strategies for increasing the visibility of the office for postdoctoral fellows

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Strategies for Increasing the Visibility of the Office for Postdoctoral Fellows Leigh Melanson and James Gould, PhD Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA Web: www.postdoc.hms.harvard.edu; Email: postdoc_offi[email protected]; TwiIer: @HMSpostdoc Introduc;on Building a strong reputa0on and gaining visibility in the community is a challenge faced by most postdoc offices. The HMS/HSDM Office for Postdoctoral Fellows was established a number of years ago and has built a strong founda0on of programming. Despite major advances, our office was s0ll underrecognized and we sought to address this by reexamining and strengthening our approaches to branding, community building, and outreach. While these strategies are rather obvious, their implementa0on is not always straighJorward. We have con0nued to evolve while building credibility with postdocs and the academic community. By concentra0ng our marke0ng efforts on reaching postdocs, departments, and faculty, we have begun to realize the full poten0al of the Office for Postdoctoral Fellows. Summary Establish a strong founda0on of programming that adds value. Set feasible goals and focus on impact. Deliver a coherent and focused message. Forge an ins0tu0onal network that enhances and highlights the ac0vi0es of the office. Seek to strengthen rela0onships with the basic science departments and their administrators. Ensure that the office is connected to the greater training community. Create forums that recognize the value and promote the work of the postdoc community. Emphasize faculty and principal inves0gator inclusion. Implement assessment tools to evaluate progress and respond to needs. Raising Visibility & Awareness Build partnerships and collaborate within the ins;tu;on. Become involved with the community, locally and na;onally. Broadcast a consistent message across diverse mediums. Create quality programs that add value to the postdoc experience. Developing Programs Branding Community Building Outreach Skills Development • Publishing, grantsmanship, & collabora0on • Orienta0on, mentoring, & management Career Development • Academic Job Search Series • Career Discussion Hour • Applica0on material cri0que Social & Networking • Postdoc Movie Night • Summer Fun Series 3. Community Building Iden0fy and connect with postdocs Human Resources: How are postdocs hired and tracked? What is their employee classifica0on? Are they benefits eligible? Informa;on Technology: Work together to develop a listserv. Create a postdoc database you can access. Communica;ons: How do they reach out to the community? Do they communicate with postdocs? Assess and build resources for postdocs Department Admin: Assess the level of postdoc support at the departmental level. Principal Inves;gators: Determine the resources available in the lab. Encourage PI’s to administer IDP’s. Postdocs: Iden0fy and address gaps in training and career development. Develop partnerships and collabora0ons Career Services: Establish rela0onships with counterpart offices to enhance programming and support. Departmental & Ins;tu;onal Research Offices: Foster collabora0ons that provide opportuni0es for growth and skills development. Faculty and Staff: Invite faculty and staff to par0cipate in seminars, workshops, and program development. Digital • Listserv • Website • NewsleZer Print • Flyers • Posters • Handouts Social Media • TwiZer • LinkedIn Consistent Mission and Message 2. Branding 1. Developing Programs • Postdoc Office Consor0um in the Longwood Medical Area • Service in the Community Local • HMS/HSDM Postdoc Associa0on • Career Discussion Hour speakers • LinkedIn Postdoc Networking Group Alumni • Na0onal Postdoctoral Associa0on • Associa0on for Women is Science • AAAS and Scien0fic Socie0es Na4onal 4. Outreach 5. Tools for Evalua;on & Feedback Faculty Advisory CommiVee Postdoc Associa;on LinkedIn Group Sta;s;cs Exit Survey Google Analy;cs of website traffic SurveyMonkey evalua;ons Tracking event registra;on Developing Programs Branding Outreach Community Building Offer 0mely and prac0cal programming that adds value to the postdoc experience while evolving with the everchanging training landscape. Our strategy has been to build programs in the three key areas outlined above. Effec0ve branding and public rela0ons requires delivering a coherent and focused message without flooding the target audience. Forge an ins0tu0onal network that enhances and highlights the ac0vi0es of the Office for Postdoctoral Fellows. Ensure that the office is connected to the greater training community. Rou0nely assess progress while responding quickly to feedback and sugges0ons. Establish a strong founda0on, build incrementally, set feasible goals, compliment exis0ng programming and focus on impact.

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At the 10th Annual National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) meeting (San Francisco, 2012) we won the best poster award.

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Page 1: Strategies for Increasing the Visibility of the Office for Postdoctoral Fellows

Strategies  for  Increasing  the  Visibility  of  the  Office  for  Postdoctoral  Fellows  Leigh  Melanson  and  James  Gould,  PhD    Harvard  Medical  School,  Boston,  MA  

Web:  www.postdoc.hms.harvard.edu;  Email:  [email protected];  TwiIer:  @HMSpostdoc  

Introduc;on    

Building   a   strong   reputa0on   and   gaining   visibility   in   the   community   is   a  challenge   faced   by   most   postdoc   offices.   The   HMS/HSDM   Office   for  Postdoctoral   Fellows  was  established  a  number  of   years  ago  and  has  built   a  strong   founda0on   of   programming.   Despite  major   advances,   our   office   was  s0ll   under-­‐recognized   and   we   sought   to   address   this   by   reexamining   and  strengthening  our  approaches  to  branding,  community  building,  and  outreach.  While  these  strategies  are  rather  obvious,  their  implementa0on  is  not  always  straighJorward.  We  have   con0nued   to  evolve  while  building   credibility  with  postdocs   and   the   academic   community.   By   concentra0ng   our   marke0ng  efforts   on   reaching   postdocs,   departments,   and   faculty,   we   have   begun   to  realize  the  full  poten0al  of  the  Office  for  Postdoctoral  Fellows.    

