The Office of the President (OP) launched a new website today (Feb. 6) that aims to make life easier for faculty, staff and retirees.

The new site, UCnet, is the fruit of more than two years of development by OP's communications team and is part of a broader strategic initiative to improve the usefulness of the university's main systemwide websites. UCnet (ucnet.universityofcalifornia.edu)is meant to make it simpler for employees and retirees to keep up with what's happening at UC, find information about benefits and policies and quickly access personal accounts. It's also designed to allow users to learn about and engage with colleagues around the system and build a stronger sense of community.

UCnet replaces At Your Service as the source of information about benefits and the portal to At Your Service Online and Fidelity Retirement Savings accounts. At Your Service Online, the password-protected portal that employees and retirees use to access their personal pay and benefits information, continues to exist. UCnet also offers timely news about UC and a wide array of tools and resources such as a gateway to systemwide data and interest groups.

Put another way, all the news and information on benefits that employees and retirees are used to finding on At Your Service is readily available on UCnet. The search function on the site is much better than At Your Service, so finding essential information should be easy. 

“UCnet employees and retirees will be able to find news, a wealth of resources and access to their personal accounts on UCnet,” said Paul Schwartz, UC's director of internal communications. “We wanted to give employees and retirees a site that makes it easy to get information, conduct personal business and stay connected with the UC community.”

UCnet is one of three new websites created by OP communications in the past year to improve university information and resources offered online. The other two are ucop.edu (http://www.ucop.edu), OP's website, which launched last year, and UCal (http://universityofcalifornia.edu), a site aimed principally at conveying the breadth and depth of UC to external audiences.

UCnet will maintain a lively presence on Twitter, and those who use the social media site can receive news updates and alerts by following @UC_net. Readers can comment on stories and share them via Facebook, Twitter and other social media.

UCnet is organized into five sections, each with its own distinct focus. The Home page, where most readers will start, serves as UCnet's “front page,” containing top news about what's going at UC and links to important parts of the site.

The News section offers visitors stories about the university. It is organized around five categories including administration, employment and people. UCnet's news section offers a much richer selection of news about UC than At Your Service. The section also has a frequently updated “UC in the news” section containing some of the best and most interesting items about UC from news outlets around the world.

The Working at UC section aims to be a window into the diverse and fascinating community of university employees. It provides opportunities to connect with people at other campuses and links to campus websites around the system. The section also contains information about how faculty and staff can develop their careers, wellness, how to manage work-life balance and other career-related resources.

Compensation & Benefits is the section for users who want information about pay, benefits, how to handle a life event and other employment- or retirement-related matters. The section contains comprehensive guides for employees and retirees going through events like having a baby, changing jobs within UC or enrolling in Medicare.

Last, the Tools & Services section is the go-to page when searching for a policy, data tools or information about UC's libraries. The section also contains details on travel services, publishing, research grants and wellness and safety on the job.