Thursday May 25th, 2023 11:30am-1:00pm
Location: Zoom
Password: 708142
Quorum: 13
Acknowledgment: Divya
Approval of minutes: Divya, Tim
New postdocs:
Tazbir Ahmed
Elena Monti
Sonia Onyeka
Shubham Gupta
Updates (10’)
VTA and ACT transit passes for postdocs officially approved by the Provost
Tim: how was the postdoc representative determined for provost committee?
Julia: OPA nominated a few postdocs, there were interviews
Voted in: 16 yes
Voted in: 15 yes
Voted in: 15 yes
https://vpge.stanford.edu/academic-guidance/advising-mentoring/advising-1
Voted in: 9 Yes; 6 Abstain
Nightlife@ Cal Academy of Sciences
Teaching certificate: CIRTL@Stanford Teaching Certificate Program
https://ctl.stanford.edu/cirtl-stanford-teaching-certificate-program
March 2022 – Jaime Imam – Director of CIRTL
Postdoctoral teaching certificate
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/events/series/postdoc-teaching-certificate
Jan 2023 – Ravenn Gethers, Ahaniit Bhattacharya, Kristel Cahyadi Tiandra
SURPAS Teaching and Outreach Committee sign up form:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdUKlqRu6EjAQQYn0BDeQN4_B6pGRP6C_ty_-tceQHdi1jhkA/viewform
Slack Channel:
https://generalsurpaschat.slack.com/?redir=%2Farchives%2FC72T66LLC
JEDI mission:
Defining underrepresented and marginalized:
Support marginalized postdocs at stanford
Current programming:
Sign-up list:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mwxRfqqafKa7clCCr-WFJW42jENoTJU3OSn288acqEI/edit#gid=0
Tim: you could write about some of the programs in the Stanford daily
SOM Stanford Diversity Cabinet
https://med.stanford.edu/diversity/diversity-cabinet.html
Subcommittees:
https://med.stanford.edu/diversity/diversity-cabinet/subcommittees.html
Postdocs are not mentioned in the Stanford Diversity Cabinet, because they don’t know the challenges postdocs are facing.
Tim: raising the awareness of the work of the community.
Aravind: Sofie from OPA is part of these conversations, but we want to do action based items that support us, not just through communication.
Aravind: Develop a compact between postdocs and faculty mentors (e.g. compact that postdocs should attend conferences)
Contact Aravind Natarajan to provide challenges that you are facing: aranat@stanfrod.edu
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]]>Thursday April 27th, 2023 11:30am-1:00pm
Location: Zoom
Password: 708142
Quorum: 13
Acknowledgment: Dingying
Approval of minutes: Tim, Divya
postdoc salary comparisons between Stanford and UC schools
Tim: https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/consumerpriceindex_sanfrancisco.htm
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/funding-rates-and-guidelines
Why choose CPI-U December number?
Sofie: The reason that we use the December one is that the discussion of salary and the recommendations made as early in the year as possible. That’s for budgeting reasons. The salary plan is made early in the spring as part of the budgeting. Because postdocs’ salary discussions include consideration of the CPI-U but do not commit to matching the CPI-U every year. We can’t use a particular CPI-U as the target. If we didn’t have that discussion until August, we wouldn’t be able to implement it in September. The previous December’s CPI-U which is the closest we can get to understanding what the economy is doing at that time.
Aravind: How is the salary number determined?
Sofie: The issue is not what Stanford is deciding institutionally, it’s more determined by what an individual faculty grant can provide. There’s a national discussion we are all aware about postdocs and particularly postdoc salaries. Stanford has been well above in salary for many years unlike most other institutions, because first of all it recognizes the cost of living, and second of all, Stanford is an extremely well resourced institution. And the faculties are in agreement with salary increases even though their grants don’t go up.
Ishita: I learned that Stanford employees have retirement benefits with matching, but postdocs are not included.
Sofie: The biggest reason is that postdocs at Stanford are not employees, so they don’t receive employee benefits.The issue, as I understood it was partly an IRS issue and partly an issue of equity, that this wouldn’t be considered providing something to a small group of postdocs.I don’t think I can speak to the complexities of it. I looked into it a year ago when graduate students were asking about it. And my colleague spent quite a bit of time. So it might be worth asking him to come speak because he can speak much more clearly about it than I can.
