Nova Scotia Community College
EN-8: Employee Orientation

NSCC has a prescriptive New Employee Orientation program for all new employees of the College. Orientation activities are organized into time periods, including the new employee’s first day, first week, first month, and beyond. Activities during these periods are structured such that new employees learn about the culture and various institutional priorities.
Through becoming familiar with the Strategic Plan and the various policies and becoming acquainted with staff and faculty, a new employee quickly learns that Sustainability is an essential value of NSCC.
The section below is an excerpt from the “NSCC New Employee Orientation Program Overview,” Human Resources. Orientation Objectives from the orientation program are:
- Be familiar with the College’s Mission, Vision, Values
- Be familiar with the Strategic Plan and any business plans related to your department
- Be familiar with the College’s Organizational Structure
- Be familiar with the College’s internal websites, such as Connect, and any Team Sites required for your job
- Be familiar with College Policies
- Be familiar with the NSCC Occupational Health & Safety Act; know your rights and responsibilities
- Be familiar with your job description and have an understanding of what is expected of you
- Be familiar with where your role fits within NSCC as a whole
- Have the tools, equipment and training needed for your job
- Know the physical layout of your campus/site
- Have an employee success plan
- Feel welcome, valued, and a productive member of the Team

Each new employee of the College receives a link in their offer letter. Once there, they can watch videos about NSCC and their employment. “This is NSCC,” for instance, within the first 18 seconds, sets the tone that Sustainability is a College commitment. On campus, their Manager follows the Orientation toolkit (attached PDF). A campus-based Employee Handbook that Employee Services Advisors give to each new employee outlines the College’s commitment to Sustainability and includes each respective Campus’ commitment to Sustainability (specific to the campus where the employee will be working).

Lastly, “This is NSCC” is a one-day face-to-face orientation session that new-to-the-College employees are invited to. It is co-facilitated by 1-2 members of the Executive and is designed to immerse new employees in the mission, vision, values, strategies and commitments of the College – of which Sustainability is included. It is held twice/year in different geographical locations.