Postdoctoral status changes

Some of us have made the transition from scholar to fellow and back to scholar and wanted to share some tips and cautionary tales. We also recommend anyone about to go through a switch attend one of the PDA quarterly info sessions. The next info session is November 7th 2011 at 2pm in BSLC room 202, RSVP to kolla@uchicago.edu.

First, some definitions:
Postdoctoral scholars are University employees and as such are eligible for benefits (matched retirement, subsidized healthcare, pre-tax parking etc). The scholar is paid a salary.

Postdoctoral fellows have obtained their own funding (NIH, ACS, DOD, AHA, Komen, etc) and are NOT University employees. The paycheck says University of Chicago but you are NOT an employee, no tax is deducted and the fellow is not in the Human Resources system. The fellow is paid a stipend.

Important for international postdocs/Visa holders: Funding agencies will sometimes allow grants to be paid out as salary, allowing postdocs to remain as scholars and thus, university employees. This can be very important for international postdocs, in particular those on H1 visas. Inquire with International Office and your grants administrator about whether the particular funding agency can provide salary instead of stipend.

Switching from postdoctoral scholar to postdoctoral fellow

The transition from scholar to fellow was made easier by the fact that a postdoc. in my lab had just gone through it. The biggest change was that no taxes are taken out of the paycheck and I was responsible for paying estimated payments. There is an online service allowing you to pay your taxes directly that makes things so much easier. It is free, government run and can be provided here. I highly recommend it.

The scholar to fellow transition also involved losing the pre-tax status of the parking, health insurance and having no matched retirement funds. You can contribute to a retirement fund, but the funds will be un-matched and you cannot contribute to the TIAA-CREF fund that is open to all of the employees of the University of Chicago Biological Sciences Division.

Every fellow should be paid a supplemental stipend (currently it is $1,600 if healthcare funds are provided or $6,200 if no healthcare funds provided), in addition to the regular stipend you receive. This is to provide you with funds for retirement and healthcare (see below).

It is important to talk to your PI about health insurance, as soon as you find out that you will be transitioning. This is because most postdoctoral scholars pay $62/month (pre-taxed income; $62/month×12months/year=$744). This is in contrast for postdoctoral fellows, who will pay $376.59/month×12months/year=$4,519.08, which is extracted out of the institutional allowance, if any (postdoctoral NRSA stipends currently are provided a $7,850 institutional allowance).

When it comes to families, the health insurance coverage for postdoctoral scholars to coverage a married couple is $129/month (×12months/year=$1,548) and for a family is $156/month (×12months/year=$1,872). When it comes to families for postdoctoral fellows, the difference between affordability is dramatic. For a married couple, the health insurance premium is $794.60/month (×12months/year=$9,535.20) and $1137.26/month (×12months/year=$13,647.12). Thus, both of the latter sums for postdoctoral fellows go far beyond the institutional allowance and will require some good will by your PI for coverage.

For NRSA (F32) recipients, the institutional allowance guidelines can be found here.

Finally, make sure your department implements the $1,600 supplemental stipend (or $6.200, if the grant does not provide healthcare funding) in addition to your normal stipend, during your transition. Although it does not offset the cost of losing the excellent benefits supplied through postdoctoral Scholar status, it does help to defray some of the economic burden.

Switching back from postdoctoral fellow to postdoctoral scholar

Because you are not being newly hired and it is just a change in status, it is very important to make sure all your benefits are in order. I did not pay enough attention when I was switched back from a fellow to a scholar. It turns out that the pre-tax parking was not reinstalled and the retirement was not started. I didn’t realize this until 4 months later and lost the retirement I could have been accruing (including University matching) and pre-tax benefits.

NSF Announces New Career-Life Balance Initiative

NSF Announces New Career-Life Balance Initiative

The White House Council on Women and Girls, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, and the National Science Foundation held a national convocation at the White House on Monday to announce the NSF "Career-Life Balance Initiative." This ten-year plan is designed to "provide greater work-related flexibility to women and men in research careers," according to the press release from the Office of the White House Press Secretary.

http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/component/content/article/579-nsf-announcement

Mailing list for parents

The"studentparents" mailing list is a great resource for expecting parents and current parent. It gives access to a community of parents at the University. You receive emails about things like babysitting, daycares, schools, nannies, pediatricians receive info on garage sales for gently used items. You can also post your own questions about child-related issues.

Sign up at:
https://lists.uchicago.edu/web/info/studentparents

or within lists.uchicago.edu subscribe to "studentparents" group

Lactation stations at the University

Here is a list of lactation stations at the University put together by graduate affairs: http://grad-affairs.uchicago.edu/about/lactation.shtml

There is also a room in the hospital which has pumps. Hospital ID is required for access. It is Room TC275 and it is right behind the ABP.

We have also just added a room in Cummings. It is a temporary solution, very small room, only one chair and table and no pumps. You need to get a key to access the room. Please contact kolla@uchicago.edu for more info.

NPA resources on maternity leave

NPA ADVANCE is a project to assist women postdocs in making the transition to the professoriate. Supported by the National Science Foundation’s ADVANCE program for "advancing" the representation of women in academic careers, NPA ADVANCE will focus on adapting and disseminating promising institutional practices that can help women postdocs successfully transition to faculty careers.
http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/advance

A postdocs guide to pregnancy and maternity leave:
http://www.nationalpostdoc.org/publications/family-friendly/maternity-guide

2011 Survey results

This past spring the PDA annual postdoctoral survey had 116 respondents! The results help us target the areas of most concern to postdocs, so we thank all who participated. This year’s survey provided valuable insight. For example, 71% of respondents reported that they wished to receive a yearly performance evaluation from their mentors while only 16% reported actually receiving a performance evolution. The PDA recently developed an Individual Development Plan (IDP), a tool for postdocs to use for career-planning purposes and for yearly performance evaluations.
A template of the IDP is available on the website: http://www.bsdpostdoc.uchicago.edu/

This is just one example of how results the PDA tries to improve the postdoctoral experience. For a copy of the complete survey results and an executive summary, visit the Publication section of this website or email Terrie Vasilopoulos (terriev@uchicago.edu) with questions.Also, please share your experience with the IDP and any suggestions for improvement.

Childcare at the University of Chicago: New childcare center available to postdoctoral fellows and scholar in fall of 2012

Dear postdocs,
The postdoctoral association (PDA) has confirmed that postdoctoral fellows and scholars, in addition to other staff, academic appointees and faculty, will have access to the new childcare center slated to open in the fall of 2012. The center will be located on Drexel between 56th and 57th Streets and will accommodate 124 children between six weeks of age and five years old. An outside provider will operate the new day care center and will charge market rates and allocate slots on a first-come, first-served basis. More information will become available for parents and others interested in the center in 2012.

In addition to the new center, faculty, other academic personnel and staff seeking child care will continue to benefit from the University's partnerships with two local child care providers, the Baby Ph.D. Childcare Network, and the Chicago Child Care Society. In 2005, the University funded grant proposals, creating more than 70 new infant and toddler slots in the neighborhood for children of University and Medical Center employees.

For more information on Baby PhD and Chicago Child Care Society please refer to the following Human resources (HR) childcare webpage and flyer: http://hrservices.uchicago.edu/lifework/life/child/resources.shtml
http://hrservices.uchicago.edu/fpg/forms/benefits/childcareflyer.pdf



On behalf of the PDA Steering Committee,
Kolbrun Kristjansdottir