Charmaine: other institutions, like Caltech, give postdocs benefits. So I think there’s a way to apply that.
Sofie: I think they do this because their postdocs are employees. And that’s not for all postdocs, not all postdocs are treated equitably. I would be happy to do more investigation and provide you with a more coherent answer about what Stanford might or might not be able to do. The other place that I would recommend you look is the NPA institutional policy survey, the 2020 one is coming out in the fall, which provides a huge amount of data on what other institutions do and how they do it.
New postdocs: Bobby Lusi, Sonia, Ishita
Voted in: 13
Voted in: 15
Voted in: 13
Postdocs are eligible for Caltrain, the funding is from the dean
Postdocs are not eligible for VTA smartPass and AC Transit EasyPass
https://transportation.stanford.edu/marguerite/se
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Thursday March 30th , 2023 11:30am-1:00pm
Location: Zoom
Password: 708142
Quorum: 14
Acknowledgment: Geetha
New postdoc: Ishita Jain
Approval: Julia, Vimala
Tim: https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboards
Tim: https://www.bls.gov/regions/west/news-release/consumerpriceindex_sanfrancisco.htm
Voted in: 15
Voted in: 16
Voted in: 14
Worked for long range planning committee on the report, got a good understanding about postdoc community and issues
Vilama: do you think you can contribute enough time commitment as a new postdoc?
Sam: Yes, don’t have strict deadlines for other tasks at this moment, it’s a good time to serve SURPAS
Chinyere: One of the challenges is talking to the wall, how do you plan to do with this?
Sam: Continue advocating, and bring actual numbers
Voted in: 10 yes, 1 no, 5 abstain
Report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1QjrRloymNOgnlB6cckH3F49HQx5r5elY/view
Resolution: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Y_XCJdzi9Ybo5y7OK5iVNyCTkVoRxxJmNZkG72mLMLQ/edit
Voted in: 14 yes, 1 abstain
Survey:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScxlzsNgH-DcbNOuDAUMgPE0u6v15N51YX5GiBHmIgtE1WGeA/viewform
Results:
Postdoc Palooza Mixer
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]]>Location: Zoom
Password: 708142
Quorum: 14
Acknowledgment: Dingying
1 new postdoc: Pragya
Approval of minutes: Antara, Tim
https://oakcreek.stanford.edu/
Questions
Interested in becoming a buddy? Please contact us at surpasleadership@stanford.edu
Chuchu, Tim: The Graduate Student Council’s vote of no confidence in Stanford’s leadership
Aravind: the pricing on Oak Creek’s website is not accurate, need to pay more than the price listed on the website; and Oak Creek asks for a minimum of $78,000 income for postdocs to be eligible for renting the apartment (but postdoc salary is lower than $78,000); graduate students pay lower than postdocs for renting the same apartment at Oak Creek
Sam: recently received an offer for a 1b apartment for ~$3,100 which is more expensive than the price (~$2,600) for a 1b apartment that someone else received.
Julia: they have different types of apartments, the refurbished ones are more expensive
Julia: please reach out to SURPAS if you have more information, and we can communicate with OPA
The report has been shared with council members for feedback and will be shared with all postdocs through SURPAS announcements later.
Lucy: Any recommendations for what postdocs can do among themselves to help each other?
Eamon: some suggestions are in the “recommendations” section
Lucy: it would be great to prepare an onboarding guide for postdocs, this is a good starting point
Postdoc Mixer
Date: TBD
Location: Black community center
Appetizers & small plates, self-served
Bartenders required to serve alcohol
Dance floor, photo booth
DJ or band
Nate: (natej@stanford.edu)
Thursday, March 30th 2023
11:30 am – 1 pm
Location: Zoom
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]]>Location: Zoom
Password: 708142
Quorum: 14
Geetha
New postdocs: Signe Svallfors, Tatjana Bilich
Approval of minutes: Julia, Antara
https://oakcreek.stanford.edu/
Oak Creek has a total of 759 units.
Currently there are around 10 units available. Although Stanford claimed that over 500 will be for the Stanford community, they are not available all at once. Availability will be continuous but very limited each month during the unclear transition period.
They are renewing leases for non-Stanford residents, but non-Stanford residents’ rent will be higher.
Sam: Is there a way to negotiate a higher salary in this case then?
