NC State University’s *New* Office of Postdoctoral Affairs

1. NC State University’s*New*Office of Postdoctoral Affairs Rhonda Sutton, PhD, LPC Director

2. Office of Postdoctoral Affairs Background Information •Created August 1, 2008 • Recommendation from the 2003/04 Postdoctoral Task Force • Housed within the Graduate School • Reports to Dr. Rebeca Rufty, Associate Dean • Position is ¾ time (30 hours a week)

3. Number of Postdocs at NC State UniversityTotal = 313 (as of 10.30.2008) 96 94 58 42 14 7 1 1

4. Office of Postdoctoral Affairs:Vision and Mission Vision: enhance, support and promote the postdoctoral experience at NC State Mission:• create and strengthen identity •advocacy •professional development • assist with NSF mentoring requirement •clearinghouse of information • promote core competencies from the National Postdoctoral Association

5. Office of Postdoctoral Affairs:Current Activities • Updating and improving website (http://postdocs.ncsu.edu) • Identifying postdocs • Creation and utilization of postdoc list serve • Forming postdoctoral association • Informational interviews with postdocs • Creating faculty advisory committee • Professional development programs/developmental model • Career counseling and assistance with questions/concerns • Meeting with key people across campus • NSF requirements/IDP • Policy development • Potential collaborations with Sigma Xi

6. Meetings: Introduction to Campus • Associate deans in all colleges contacted (have met with CALS; COT; CVM; DSN) • HR/Benefits Research Administration Office of International Services • University Career Center and CALS Career Services • Assistant Vice Provost for Faculty and Staff Diversity • Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs • Department Heads Steering Committee Meeting on Tuesday, October 7, 2008 • University Research Committee Meeting on Wednesday, October 15, 2008

7. Meetings: Off Campus • Molly Starback, Director of Office of Postdoctoral Services, Duke University • Sibby Anderson-Thompkins (and staff), Director of Office of Postdoctoral Affairs, UNC-Chapel Hill • Dr. Wendy Perry, Director of Graduate and Postdoctoral Professional Development Programs, UVA • Katie Lord, Director of Marketing and Communications and Phillip Cates, Director of Organizational Advancement, Sigma Xi

8. Postdoc Association and Faculty Advisory Group Postdoc Meetings Held Thus Far: • Wednesday, September 3, 2008 • Thursday, September 4, 2008 • Wednesday, September 17, 2008 • Wednesday, October 22, 2008 Faculty Advisory Committee Meeting: • Monday, November 24, 2008

9. OPA Faculty Advisory Committee Dr. Alex Smirnov, Chemistry Dr. David Tarpy, Entomology Dr. Donald Brenner, Materials Engineering Dr. Ken Adler, Molecular & Biomedical Sciences Dr. Linda Hanley-Bowdoin, Biochemistry Dr. Matt Ronning, Research Administration Dr. Melissa Pasquinelli, Textile Eng., Chem. & Science Dr. Paul Franzon, Electrical & Computer Engineering Dr. Paul Maggard, Chemistry Dr. Ralph Dean, Plant Pathology Dr. Rebeca Rufty, Graduate School Dr. Stephanie Curtis, Genetics

10. Professional Development Programs for Postdocs Wednesday, November 5, 2008: Finding Your Way to Academia: Stories from Assistant Professors (panel discussion) Friday, November 14, 2008: Jobs in Industry: Insights from a Recruiter (Kelly Scientific Resources) Tuesday, January 27, 2009: Fundamentals of Teaching Tuesday, April 14, 2009: Tales from Both Sides of the Bench: Suggestions for Managing a Lab (panel discussion)

