial identity.

To make your update:

1. Access "My Personal Information" by visiting www.ohio.edu/ebiz/myhr.html
   
   
2. Select "Other Misc. Information"
   
   
3. At question 3, "Race: Are You Hispanic or Latino?"
   Click "Select," enter a Y or N in the box provided, then click "Apply."
   
   
4. At question 4, "Race: Select one or more of the races with which you identify"
   Click "Select," enter a Y or N in each of the boxes for which you would like to respond, then click "Apply."
   
   
5. Click on "Home" to go back to the My Personal Information main menu.

For more information about the changes to the federal guidelines for reporting race and ethnicity, please go to www.ohio.edu/equity/Race.cfm or www.sheeo.org/ipeds/race-eth-home.htm.