Chinyere: Need to negotiate with PIs
Sam: if SURPAS can ask for higher than 75,000 as the bare minimum especially considering that Oak Creek apartments are not going to be a possibility in the near future. Not as individuals negotiating with our PIs.
Chinyere: NIH has a bottom line on postdoc salaries, it’s hard to ask for a higher salary. We can start from 75,000.
Andrew: Relevant data: there’s also demand for below market rate units at Stanford West, so that they silently open the waiting list for max of 1 month each year
Andrew: Low income is more like $94k in Santa Clara County (80% area median income) https://siliconvalleyathome.org/resources/finding-affordable-housing/
Cheaper than caltrain
Questions
About 60% of postdocs are international, look through these legal aids and resources to see if anything might be helpful
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/legalresources
https://law.stanford.edu/community-law-clinic/
They did mention that they will not turn anyone away as of now.
Postcodes are eligible for taking the shuttle to San Antonio shopping center
https://postdocbenefits.stanford.edu/home/my-benefits/postdoc-assistance-program
SURPAS Sports groups model:
SURPAS Sports groups:
Major challenges:
NEW IDEAS/thoughts:
“Social connections amongst researchers within and between fields are a key infrastructure for the Stanford research enterprise. Sports are not only a healthy practice for the individual, but seed and grow connections that can be drawn on to support professional development and spark new ideas and collaborations. Many passionate researchers can also find difficulty in balancing work and life, and the structure of sports clubs is a mold that individuals can use to help practice a better balance of their time to avoid burnout and sustain productive research output at Stanford. Sports are hobbies that can maintain a balanced life that is resilient to peak demands. International sports can also be a key touchstone for researchers who are far removed from the places they grew up, and sharing these important cultural expressions can enrich the experiences of other participants with a broader view of the world.”
-Darach Miller
Chinyere: Can post the committee activities on SURPAS general slack channel, announcements, and website.
Questions from Tim: how can postdocs, especially new postdocs access all the resources?
Lucy: we have a google drive folder with all the information
Voted in: 14 yes
Add “Co-Chairs should schedule quarterly meetings with OPA and Affinity group co-chairs”.
13 Yes 1 No
Council member responsibility
Currently stated as:
“B. Council members must attend more than half of the scheduled meetings in a year of service on council. Excused absences should be coordinated with the Operations Manager in advance of the meeting. Excused absences will not be considered a missed meeting.”
Suggested changes:
“B. Council members must attend at least 9 (75%) council meetings in a year of service on council. Excused absences should be coordinated with the Operations Manager in advance of the meeting. Excused absences and canceled meetings will not be considered missed meetings. Council members missing 3 (25%) scheduled council meetings will be given a warning. Missing additional meetings thereafter will result in being removed from the roster and losing membership.”
12 Yes 2 No
Date: Feb 8th
Location: Clark Center Auditorium and Courtyard
Date: February 15th at 11 am on zoom
Thursday, February 23rd 2023
11:30 am – 1 pm
Location: Zoom
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]]>Location: Zoom
Password: 708142
Quorum: 14
Julia
New postdocs introduction: Hao, Chris Mathy, Merve Kaptan,
Approval of minutes: Julia, Tim
Tim: https://siliconvalleyathome.org/resource-map/finding-affordable-housing/
$75000 is $2000 below the low income line
Chinyere: $75000 is the starting point. Salary is from PIs’ funding, R01 is not increasing. We need to support faculties to submit to the provost to see if she can provide funding for faculties to support postdocs.
https://oakcreek.stanford.edu/
There’s a long waiting list, only 10 available. There are people still living there.
We were told that postdocs will be taxed if they lower the rent (we are going to check IRS rules/laws).
OPA said they need some time to collect data.
Tim: stanford is getting tax breaks for providing house for graduate students; we have data from chinese postdoc association
Maria: the housing is to support postdocs
Chinyere: There are some grants that the faculty are not allowed to increase salary
Vivekananda: company have other benefits to avoid tax, but not the case here
Seungsoo kim: faculties can’t use startup funding for salary increase
Marielle: does NIH have a specific maximum salary for postdocs?
Chineyere: training grants cannot increase salary; technically RO1 offers $55000 for postdocs, But the provost can provide additional support to faculty to offset that.
