The University of Vermont Postdoctoral Association (PDA) was established in 2016 to act as a centralized organization to meet the needs of postdoctoral scholars at UVM.
Association Goals
- Be a postdoc advocate with the administration of UVM and promote adoption of competitive salary and benefits in line with national guidelines.
- Build a strong and well-defined postdoc community through professional and social networking.
- Provide diverse professional/career dvelopment opportunities for postdocs.
- Foster interaction between UVM PDA and local professional and academic institutes, societies, and organizations.
Membership
All the postdoctoral associates and fellows of UVM are de facto members of the UVM Postdoctoral Association upon joining UVM. The activities of the PDA are overseen by the Executive Committee, elected annually by PDA members.
By the PDA's membership to the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA), all PDA members are also members of the NPA and can access all resources of the NPA at no cost.
History
Prior to 2016, the University lacked a centralized organization to meet the needs of all postdoctoral scholars across campus. Fortunately, leaders in the UVM administration - including Vice President for Research Dr. Richard Galbraith, Dean of the Graduate College Cindy Forehand, and Director of Graduate Education and Postdoctoral Training Dr. Chris Berger - recognized this issue and put the wheels in motion to improve the experience of postdocs at UVM. In the fall of 2016, UVM became a sustaining member of the National Postdoctoral Association. Shortly afterwards, a dedicated group of postdocs formed an interim steering committee to establish an official postdoctoral association at UVM.
With guidance from the UVM administration and the fantastic efforts of the Faculty Affairs Development Coordinator, Erin Montgomery, the steering committee was able to make great strides in the first year towards their goal of better understanding and addressing the concerns and needs of the postdoc community. A campus-wide survey revealed which aspects of their training UVM postdocs were satisfied with and which ones could be improved. In their first year, the steering committee was also able to host several social events to foster community and organized its first career development symposium.
The efforts of the steering committee were rewarded at the beginning of 2018, when the Provost officially recognized the UVM Postdoctoral Association. On May 29th 2018, the first annual meeting was held and officers were elected to represent the UVM PDA (Co-chairs, Heidi Malaby and Nicholas Farina; Secretary, Jamie Kostyun; Public Relations, Esmat Jalalvandi; Webmaster, Kirsten Tracy).
The elected officers vowed to work hard, advocating for the needs of postdocs and fostering a strong sense of community. The UVM PDA aims to provide professional development for its members, broaden their training experience, and foster a supportive community for all postdocs at UVM.
Bylaws
Please click this link to download our bylaws.