GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL
PROGRAMS
L I S A G U BAC I
NOVEMBER 1, 2011
UNDERSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENTS
WHY?
What makes them worth the
time and money?
ANSWER…
Research and Reputation
it is central to the overall University mission
expenditures for 2009-10 totaled $1.14 Billion
excellence is a crucial element in educational
rankings
creates collaborative and interdisciplinary
initiatives
STILL – WHY?
Graduate Students and Postdoctoral Fellows are
• The reason some faculty choose UofM
• The reason faculty continue to obtain research
funding
• The reason some of our alumni give
• Our next great generation that will continue
teaching, life-saving research and mentoring
PURPOSE
Graduate and Postdoctoral Programs (GAP) is
the administrative home for
Graduate Program in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS)
Office of Postdoctoral Studies.
Interdisciplinary graduate programs
•
•
•
•
•
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Immunology, Cellular & Molecular Biology, Neuroscience and
Cancer Biology (with Cancer Center)
Postdoctoral Research Training Program
MTrain
PURPOSE
CONT’D
Program in Biomedical Science
• Operates as a confederation of very strong programs
coming together for the purpose of recruiting,
admissions, training and mentoring of graduate
students prior to when a student selects a degreegranting program.
PURPOSE CONT’D
PIBS was established to:
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•
•
•
eliminate redundant activities and costs
create an environment for students to
sample more than one program or have
ability to switch programs
eliminate overly-compartmentalized training
and establish interdisciplinary concepts.
utilize strength of current individual
departments
PURPOSE CONT’D
Outcomes:
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•
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Became the gateway to 14 Ph.D. programs offering students the
freedom to choose the areas of research that interests them most.
Offers an active, research-rich environment with access to almost
500 top faculty and their labs from various departments
Supports a funding level of more than $330 million in NIH and
other funding; Michigan ranks among the top 10 schools year after
year
Passionate mentors that are well respected, well published
researchers come to UofM to train and inspire the next generation
Diversity in all it’s forms is valued for the rich contribution it brings
to our students, faculty and research
PURPOSE CONT’D
Office of Postdoctoral Studies:
• Established in 2008 to coordinate activities in the medical school
centered on the issues and concerns of postdoctoral research fellows.
• History of postdocs not receiving the institutional support and services
provided to students, faculty or staff.
• Mission is to enhance the experience of postdoctoral fellows while in
training and to recruit outstanding postdoctoral fellows to UMMS.
• Currently there are over 700 postdoc fellows at UMMS; 1,400 campus
wide.
PURPOSE CONT’D
Postdoctoral Research Training Program (for House
Officers) :
•
•
Initiated in 1986 to provide House Officers with a fulltime, 10-week introduction to cell and molecular biology
in both the classroom and lab. It is open to MDs
throughout the Medical Center, and is a major
component on many research training grants.
House Officers are introduced to problem solving
exercises in cell and molecular biology led by a group of
‘top-tier’ faculty in basic and biomedical sciences.
PURPOSE CONT’D
MTrain
•
Provides a unique workspace for proposed and active training
grants
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A repository to collect and manage information from the
participating faculty and their trainees
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Ability to generate select, required tables for NIH training grant
submissions
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Program in Biomedical Sciences
 Recruiting
 Admissions and application processing
 First-year funding
 Coordination of core institutional requirements
(orientation, radiation and lab safety, and
training in Responsible Conduct of Research)
 Mentoring & Guidance (e.g., Individual
Development Plan – IDP)
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CONT’D
Office of Postdoctoral Studies:
 Recruiting postdoc scholars to the UMMS
 Monthly orientation for all newly appointed postdoc
fellows
 Seminars, expert panels and symposia focused on career
options and career planning
 Support to the UM-Postdoctoral Association (PDA)
 Networking events for postdoc fellows across campus
 Support the training efforts of UMMS faculty
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES CONT’D
MTrain:
 Repository for training grant material
 Data collection site
 Tool for producing NIH training grant tables
for submission
STAKEHOLDERS
Program in Biomedical Sciences
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Students
Faculty
Ph.D. Programs
Medical School and the University of Michigan
STAKEHOLDERS CONT’D
Office of Postdoctoral Studies:
o Postdoctoral Fellows
o Faculty
o Medical School and the University of Michigan
STAKEHOLDERS CONT’D
MTrain:
o Training grant directors and administrators
o Medical School and the University of
Michigan
STAFFING TRENDS
BEFORE
AFTER
1 Director
4 Staff FTEs
1 Associate Dean
1 Assistant Dean
2 Directors
Several temporary staff
during peak
recruitment and
admissions
•6 Staff FTEs (.5
funded by NIH grant)
2 Associate Directors
 Postdoctoral Studies
 Post-baccalaureate
Academic Enrichment
CURRENT TACTICAL INITIATIVES
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Developing business plan for new post-baccalaureate program
 For students that want to apply to Medical School, but lack
the basic science courses required
CURRENT TACTICAL INITIATIVES CONT’D
Program in Biomedical Sciences
Major efforts are recruitment and admissions
oCurrent and future endeavors is to find a way to survey results and
create better efficiencies, training needs and capacities.