NIH Website:
Please contact surpasleadership@stanford.edu if you have any information/ resources/ contacts
Chris Mathy has postdoc benefits information from UCSF
SURPAS is going to reachout to the law school to see if we can have some collaboration
https://postdocbenefits.stanford.edu/home/my-benefits/retirement-savings-options
https://postdocsalaries.com/results – link to compare benefits to other institutions
Emory University has very nice benefits, SURPAS is going to communicate with them to see how their benefits are structured.
Iti: salaried postdocs are not matched based on my experience
Hao: my department staff mentioned that postdocs from stanford do not have 401k
Information from Stanford postdoc benefits website:
https://postdocbenefits.stanford.edu/home/my-benefits/retirement-savings-options
“Salary-paid postdocs have two retirement investment options, the Tax-Deferred Account (TDA) and the Roth 403(b) After-Tax Retirement Savings Plan. You contribute pre-tax dollars to the TDA and after-tax dollars to the Roth IRA. Stanford does not provide matching contributions for anyone enrolled in the TDA or Roth IRA.”
The Stanford Latinx Postdoc Association (SLPA) is running a series of seminars “The SLPA Charlas”
Two separate programs: Pro: tell me how you do it and Just like you, where Latinx postdoctoral fellows present and share their expertise and experience with the community.
The funds are coming from a diversity and inclusion innovation fund (DIF) from the office of the vice provost for graduate education (2022-2023).
Program 1: Pro: tell me how you do it
Next presentation Dec 12 11:30-12:45 pm
Daniela Rojo
Determining the role of circadian transcriptional control in myelin-forming precursor cells
Where: ”El Centro Chicano y Latino” In front of Stanford bookstore
Program 2: Just Like you
Jie Pan: Is this related to “Someone Like me”?
Maria: This is different, it’s for Kids
These talks are possible thanks to:
Office of the Vice Provost for Graduate Education
El Centro Chicano y Latino
Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (All Postdocs. All the Time.)
SURPAS
Geetha Saarunya Clarke
Chandra:
Currently we have confirmed with Marc Tessier-Lavigne (the president of Stanford) and Stacey Bent (the Vice Provost) for keynotes. We are trying to get a Nobel Laureate for a talk.
Keynotes in the morning, and presentations in the afternoon.
Welcome every postdoc to join!
Andrew:
Housing Issues & current aims (2465 postdocs)
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/prospective-postdocs/housing
1.All apartments are unfurnished
2.No utilities are included
3.Currently there are around 10 units available. Although Stanford claimed that over 500 will be for the Stanford community, they are not available all at once. Availability will be continuous but very limited each month during the unclear transition period.
4.Waitlist application is similar to Stanford West, i.e., indicate the 3 months you preferred and call them at the end of the month you indicated to maintain the waitlist rank.
very ambiguous for their BMR, postdoc at 1c priority
$2700 a month
https://j1visa.state.gov/covid-19/
In talks with OPA and the transportation office on extending the VTA SmartPass and AC transit easyPass programs to postdocs
Think we can make this happen, but will take time
If you are interested in pushing on this please get in touch!
Housing and Transportation Slack Channel:
https://rde.stanford.edu/dining/post-docs-grad-student-spousepartners-meal-plans
https://rde.stanford.edu/dining
Date: Feb 8th
Location: Clark Center Auditorium and Courtyard
More info coming
Date: December 20th at 3pm on zoom
Wednesday, January 25th 2023
11:30 am – 1 pm
Location: Zoom
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]]>Location: Zoom
Password: 708142
Quorum: 14
Acknowledgement statement: Chinyere
Introductions: no new postdoc introduced
Approval of minutes: chinyere, Tim
Oak Creek Apartments
From pilot program → Permanent
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/pilot-transitional-housing-incoming-postdoctoral-scholars
Sam: the transitional housing was very helpful for new postdocs
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/stanford-email-forwarding-and-faqs
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/postdoc-travel-awards
Maria-Belen Perez-Ramirez; Clare Abreu; Fatima Pardo
Survey results: https://slpa.github.io/survey2022/
Lucy: There are about 2500 postdocs currently: 26% with spouse only; 15% with spouse and children; 2% with children and no spouse; that adds up for a total of 43% with either a spouse or children, 41% have a spouse (26% + 15%), 17% have children (15% + 2%)[around 425 postdocs have children currently]
Notes: The percentages of spouses and children are estimates and may be underestimated. They are based on dependents and beneficiaries reported on insurance, some postdocs may not have included their spouse or children.