Summary    

•   Establish  a  strong  founda0on  of  programming  that  adds  value.  •   Set  feasible  goals  and  focus  on  impact.    •   Deliver  a  coherent  and  focused  message.  •   Forge  an  ins0tu0onal  network  that  enhances  and  highlights  the  

ac0vi0es  of  the  office.  •   Seek  to  strengthen  rela0onships  with  the  basic  science  departments  

and  their  administrators.  •   Ensure  that  the  office  is  connected  to  the  greater  training  community.  •   Create  forums  that  recognize  the  value  and  promote  the  work  of  the  

postdoc  community.  •   Emphasize  faculty  and  principal  inves0gator  inclusion.    •   Implement  assessment  tools  to  evaluate  progress  and  respond  to  

needs.    

Raising  Visibility  &  Awareness  

•  Build  partnerships  and  collaborate  within  the  ins;tu;on.  

•  Become  involved  with  the  community,  locally  and  na;onally.  

•  Broadcast  a  consistent  message  across  diverse  mediums.    

•  Create  quality  programs  that  add  value  to  the  postdoc  experience.  

 Developing  Programs   Branding  

Community  Building  Outreach  

Skills  Development  •    Publishing,  grantsmanship,  &  collabora0on  •    Orienta0on,  mentoring,  &  management  

Career  Development  •    Academic  Job  Search  Series  •    Career  Discussion  Hour  •    Applica0on  material  cri0que  

Social  &  Networking  •    Postdoc  Movie  Night  •    Summer  Fun  Series  

3.  Community  Building  Iden0fy  and  connect  with  postdocs  

Human  Resources:  How  are  postdocs  hired  and  tracked?  What  is  their  employee  classifica0on?  Are  they  benefits  eligible?  

Informa;on  Technology:  Work  together  to  develop  a  listserv.  Create  a  postdoc  database  you  can  access.  

Communica;ons:  How  do  they  reach  out  to  the  community?  Do  they  communicate  with  

postdocs?  

Assess  and  build  resources  for  postdocs  

Department  Admin:  Assess  the  level  of  postdoc  

support  at  the  departmental  level.    

Principal  Inves;gators:  Determine  the  resources  

available  in  the  lab.  Encourage  PI’s  to  administer  IDP’s.  

Postdocs:  Iden0fy  and  address  gaps  in  training  and  career  development.    

Develop  partnerships  and  collabora0ons  

Career  Services:  Establish  rela0onships  with  

counterpart  offices  to  enhance  programming  and  

support.  

Departmental  &  Ins;tu;onal  Research  

Offices:  Foster  collabora0ons  that  provide  opportuni0es  for  growth  and  skills  development.  

Faculty  and  Staff:  Invite  faculty  and  staff  to  

par0cipate  in  seminars,  workshops,  and  program  

development.  

Digital  •    Listserv  •    Website  •    NewsleZer  

Print  •    Flyers  •    Posters  •    Handouts  

Social  Media  •    TwiZer  •    LinkedIn  

Consistent  Mission  and  Message  

2.  Branding  

1.  Developing  Programs  

•  Postdoc  Office  Consor0um  in  the  Longwood  Medical  Area  

•  Service  in  the  Community  Local  

•    HMS/HSDM  Postdoc  Associa0on    •    Career  Discussion  Hour  speakers  •    LinkedIn  Postdoc  Networking  Group  

Alumni  

•    Na0onal  Postdoctoral  Associa0on  •    Associa0on  for  Women  is  Science  •    AAAS  and  Scien0fic  Socie0es  Na4onal  

4.  Outreach  

5.  Tools  for  Evalua;on  &  Feedback  

•    Faculty      Advisory  CommiVee  

•  Postdoc  Associa;on  

•  LinkedIn            Group          Sta;s;cs  

•  Exit  Survey  

•  Google        Analy;cs  of  website  traffic  

•  SurveyMonkey  evalua;ons  

•  Tracking                event  registra;on  

   

Developing  Programs   Branding  

Outreach  Community  Building  

Offer  0mely  and  prac0cal  programming  that  adds  value  to  the  postdoc  experience  while  evolving  with  the  ever-­‐changing  training  landscape.  

Our  strategy  has  been  to  build  programs  in  the  three  key  areas  outlined  above.  

Effec0ve  branding  and  public  rela0ons  requires  delivering  a  coherent  and  focused  message  without  flooding  the  target  audience.  

Forge  an  ins0tu0onal  network  that  enhances  and  highlights  the  ac0vi0es  of  the  Office  for  Postdoctoral  Fellows.  

Ensure  that  the  office  is  connected  to  the  greater  training  community.  

Rou0nely  assess  progress  while  responding  quickly  to  feedback  and  sugges0ons.    

Establish  a  strong  founda0on,  build  incrementally,  set  feasible  goals,  compliment  exis0ng  programming  and  focus  on  impact.