At the 11th Annual National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) Meeting (Charleston, 2013) I co-presented with Tom Geoghegan (Louisville) on postdoc orientation strategies at our respective institutions.

1. Postdoc
Orienta.on:
Integra.on
Strategies
at
HMS
Jim
Gould,
PhD
Director,
Office
for
Postdoctoral
Fellows
Harvard
Medical
School
&
Harvard
School
of
Dental
Medicine

2. Office
of
Postdoctoral
Fellows
•
Supports
postdocs
from
six
basic
science
and
two
social
science
depts
at
HMS;
four
depts
at
HSDM
• The
Staff
Jim
Gould,
PhD
-­‐
Director
Leigh
Melanson
-­‐
Program
Coordinator
• Academic
Oversight
Judy
Glaven,
PhD
–
Associate
Dean,
Basic
&
Interdisciplinary
Research
•
Faculty
Advisory
CommiJee
•
RepresentaLves
from
each
dept

3. HMS
Quad
Postdoc
Demographics
DomesLc
39%
Foreign
61%
Male
65%
Total
~1000
(data
from
~850
federally
funded)
Female
35%

4. Our
Programming
Orienta.on
•
Postdoc
&
Research
Resources,
Postdoc
organizaLons
•
HR
&
Benefits,
Research
Admin
&
Compliance
Skills
Development
•
Publishing,
grantsmanship,
&
collaboraLon
•
CommunicaLon,
mentoring,
&
management
Career
Development
•
Academic
Job
Search
Series
•
Career
Discussion
Hour
&
Networking
•
ApplicaLon
material
criLque
Social
Events
•
Postdoc
Movie
Night
•
Summer
Fun
Series
•
Postdoc
Lounge:
Coffee
&
Donut
Morning

5. Leveraging
Our
Community
in
Programming
&
Orienta.on
IdenLfying
&
connecLng
with
postdocs
•
•
•
Assessing
&
building
resources
for
postdocs
•
•
Developing
partnerships
&
collaboraLons
•
•
•
Ombuds,
Work-­‐Life
&
Support
Offices
Ins.tu.onal
Research
Offices
Faculty
&
Staff
Postdoc
Feedback
Department
Admin
•
Human
Resources
&
Payroll
Informa.on
Technology
&
Compu.ng
Communica.ons
Research
Admin
&
Compliance

6. Outreach
&
Connec.on
• Department
Level
• Email
InvitaLon
• OPF
Website

7. First
Point
of
Contact:
Department
Onboarding
• Welcome
leJer
• Postdoc
OrientaLon
• Benefits
• InternaLonal
Office
• PDA
• Lab
Safety
Training
• Reinforces
Dept
process

8. Next
Point
of
Contact:
Email
InvitaLon
• New
postdoc
list
generated
by
HR
• Reinforces
the
Welcome
LeJer
• Introduces
the
Postdoc
Office
• OrientaLon
Date

9. Web-­‐based
Orienta.on
Resource
• OPF
Website
• Benefits
reminder
• OrientaLon
schedule
• Research
support
• OrientaLon
registraLon
• OrientaLon
RegistraLon
• Tracks
postdoc
info
• Ease
of
use
for
OPF
• Internal
or
external
plaZorm

10. New
Postdoc
Orienta.on
• Purpose
• Approach
• Structure

11. Why
Orienta.on:
Introducing
the
Landscape
Needs
• Time
SensiLvity
• Resources
– Postdoc-­‐specific
– InsLtuLonal
Research
• Community
• InsLtuLonal
Policy
• Benefits
Service
Providers
• Postdoc
Office/AssociaLon;
Ombuds;
Work/Life
• ComputaLon/IT;
Library;
Core
FaciliLes
• IACUC;
IRB;
Safety
• Tech
Development/Transfer
• Grants
Admin;
Compliance
• Human
Resources

12. Our
Approach
to
Orienta.on
• Every
6
weeks
• Overview
of
resources
and
support
services
• Emphasis
on:
• Postdoc
Resources
• Research
Skills
&
Policy
• Work/Life
Issues
• Relevant
&
Valuable
• Not
mandatory

13. Orienta.on
Structure:
Making
the
Most
of
Their
Time
Postdoc
Resources
HMS
Research
Resources
Postdoc
OrganizaLons
Research
AdministraLon
&
Compliance
HR
&
Benefits

14. Orienta.on
Challenges
&
Opportuni.es
• Successes
• Current
Challenges
• Future
OpportuniLes

15. What
we
do
well:
Informa.on
• Introduce
the
OPF
– Services
&
programming
– Create
&
reinforce
our
“Brand”
• IdenLfy
resources
– Postdoc
Skills
– Research
Policy
– Work/Life
• Detailed
info
packets
• Responsive
to
feedback

16. What
we
do
well:
Build
Community
• Begin
integraLon
at
HMS
• Cross-­‐discipline/dept
interacLon
– PDA
&
Postdoc
Forum
– HMS
Admin
&
Staff
• Comprehensive
– Wide
array
of
speakers
– Wide
array
of
topics

17. Current
Challenges
• Streamline
InformaLon
Delivery
– Powerpoint,
internet,
freestyle,
and
paper
• MulLpurpose
Venue
– Flexibility
of
presentaLon
style
– Comfortable
space
• Timing
&
Efficiency
– Keeping
on
Lme
w/o
diminishing
quality
– Flexibility
for
more
speakers
• Avoid
informaLon
overload
– Focus
on
what
they
need
to
know
NOW
– Allow
for
break(s)
and
interacLon
– TransiLon
between
topics

18. Future
Opportuni.es
• Going
paperless
– Only
handout
would
be
flash
drive
• Leveraging
technology
– Smart
phone
Apps
– Smartboard
– Use
cueng
edge
classroom
• Serving
throughout
postdoc
tenure
philmckinney.com
– Modular
orientaLon
– Webinars/pre-­‐recording
– Key
area
refreshers