Tim: Glad the relocation expense was highlighted. DEI should be considered by OPA as well.
Chinyere: Postdoc GoPass is not going away, it’s a permanent thing. For graduates, it was taken away. We need all help to move these things forward!
Sam: Are postdocs eligible for any other kind of transport pass?
Andrew Barentine: there is a carpool program through the university transportation office. I am reaching out to them to see if they can help us coordinate specifically for postdocs – aiming for incentives such as parking for postdocs carpooling with each other.
Tim: low income is classified as 80% area median income; a single postdoc with no dependents makes 60% area median income, falling solidly in the low income category. Postdocs with dependents fall into very low income. https://siliconvalleyathome.org/resource-map/finding-affordable-housing/
Andrew Barentine: Great question Sam! The VTA smartpass might be available (https://transportation.stanford.edu/transit/free-transit-and-incentives/vta-eco-pass/about-vta-eco-pass ). I’ll double check the eligibility for postdocs.
Sam: I asked this, because I tried requesting the VTA pass, and they said I cannot request this since I already have a GoPass.
Tim: That doesn’t make sense because they are different transit options. Encouraging public transit helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Usman: Residents have a moving allocation/stipend
Tim: That is really important and useful to know. Residents and postdocs are at similar career stages and perform similar roles in the university
Usman: Pay scale for residents might be a little lower depending on what kind of postdoc, but yes very similar.
Graduate and postdoc at stanford, like to advocate for the community, doing things and working together, and making sure we can focus on career development and work, not economic things
Committee: co-chair of long range planning
Voted in: 18 yes
Worked with sports committee and helped running events last year;
Volunteered for happy hours;
Loves SURPAS and is willing to help SURPAS as much as possible
Voted in: 17 yes
3rd year postdoc in genetics;
has been participating in activities from long range committee, JEDI and family committee;
Is interested in advocating for postdocs, hopes to continue to be in the council to be involved in all the activities
Voted in: 17 yes
Postdocs for ~ 3 years;
co-chair of symposium last year, has been supporting the symposium this year
would like to stay in the council to help with anything
Voted in: 14 yes
“Sam”
New Postdoc in the Oncology Division
Why join SURPAS council? Meet new people, and do what I can to help other postdocs have a pleasant and memorable experience at Stanford
Tim: Do you have ideas about topics you are interested in?
Sam: housing and transportation, happy to advocate for anything needed
Voted in: 17 yes
What: Postdoctoral scholars ball
When: Late January, Early February
Ticket price:$35 per person
Appetizers & small plates, self-served
Bartenders required to serve alcohol
Dance floor, photo booth
Current status: Need a venue, need a budget
Venue 1: Arrillaga Alumni Center, McCaw Ballroom
Venue rental: $4000 (for Friday or Saturday)
Event services: $3000 for setup/teardown
Capacity: 1000+ (and can go higher)
Already equipped with tables, bars, seating, etc.
Venue 2: Black Community Services Center
Reservation cost: $500 + cleaning services
Maximum capacity: 200-300 at any given time (depending on room arrangement)
Postdoc Gala 2019 was hosted here
Additional extra (optional) costs:
Help is appreciated with sourcing funding!
Creative problem solving is also appreciated!
Lucy: Maybe do a general fund raising?
Nate: maybe try to do fundraising outside postdoc community (natej@stanford.edu)
Black community services center (SURPAS, social budget)
surpass.familycommittee@gmail.com
2 co-chairs will step down, committee meeting on Nov 17 ,
Fall event: Over 300 people
Tim: Thank you for the amazing work! Any suggestions/protocols for other people?
Lucy: we have a google drive under SURPAS; we also have a Family committee gmail to keep track of all communications
Julia: talk to members in family committee for co-chair election, SURPAS can also help to advertise
Lucy: we do have some some people who are interested, but also want to have more people engaged
Tim: a better way to set up the flow of people in the BBQ section (suggestion for OPA)
So many opportunities to talk to postdocs during that week
Aravind: How do we do the NAPAW BBQ historically?
Julia: OPA takes care of everything food related, SURPAS: alcohol. OPA can’t purchase alcohol. It’s a collaboration between OPA and SURPAS.
Tim: We had the party, someone paid for it.