11. NSF Mentoring Requirement NSF proposals requesting "funding to support postdoctoral researchers must include, as a separate section within the 15-page Project Description, a description of the mentoring activities that will be provided for such individuals. Examples of mentoring activities include, but are not limited to: career counseling; training in preparation of grant proposals; publications and presentations; guidance on ways to improve teaching and mentoring skills; guidance on how to effectively collaborate with researchers from diverse backgrounds and disciplinary areas; and training in responsible professional practices. The proposed mentoring activities will be evaluated as part of the merit review process under the Foundation's broader impacts merit review criterion. Proposals that do not include a separate section on mentoring activities within the Project Description will be returned without review."  (Section II.C.2.d.i)  (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/policydocs/pappguide/nsf09_1/gpg_index.jsp )

12. Individual Development Plan Adapted and used with permission from the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) Science Policy Committee Goals of the IDP: helps the postdoctoral scholar identify long-term career options he or she wishes to pursue and the necessary tools to meet these; offers short term goals for improving current performance Pre-IDP: Postdoc conducts a self-assessment; talks with mentor about available opportunities and chooses the opportunities that helps meet goals and developmental needs Write IDP: the IDP maps out general path the postdoc wants to take and helps match strengths and skills to career choices; it is a changing document and needs review by mentor on a regular basis to discuss revisions; establishes goals and defines approaches to obtain the specific skills and strengths the postdoc wishes to acquire during the postdoctoral appointment

13. Some Input from Current Postdocs • We feel “invisible” and wonder if we really matter to the university. • It's important to have an office here at NCSU because we previously didn't have one, and it shows that NCSU is serious about developing postdocs and not just exploiting our status.  In addition, having a large campus like we do, the office helps to pull us all together so we can meet other postdocs not necessarily in our department.  • The presence of such an office or organization is one of the things that I think people do take into consideration when they are looking at universities to post doc at.  I definitely noted which universities had post doc associations or not when I was looking around.  I’m from UC Davis and the first thing I did was try to locate the postdoc office when I came here.

14. Office of Postdoctoral Affairs:Contact Information The Graduate School 221 Research Building III Centennial Campus 1005 Capability Drive Box 7102 Phone: 919.515.0326 E-mail: rhonda_sutton@ncsu.edu Web: http://postdocs.ncsu.edu/

15. Postdoc Office: Peer Institutions Cornell University University of Florida Pennsylvania State University University of California – Davis University of Minnesota University of Wisconsin - Madison

16. Postdoc Offices: South University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill Duke University Wake Forest University University of Alabama University of Kentucky University of Virginia Vanderbilt University Virginia Commonwealth

17. Postdoc Offices: Throughout U.S. Arizona State University University of California – Berkeley Boston College University of California - Davis Boston University University of California - Irvine California Institute of Technology University of California – Los Angeles Case Western University of California - Riverside Columbia University University of California – San Diego Emory University University of California – San Francisco Georgetown University University of California – Santa Cruz Harvard University University of Chicago Johns Hopkins University University of Cincinnati Massachusetts Inst. of Technology University of Massachusetts Northwestern University University of Michigan Princeton University University of Nebraska Rice University University of Southern California Stanford University Washington State University Temple University Yale University Tufts University

18. National Postdoctoral Association:Postdoctoral Core Competencies 1. Scientific Knowledge 2. Research Skills Development 3. Communication Skills (writing, speaking, interpersonal communication, special situations) 4. Professionalism (personal, social, workplace, institutional, collegial, and universal) 5. Leadership/Management Skills 6. Responsible Conduct of Research

19. The Developmental Process for Postdocs***Draft*** Phase 1: Adaptation Postdocs adapting to a new role that lies somewhere beween that of graduate student and faculty member or (independent) research scientist. Phase 2: Augmentation Postdocs recognize need for professional development; can identify areas of weakness. More earnest focus on career goals. Phase 3: Amalgamation Final phase of the postdoctoral experience. Goal is to have research and/or teaching skills that have been developed coalesce with the professional development acquired at the university. Phase 4: Benefaction Former postdoc “gives back” by sharing wisdom and insights with current postdocs.