Human Resources and Employee Website Changes

When VIU employees got back from the December break, those of us who frequently use the Human Resources section of viu.ca noticed some big changes.

For a start, it now resides at employees.viu.ca.

It, along with Faculty Help and New Employee Orientation, recently migrated to the Drupal Web Content Management System, which much of the external-facing VIU website has already moved to Drupal. This is the second phase of this project, which began in the fall semester of 2017 with the launch of many program areas, the homepage, the news and events section and the development of our primary website as a tool for prospective students.

You may recall in November 2018, you received an email asking you to participate in a survey about the website and what you would like to see on these pages. These upgrades are a result of what we heard back from many of you.

While the new look is different and may some time to figure out where things now live, none of the content in the Human Resources section has changed. The menu structure has remained the same and is now accessible on the right hand side of the page, so as to integrate with the new site. Please see the image above that shows what it used to look like and now for comparison.

Below is an image of the new Menu look and location on the top right of the page.

The Human Resources Section:

• All HR pages moved to employees.viu.ca
• Menu structure remained the same
  • * Except default HR landing page now lands on About VIU rather than About HR to be more promotional to prospective employees
• All content remained the same
  • * Except changes to the new HR applicant portal, which is part of Project AURORA
• All old addresses (page location) redirect to their new location

Drupal was chosen because it has features that make editing and content management for subject matter experts than our old system. It has the following features:

• web-based editing environment – no software required to install
• responsive design (layout responds to all web-enabled devices like smart phones, tables, laptops, desktop computers)
• Pages revisions and editing logs are maintained
• Fine-grained editing access levels
• 24/7 – 365 uptime – remains online during internal IT outages

This project is a phased approach, with more sections being moved to Drupal. Those which will migrated include:

• Business Case Office
• Facilities and Ancillary Services
• Financial Services
• Payroll
• Purchasing

When the dates are confirmed for these, we will communicate with you. Like the Human Resources section, the content and menu structure will not be touched. The menu button will be on the right-hand side of the screen.