But there were cases that we ran out of food or drinks, so postdocs had to pay by ourselves
Julia: We did pay for the alcohol using SURPAS budget, OPA paid for the food.
Talked to OPA to have a ~ 25% budget increase for next year. Due to inflation, there might be less happy hours. We are trying to get more money from School of Medicine as well.
Sam: Were there budgets during covid, did we save some money from covid period?
Julia: Not much left. Because we had 10 active committees in the past year. There were only 2-3 active committees before covid, .
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]]>Location: Zoom
Quorum: 14
New postdoc introduction: Andrew Barentine; Samyuktha
Approval of minutes from: Rohini, Jade He
Thank you to all the volunteers who made NPAW a success!
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/stanford-email-forwarding-and-faqs
Milad: Any action needed to get email forwarding?
Chinyere: no action needed, check the website for more information
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/postdoc-travel-awards
Carolina Olguin Jacobson: specific policy?
Chinyere: depending on department
Q: Up to $500 per year or per conference?
Chinyere: possibly per conference, but it’s better to check the website
Assistant director of training & diversity, OPA programs team
7-word biography: Black, woman, learner, californian, tall, expat, sports
About me: Business sector; nonprofit sector; higher education sector
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/events/series/postdoc-teaching-certificate
The PTC & Postdoctoral training: the PTC is a framework for postdocs to organize and focus their professional development time. Consider ways to organize your other professional development activities/needs similarly; the PTC does not certify you as an excellent teacher. It certifies that you spent 100 hours focused on your art as a teacher.
PTC Overview: 1)Teaching training (70 hours): comprehensive teaching training workshops and courses that provide a holistic foundation for teaching improvement and/or pedagogical theory; includes at least 6 hours of postdoc journal club. 2) teaching practice (20 hours); you are required to teach at least 5 hours in a classroom. The 5 hours is in-class time and does not include preparation time; each teaching opportunity must include: original course content, teacher … 3) Teaching portfolio (10 hours): after completion of your training and practice, smartsheet will send you an automated email requesting for you to upload your teaching portfolio for review; your portfolio must include a teaching philosophy statement; you may also submit any combination of other portfolio pieces
4) PTC process: 1. Visit the PTC website; 2. Register; 3. Sign up for the postdoc teaching interest mailing list; 4. Visit the OPA event calendar to begin signing up for activities that count towards the PTC; 5. Record each activity using the online recording/reflection form;
Q1: How long does it take to complete the PTC?
A1: on average, it takes a postdoc 1 year and 10 months to complete the PTC
Q2: Can we do the training is my postdoc is end soon and don’t have enough time to finish the training before my postdoc training ends
A2: yes! Contact postdocteaching@stanford.edu. It is possible to finish it after your appointment ends.
Q3: how can I complete the teaching practice requirements?
A3: 1, visit the teaching practice section of the PTC website for ideas; 2, be sure that you’re subscribed to the PTC mailing list where you’ll receive emails periodically with announcements about upcoming opportunities; 3, consult with your mentor/PI and other contacts in your network.
Q4: how can I track my progress report?
A4: 2 options: 1) reach out to postdocteaching@stanford.edu to request a unique link to your progress report. 2) before submitting each recording/reflection form, click the checkbox at the end and enter your email address so that your completed form is emailed to you.
Q5: there’s a workshop that I’d like to attend, Is it eligible for teaching training hours?
A5: at least 1 week prior to the workshop, submit an email to postdocprograms@stanford.edu with the name and description of the workshop. The OPA staff will review and provide you with feedback within a week.
Q6: Iam preparing for an upcoming teaching opportunity. Will it meet the teaching practice requirement?
A6:visit the “Teaching Practice” section of the PTC website to view the requirements for teaching practice hours. If you’re still unsure, contact OPA at postdocprograms@stanford.edu with a description of the teaching opportunity
Q7: I recently submitted a recording/reflection form(s) for a MOOC (massive open online course), but my hours were rejected. Can you provide me with the rationale for this?
A7: possible reason: only online recore
Q8: how to get the confirmation of completion?
A8: within a week of you uploading your teaching portfolio to your smartsheet profile, you will receive a letter of completion. When OPA resumes printing completion certificates, you will be contacted.
If your postdoc appointment ends prior to your receipt of the certificate send your alternate email address.
Q9: how can I find activities to help me complete the PTC requirements?