Stretch first-year support from 10 months to 12 – 14 months
oSync better with training grants
Ultimate goal is to get students to candidacy
oWorking on business plan to become a pre-candidacy program
CURRENT TACTICAL INITIATIVES CONT’D
Office of Postdoctoral Studies
Expand pool of training granteligible applicants and
underrepresented minorities
o Postdoc Preview weekend
First year of three-year
experiment
Current Tactical Initiatives cont’d
Postdoc Preview weekend
First year of three-year
experiment
CURRENT TACTICAL INITIATIVES CONT’D
Mtrain
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Concept is a great one, but we are not using it to its fullest advantage yet.
• Create process to remind mentors and trainees to update data on a yearly
basis
• Usable data depends upon them for data input and updates
•
Good system for graduate training grants, but not good for postdoc training grants
• Work to find a way to better utilize system for postdoc fellows
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION & SYNERGY
Program in Biomedical Sciences
• Need for collaboration with tenure home
• Graduate students may be a new concept-training of staff may be
needed
• Student financial commitments can become a source of
contention
• Need for direct contacts for collaboration on issues and
solutions.
• Often the issues relate to students getting paid on time
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION & SYNERGY CONT’D
Office of Postdoctoral Studies
• Closer collaborations with departments
• Faculty member within each department to serve as a liaison
• Role would include research and career trajectory and health and
well-being
• Do departments currently assign this role to a faculty member; if
not, how can we help?
• International postdocs make up half (about 350 out the 700 at
UMHS).
• Underserved; can this be rectified with a faculty liaison
position?
OPPORTUNITIES FOR COLLABORATION & SYNERGY CONT’D
•
Create a process to integrate the Individual Development Plan (IDP)
• Create process for it to be done during the yearly reappointment and salary
increase process.
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Staff member within each department to serve as a liaison
•
Do not currently have an easy way to identify newly hired postdocs
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Do not currently understand departmental processes
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Do not currently have a mechanism for problem solving
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Are postdocs receiving notice of varied funding opportunities
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Are postdocs applying for funding of their own?
• If not, why not?
• How successful are they?
• We have no way to track this information
ANNUAL AWARDS
Excellence in Teaching
& Service:
Lev Prasov – Human Genetics
Award for Excellence in
Research:
J. Chad Brenner – CMB
John Prensner - MCP
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE
(Org Charts/FTEs)
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Program in Biomedical Science
Indicators are:
•
Number of domestic applications/number of underrepresented minorities within
applicant pool
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Quality of cohort (research experiences, GPA, letters of recommendation)
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Diversity of cohort (demographics and research interests)
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How widespread the geographic distribution (nationally)
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Ratio of offers made to acceptances
 Where did our students get other offers (what other schools did they have to
choose from)?
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Measures Performance:
Data Reviewed:
We are successful
when:
Our students reach
candidacy.
Success rate in getting our
students through the
program (our mentoring,
using IDPs, and attrition
rate).
Being successful in PIBS
means
departmental and
Interdepartmental
training grants are
successful.
KEY PERFORMANCE INDICATORS
Office of Postdoctoral Studies:
Indicators are:
•
The number of new postdocs at orientation – are we getting everyone? If not, why
not?
•
Level of participation in career development events
Measures performance by asking, ‘Did we enhance their training and guide them
without directing them?’
Data reviewed on a regular basis is exit interview comments. Only data available and
is it not reliable because most postdocs do not complete the survey.
THE END….