Informational Meeting on February 1, 2008

Summary PDF

Postdoctoral Association/Society at KUMC

Some of the benefits of a postdoctoral Association/Society include the following:

• social gatherings - to have fun and get to know other postdocs, meeting new people outside lab
• communicate issues to Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and between postdocs (in different departments)
• sharing of ideas, advise and research
• recruitment tool (including orientation)
• opportunity to work with administrators and leadership
• mentoring/advising between peers
• to have a sense of belonging and being able to contribute
• share in planning PDA's objectives
• make a difference in postdoctoral training at KUMC
• input in determining topics/speakers to present to postdocs
• skills enhancement in negotiation and project management
• keep informed
• national recognition
• looks good on CV/resume

If interested in starting/joining a Postdoctoral Association, please feel free to contact via email any of the postdoctoral fellows or Kelly Magaha listed below.

Lauren Aleksunes, Ph.D.	laleksunes@kumc.edu
Laura Martin, Ph.D.	lmartin2@kumc.edu
Shirin Sundar, Ph.D.	ssundar@kumc.edu
Kelly Magaha	kmagaha@kumc.edu

Office of Postdoctoral Affairs –(send attached handout)

• Contact information
• Website
• Link to Survey Results

 NPA and affiliate membership benefits

• NPA Publications: NPA e-alerts, periodic email news announcements, POSTDOCket, and NPA’s official quarterly newsletter
• Access to member-only content
• PDA Toolkit
• Postdoctoral Policies Database
• International Postdoc Survival Guide
• Annual meeting discount
• Professional and Leadership Development
• Health Insurance
• Contribution of ideas

Postdoc survey results

Some of the postdoctoral survey results were presented. The results are available online on the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs website.

Postdoctoral Handbook

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs will begin working on a handbook. A consensus at this meeting was that the handbook be available online.

New Registration/Information Form

A new registration form will be required for postdoctoral fellows. Postdocs will be registered in the Registrar’s Office. A certificate will be available to the postdoctoral fellows after they complete an exit survey. The benefits of this method include an official registration of the postdoctoral fellows, the certificate upon completion of the postdoctoral training, future verification of the postdocs, eligibility for student health insurance and eligibility for student rates at the Kirmayer Fitness Center. A fee will be assessed which will be sent to their supervisor.

Exit Survey

The exit survey will provide information so that we know where to send the certificate once the postdoc leaves the University of Kansas Medical Center. Some of the information that will be requested includes a new home address, new work information including the type of position, title and new address, and questions regarding your experience during your postdoctoral fellowship at KUMC.