Report and Recommendations on Postdoctoral Appointees
Date
Charge
Postdoctoral appointees are a very valuable and growing part of our University, and the training that they receive here is important for their later careers. Indeed, our previous postdoctoral appointees are among our most distinguished alumni. Consider whether the Graduate School ought to officially enroll them, look after their requirements and needs, and grant official certificates to them at the end of their studies at the University.
Background
The Graduate and Professional Education Committee and the Research Committee met jointly to consider the treatment by the University of postdoctoral appointees. These appointees are essentially postdoctoral interns who are appointed with titles such as postdoctoral fellows (whose fellowship stipends are often paid from outside the University), postdoctoral associates, and, often, research associates. These postdoctoral appointees almost always have a faculty mentor with whom or under the direction of whom they do research and learn, and on whom they depend for future job recommendations. Often the faculty mentor is a principal investigator on the grant which funds the postdoctoral appointee's position. This postdoctoral experience is often essential training for getting a permanent job in the field, especially for a tenure- track faculty position. The number of postdoctoral appointees at Rutgers is of the order of seven hundred, although to date these have not been easy to track. Previous Rutgers postdoctoral appointees are among the most distinguished of our alumni. Indeed, at least one (Heinrich Rohrer) has won a Nobel Prize.
Although postdoctoral appointees are more senior than graduate students (with much larger salaries), and are much more able to carry out independent studies, and sometimes to lead research efforts, their needs and, occasionally, problems are somewhat similar to those of graduate students. When they finish their studies they often consider themselves to be rather like alumni of the University. Also, they often are considerably isolated in their research labs or offices, and could benefit from association with postdoctoral appointees from other disciplines.
Recommendations
- The Graduate School's responsibilities ought to be expanded to include postdoctoral education, including the granting of certificates to those who have completed a postdoctoral internship on the New Brunswick Campus of the University. Postdoctoral appointees would be somehow enrolled or officially listed in the Graduate School, preferably through the respective graduate programs, since each of these has an overseeing faculty (although this may be difficult since some postdoctoral appointees are presently in various research centers and haven't previously been associated with a particular graduate program). However, under no circumstance should postdoctoral appointees be charged tuition, since they will continue to be essential personnel for the research operation of the University. As part of this responsibility, the Graduate School should become an advocate for postdoctoral appointees within the University.
- The Graduate School should be responsible for monitoring and overseeing the fringe benefits, and terms of employment of postdoctoral appointees. It should play a primary role in the policies for postdoctoral appointees regarding health benefits, sick leave, vacations and holidays, and other terms of employment. In addition, the Graduate School should provide information on appropriate post-doctoral mentoring practices to the faculty who oversee postdoctoral appointees.
- The Graduate School should provide counseling and a grievance procedure for postdoctoral appointees with problems and complaints. It should also provide career counseling for postdoctoral appointees.
- The formation of a Postdoctoral Scholar Association and a Postdoctoral Alumni Association should be encouraged and supported by the Graduate School, if there is interest among the postdoctoral appointees in the formation of such organizations.