A9: 1) visit the OPA event calendar to view upcoming events; 2) review emails you receive from postdocprograms@stanford.edu or the PTC mailing list; 3) visit the PTC website for ideas/examples; 4) CIRTL@ stanford workshops/events/courses; 5) stanford center for teaching & learning workshops/events/courses; 6) activities offered online by other institutions; 7) SURPAS teaching and outreach committee chairs; 8) and more!
Q10: for further questions
A10: send an email to postdocteaching@stanford.edu; Ravenn Gethers rgethers@stanford.edu
Mini-courses:
Teaching practice opportunity for postdocs in the biomedical science disciplines
More information about mini courses:
https://oge.stanford.edu/academics/mini-courses-overview/
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kSGjuuWpPmZ7KmdULle4VYOA9eOxQL0X/edit
For more information about the CIRTL @ Stanford Teaching certificate program, or contact Jamie Imam jamiec@stanford.edu
Questions:
Tim: adjunctification of university, postdocs, adjunct role experience?
Ravenn: there are less tenure roles, more adjunct roles. Treat the experience as learning experience. What postdocs are seeking is a tenure role. Take advantages of stanford and try to get a tenure track position. Some of the adjunct roles are hard to make a living
Tim: UCLA
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/06/us/ucla-adjunct-professor-salary.html
Tim’s experience on a mini course which they built together with a teaching team of grad students and postdocs this past spring and it was great
Voted in: 14 yes, 1 no
Add “All monthly financial transactions shall be completed within SURPAS for each month prior to the 1st of the next month”.
Voted in: 14 yes, 1 no
The post September 2022 first appeared on SURPAS.
]]>The post August 2022 first appeared on SURPAS.
]]>Location: Zoom
Quorum: 14
Antara read acknowledgment
Introduction: Adrian M. Bacong, Kindle Williams
Approval of minutes: Tim, Shruti
They told OPA that they might not consider postdocs.
Tim: failure in communication, OPA to us, OPA should let us know about any decisions, OPA is not doing their job.
Chinyere: reached out to Sophia, why they didn’t send us the information earlier, because of the fear.
Tim: They didn’t give us the information of covid vaccine before because of fear.
Usman: People from the hospital got vaccines after the protest.
Chinyere: have to push to get things done at Stanford
Chinyere: propose to start a car polling for postdocs who live far away from campus. OPA is on top of it. Call for representatives for the transportation committee to work on it. Email: surpasleadership
Stanford postdoctoral initiative fund: Maximum $1000 for a project
Could be something like wine tasting
Jade He: how long is the application process?
Silvia: usually very fast
Shruti: how to use this fund? One time thing?
Silvia: One day event, e.g. Book club, wine tasting. If it’s something related to a committee, work with the committee. One time in one year
Family supporting initiatives: parenting and coffee, WhatsApp group (events channel, new&expecting fam, playground date,\)
Financial assistance program application seminar: Brent Young
Family connections
Family-supporting local activities
More details here
Want to see changes in the SPIF
Expect more funding
VOTED IN: 15 yes
LRP committee
VOTED IN: 16 yes
Alaa:
I’m a postdoc at the Department of Radiology and the Co-Chair of the Teaching & Outreach Committee at SURPAS. My research focus on ethics, policy, and clinical safety of artificial intelligence AI-based algorithms.
Mihir:
Chinyere: Is postdoc’s opinion been taken?
Alaa: Yes, but need to make it clear and transparent when transport to OPA; there are some frameworks to do it.
Usman: some new policies limit benefits for postdocs, sometimes they don’t listen to our voice
Alaa: DEI; advocating for postdocs, let them know the contributions and expanse of postdocs
Mihir: postdocs are underpaid already; ask for eligibility among postdocs, non-med trainees, med trainees, and students; encourage PhD students who are about to become postdocs to join us; people who has low power but has a voice, we should advocate for us
Aravind: Any experience from the UC system that can be brought to Stanford?
Mihir: yes. In the UC system, professors in committee of research support a lot, e.g. they help solving the purchasing problems; the US system is well documented, especially for the safety training, safety protocols/policies; people in the position is very efficient
Other suggestions:
Alaa: advocate for postdocs under representatives, such as women, mothers, and families in engineering or medicine, for higher payment and more opportunities
Mihir: increase diversity, more postdoc representatives.
