• If you plan to park a vehicle on either the Minneapolis or St. Paul campus, speak to your departmental or MCC contact about getting a parking contract (for which you have to pay). Parking on campus is limited. 

• Complete the required federal Employment Eligibility Verification (I-9) form. 

  • Government information about the I-9 form

  • Documents you may need to bring to your first day of work

  • Employee guide to completing the I-9 form

  • I-9 form to complete 

• Meet with Larnyia Lee (leex5798@umn.edu) MCC Human Resource (HR) Generalist, to complete your I-9. If you have any questions, contact the University's Office of Human Resources via email or phone (612-624-8647 or 800-756-2363).

  1. Enroll in University Benefits plan

  2. Receive your internet ID (called your x500). This is the first part of your new University email address (e.g., example001@umn.edu). 

  3. Activate your email account.

  4. Complete the online W-2 form. 

  5. Sign up for direct deposit. 

     • You must have your internet ID and password to do this. 

     • To sign up, go to MyU and look at My Pay > Direct Deposit Set-Up. 

• Meet with your direct supervisor for departmental introductions and to learn about and/or receive your onboarding schedule.

• Get your U Card. 

  1. Your U Card is your identification card and keycard to access secure facilities. 

     • You MUST have a primary form of ID to receive your first U Card. The U Card Office is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday (excluding holidays). 

     • If you work on the Twin Cities Minneapolis campus, go to the U Card Office in Coffman Memorial Union on the East Bank Campus (300 Washington Ave SE, Room G22). 

     • If you work on the Twin Cities St. Paul campus, go to Information Desk in the St. Paul Student Center (2017 Buford Avenue). 

• Ensure you have building access.

  1. Meet with your supervisor or building manager to tour your assigned workspace (labs and offices) and request building access. MCC building coordinators are: 

     • MCRB/Moos: Leann Oseth (oseth003@umn.edu)

     • CCRB: Sandi Wagner (hornx001@umn.edu)

  2. Submit student/staff access request form. Supervisor submits an access request form on your behalf.

     • There is required online training for obtaining building access: 

       1. Radiation Safety Orientation

       2. UHS111: Bloodborne Pathogens Building Access Only OR UHS110: Bloodborne Pathogens Annual OSHA Requirement

  3. Have your U Card validated at the appropriate information desk.

     • MCRB / Moos: 3rd floor Molecular and Cellular Biology Building (MCB) 

     • CCRB: 1st floor CCRB

• Parking and Transportation Services

  1. The University has both daily and contract parking available for staff and students.

  2. There is a free UMN bus system for transportation between the Minneapolis and St. Paul campuses and free light rail train transportation between the East and West Banks of the Minneapolis campus. 

  3. Parking and Transportation services location and contact info: 

     • 300 Transportation & Safety Building, 511 Washington Ave SE, Minneapolis

     • 612-626-7275, parking@umn.edu

• If you enroll in one of the offered medical plans, consider also enrolling in the Wellbeing Program. The Wellbeing Program provides a reward program to reduce your health insurance premium. 

• Required training for all employees:

  1. All UMN online training can be accessed through the IT Training Hub. 

  2. You will receive an email about the University Information Security Awareness Training and the President's Initiative to Prevent Sexual Misconduct Training. Both are required for all. 

  3. HIPAA training is required for all faculty, staff, students, and volunteers who work in areas of the University that have access to protected health information (PHI) or who support areas that have access to PHI. 

• All new laboratory staff are required to take online safety training prior to doing any work in the lab. This training covers: 

  1. Biosafety and occupational health

  2. Lab and research safety 

  3. Radiation safety 

  4. Regulated waste

  5. Lab-specific training

• Understand the regulatory processes and research compliance for laboratory and clinical research at UMN. 

  1. Required regulatory protocols for lab research are created and managed through the Office of Biotechnologies Activities Oversight using the eProtocol system. Regulatory protocols fall under the following categories: 

     • The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) reviews University research or teaching activities involving recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules, potentially hazardous infectious agents, and potentially hazardous biologically-derived toxins. 

     • The Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) reviews all projects involving animals to ensure that they are justified by their benefits and minimize any animal pain or suffering that might occur. This includes research teaching and display of UMN-owned animals.

     • The Department of Environmental Health and Safety Controlled Substances in Research ensures all UMN employees using controlled substances in research and teaching activities comply with federal and state regulations as well as institutional guidelines. 

  2. Regulatory protocols or human subjects' research are required and can be created and managed through the Institutional Review Board (IRB) using the web-based ETHOS (Ethical Oversight Submission System) as part of the Human Research Protection Plan. Additional University resources for the ethical conduct of human research include: 

     • Research Compliance Office

     • Sponsored Projects Administration

     • Center for Bioethics

     • Health Information and Compliance Office

MCC membership provides a variety of benefits for researchers and clinicians. These benefits include access to MCC shared resources and MCC managed research space, benefits of NIH Comprehensive Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG), access to MCC philanthropic funding for research, research grant support by the MCC Research Development Office, career development opportunities, continuing education, teaching, and community engagement.

