Taking Collective Responsibility

1. Taking Collective Responsibility University of Washington, Computer Science & Engineering ArunaBalasubramanian, new faculty at Stony Brook, networkingGaetano Borriello, faculty, computing for development (ICTD)Ed Lazowska, faculty, systems and eScienceBen Ransford, post-doc, sensor systemsSimon Peter, post-doc, systems and networkingDan Ports, post-doc, distributed systems and languagesSudeepa Roy, post-doc, databases

2. Major trends for CSE post-docs • More post-doc positions • UW had 2 in 2003, now we are at 27 • growth in dept including 50% more ugrads pales in comparison • More competitive hiring • More graduating grads feel a need for a “finishing school” • Increase visibility within appropriate research community • Begin to assert more independence in choice of research topics • Inconsistency in experiences • Post-docs often viewed as “super-grad” or “staff who write papers” • Rarely is there collective department responsibility, left to PI Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

3. Our proposal • Visibility • Increase visibility with department faculty • Seminars, discussion of exiting post-docs, exposure to other students, networking among post-docs • Independence • Support fast-tracked REU-like proposals for funding undergrads to work with post-doc on topics independent of PI • Workshops on grant writing, publication process/tradeoffs, advising, etc. • Department investment • Faculty post-doc coordinator and ombudsman • Treating post-docs as department products just as grads are – web pages, job placement, advertising achievements • Periodic progress check towards goals set out initially in post-doc plan Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

4. Our proposal (cont’d) • Experimental design and evaluation • Recruit a set of universities to implement UW policies • Measure differences against control group w/ no intervention • National coordination role • Disseminate practices • Checklist for post-docs and mentors Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

5. Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

6. First steps • Survey of chairs of Taulbee departments • Implement department practices for post-docs at UW • REU-like small grants for independent research • Checklist for post-doc process • Decide on metrics and start collecting data (logic model) • Hire 50% professional staff to manage project (David Rispoli) Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

7. Thank you! • Gaetano Borriello, gaetano@cse.uw.edu • David Rispoli, rispoli@cse.uw.edu Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

8. Notes Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

9. Notes • Chang – NYC Ascent • Columbia, Cornell Tech, CUNY, NYU-Poly • 1300 tech companies, growing ecosystem • 38 total post-docs: Columbia 14, Cornell 13, Poly 7, CUNY 4 • 388 PhD students • Annual career symposium • IDP (UCSF-FASEB), USC form, as part of a post-doc orientation? • Post-doc leadership certificate program • How to involve NYU-Abu Dhabi and Cornell-Ithaca • Tracking their job outcomes – and later in career • Industry post-docs? – MSR, Google for us at UW Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

10. Notes • ASU • Multi-level support for post-docs: PI, dep’t, college, univ.\ • ASU, UA, NAU + Science Foundation Arizona • CSE post-docs in other depts: BMI, EE, Biodesign • Most post-docs are foreign-born • 4 REU grants • CSE Post-doc academy • Synthesis center – post-doc space, career devel skills • Several social events already • Looking for coordinator – almost an offer Post-doc Best Practices Meeting

11. Snowbird Panel - Sproull • 90 minutes (1 of n parallel sessions) • Sproull summarizes the problem (white paper) • Jane summarizes CIFellows evaluation • Three programs – 10 minutes each – salient features, what is underway, web site, contacts • Brent talks about industry post-doc • 50 minutes – then the rest q/a • Slides in advance so they can be merged into one package Post-doc Best Practices Meeting