VOTED IN: Mihir
Postdoctoral scholar, SUNCAT theory group, SLAC/Stanford
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Louisiana State University, 2022
M.S., Chemical Engineering, Louisiana Tech University, 2017
B.E., Chemical Engineering, Visvesvaraya Technological University, 2011
8 years = research on materials and chemical reactions, on supercomputers
3 years = development and support in the IT industry
Vision, as a postdoc representative,
VOTED IN: 15 yes
Postdoc in ChemE
SURPAS goal: committee on libraries (C-LIB), leveraging my perspectives as a student and a scholar to improve the utilization of library resources across the Stanford community.
VOTED IN: 14 yes
Move to next meeting
The post August 2022 first appeared on SURPAS.
]]>Location: Zoom
Quorum: 12
2 new postdocs ( Marielle van Kooten, Milad Bakhshizadeh) introduced
Acknowledgement statement read by Julia
Minutes approved by Julia and Shruti Jain
Tim: postdocs are having a hard time, the purpose is to appear to help without the university spending any money to help us in reality
Alaa Youssef: got rejected for the second run, feels disappointed because not being treated fairly.
Chinyere: discussing feasible solutions for postdoc housing, want something that is more permanent for postdocs. Please contact us if your lease is after August 14th.
Lucy: family committee will do a seminar to share resources for financial resources at tomorrow meeting (July 28, 2022)
Marielle van : people having children don’t have time to find and apply financial resources , why don’t they automatically apply to postdocs who have children
Chinyere: There are issues on eligibility, restrictions, and privacy concerns for the financial resources
Marielle: Stanfrod should share more information with the public, for example, number of people applied, application results, and who got rejected.
Chuchu: we have circulated this housing thing to SCPA community.
Financial resources for postdocs (PPT)
https://postdocs.stanford.edu/financialassistanceprograms
https://facultysenate.stanford.edu/academic-council-committees/committee-research-c-res
Topics include:
Alaa Youssef:
2 main topics: 1) the conflict of interest of policy that applied to faculties now applies to postdocs as well. Postdocs who do consulting work outside your research at Stanford, the consulting time commitment should be no more that 13 days/quarter (or 1 day/week). Be aware of what type of consultation work you are working on, discuss with PI, talk to OPA or postdoc representative center to make sure everything is right.
2) Involvement of International postdoc from specific countries for specific research: be aware of the condition and restrictions, for example, SLAC and nuclear research.
Other policies : travel, new sustainability research
Shruti: how about consulting work without payment or working permit?
Alaa: This policy is more for people with working permit and payment.
https://facultysenate.stanford.edu/academic-council-committees/committee-libraries-c-lib
Topics include:
Haven’t meet any policy that affect postdocs in the past year
Topics include:
Karun Kumar Rao:
IT policies, software, licenses, programs
Main job: bring ideas to IT people; review policies, guidance, and give feedback to the IT department
Camera in campus: major discussion topic in the past year
FSHC Mission:
FSHC Services:
FSHC Services to Departments:
Request online or through email, usually pretty fast
Check the website for more information:
https://helpcenter.stanford.edu/
Also check the postdoc benefits website for more useful information:
https://postdocbenefits.stanford.edu/mental-health-and-substance-abuse-options
A new number for mental health crisis: 988
https://calmatters.org/health/2022/07/california-mental-health-crisis-hotline/
Question from Aravind Natarajan: What are missing now? There might be resource constrictions.
Rosan: Not sure, maybe Postdoc discussion groups?
Chinyere: maybe provide referrals for postdocs to reach out. Get sooner appointment.
Rosan: Access is hard, a lot of other therapists don’t take insurance. This is a good postdoc benefit, refer through postdoc benefits rather than atana, it’s much cheaper.
Question from Chinyere: How to increase the diversity of therapists?
Rosan: The current diversity is not terrible, we have 2 spanish, 1 mandarin, 1 taiwanese, a few asian, and 3 african americans. Choose people who are more booked, usually can get appointments less than 2 weeks if open to more therapists, if feel uncomfortable with one therapist, talk to the team to get help
Tim: I tried a while ago to access mental health care. I tried teladoc but it wasn’t that great for me. I got connected to Peninsula Behavioral Health. There was an intake call to get connected with an open therapist and I’ve been having weekly $5 sessions which have been good.
Move to next meeting