• Research Programs. MCC Research programs bring together scientists and physicians from different disciplines to discover processes that affect cancer. These programs are organized around scientific themes that reflect advances in cancer research and provide opportunities for interactions across the cancer community to solve organ-specific clinical questions. Researchers in these programs make discoveries that lead to improved ways to treat and prevent cancer. MCC faculty members join one of these six programs:

  1. Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention (CC)

  2. Cellular Mechanisms of Cancer (CM)

  3. Genetic Mechanisms of Cancer (GM)

  4. Immunology

  5. Screening, Prevention, Etiology, and Cancer Survivorship (SPECS)

  6. Transplant and Cellular Therapy (TCT)

• Translational Working Groups (TWGs). TWGs foster inter-programmatic and translational research to promote new discoveries. TWGs organize MCC members from various research programs into groups designed to address site-specific cancers, foster collaborations, and provide the necessary scientific and clinical expertise to improve outcomes for the specific disease sites. The current TWGs are:

  1. Brain tumor program

  2. Breast cancer

  3. Gastrointestinal cancers

  4. Gynecologic cancers

  5. Hematologic malignancy

  6. Prostate and urologic cancers

  7. Sarcoma cancers

  8. Thoracic cancers 

• Community Outreach and Engagement. The Community Outreach and Engagement (COE) team’s mission is to reduce the burden of cancer in Minnesota by engaging communities and providing them access to knowledge and information about cancer prevention, treatment, survivorship, and clinical research opportunities.

• Events. MCC hosts many recurring events that include weekly seminars, research program meetings, annual symposia, etc. Participation in these events facilitates your career development and research progress.

• Investigator resources available through MCC: 

  1. Cancer Research Translational Initiative (CRTI) - supports translational research and promotes investigator-initiated first-in-human experimental therapeutic trials through investment and specialized infrastructure.

  2. Clinical Trials Office (CTO) - an organization of professionals dedicated to meeting the needs of researchers and their patients; providing exceptional trial management services; prioritizing patient safety, data integrity, and regulatory compliance; and recognizing diversity, equity, and inclusion as core institutional values that drive decision-making, resource allocation, and the development of best practices. 

  3. Research Development Services - identifies sources of research funding and supports grant submissions. Services include: 

     • Identifying internal and external funding opportunities 

     • Proposal development

     • Internal peer review

     • Team science initiatives 

  4. Cancer Protocol Review Committee (CPRC) - evaluates, approves or rejects, monitors, and re-reviews annually all UMN clinical cancer research protocols. 

  5. Institute for Global Cancer Prevention Research (IGCPR) - develops global translational research capacity and partnerships that will advance understanding of cancer risks and inform cancer prevention in populations with a disproportionate burden of cancer. 

  6. Minnesota Cancer Clinical Trials Network (MNCCTN) - aims to improve cancer outcomes for all Minnesotans through greater access to cancer clinical trials in prevention and treatment. 

  7. Shared Resources - A key goal of MCC is to provide access to technologies, services, and scientific consultation that facilitate interaction and enhance scientific productivity. Our shared resources provide stability, reliability, cost-effectiveness, and quality control that would be difficult to achieve otherwise. Our designation by the National Cancer Institute as a comprehensive center includes support for many of these resources.

     • analytical biochemistry

     • biostatistics

     • cancer genomics

     • cancer bioinformatics

     • cancer informatics

     • clinical pharmacology

     • comparative pathology

     • flow cytometry

     • genome engineering

     • glass washing

     • mouse genetics lab 

     • research space 

     • translational cell therapy

     • X-RAD 320 Biological Irradiator

  8. University Research Resources - a partial list of resources available to all University researchers is: 

     • advanced research and diagnostic laboratory

     • advanced preclinical imaging center

     • aerocore services

     • analytical biochemistry

     • bioprinting facility

     • Biosafety Level 3 Program

     • Center for Magnetic Resonance Research

     • Center for Translational Medicine

     • characterization facility

     • Clinical and Translational Science Institute

     • cytokine reference library

     • diagnostic flow cytometry service

     • Driven to Discover research facility at MN State Fair

     • FV500 confocal microscopy

     • Institute for Therapeutics Discovery and Development

     • integrative biology and physiology phenotyping cores

     • molecular and cellular therapeutics 

     • mouse genetics library

     • research animal resources

     • viral vector and cloning core

     • University Imaging Centers

Important notes on travel/event expenses and reimbursement:

• Reimbursements must be submitted within 60 days of purchase/travel completion or they will be denied or taxable.

• Travel documentation must include something official with event title, dates, and location (e.g. agenda, registration, website)

• Meeting/hospitality expenses need a list of attendees and agenda.

• Business Purpose = how it applies to or benefits UMN/the grant paying.

Financial Policies | Travel Policy | Other Business Expenses | Hospitality (includes non-UMN employees) | Expense Allowability Grid