FINAL CALL!! MIT Postdoc Association General Elections 2016-17

Tue Sep 6 12:39:34 EDT 2016

Dear Postdocs,

The call for applications will end tomorrow, Sept 8. If you have not sent in your nominations please consider signing up to run for office.

To apply for a position, click here<https://form.jotform.com/62177028423958>

There are still many positions that need to be filled!

If you are new to MIT or never been involved in the MIT PDA, this is your chance.

Wasifa Jamal
President, MIT Postdoctoral Association

From: Wasifa Jamal <wjamal at mit.edu<mailto:wjamal at mit.edu>>
Date: Tuesday, August 9, 2016 at 7:29 AM
To: mit-postdocs <mit-postdocs at mit.edu<mailto:mit-postdocs at mit.edu>>
Subject: Applications NOW OPEN!! MIT Postdoc Association General Elections 2016-17

Dear Postdocs,

I would like to invite you all to the MIT Postdoctoral Association (PDA) General Elections 2016-2017. General elections will be held on Friday September 16, 2016 from 12-2 pm in E25-401. Lunch will be served.

The MIT PDA (http://pda.mit.edu<http://pda.mit.edu/>) is a postdoc-led organization with the goal of providing support for over 1500 postdoctoral scholars appointed in 50 departments at MIT.

Nominations are now open for:

PDA Board of Directors

·       President

The President of the PDA is responsible for representing the Postdocs of MIT at both an institution and national level. He/She is in charge of chairing PDA meetings and general supervision of PDA affairs including managing the Committees.  He/She must ensure that the association is working to fulfill the mission of providing support to the postdocs at MIT.

·       Vice President

The Vice President assists and works closely with the President of the PDA. The VP is in charge of chairing meetings and assuming other responsibilities of the President when the president is absent (which is not uncommon given the short appointments and busy schedules of Postdocs). The VP can also assist with the management of Committees, interactions with Institute representatives, and the carrying out of PDA aims.

·       Corresponding Secretary

The corresponding secretary is in charge of the PDA’s correspondence, which involves answering and forwarding all emails and keeping the postdoc community informed about events through the weekly newsletter.

·       Recording Secretary

The recording secretory is a member of the PDA board of directors who actively participate in PDA decision making. Primary responsibilities of the recording secretary include keeping the detailed minutes of PDA meetings and maintaining all the PDA records in a timely and orderly fashion.

·       Treasurer

The treasurer's primary duty is to maintain accurate accounting of the PDA's various committees and funds in order to help establish a budget for each committee and to keep the PDA financially viable.

PDA Committee Chairs

·       Advocacy Committee

The advocacy committee advocates for the rights and benefits of all postdocs at MIT. The chair should be available and contactable to listen and respond to postdocs on advocacy issues that are important to them. They should communicate with the key MIT administration nodes of MIT including, the office of the vice president for research (VPR), central HR, departmental HR, MIT work-life center, International scholars office (ISCHo), Benefits office, Payroll office, and relevant Faculty. Where possible PDA advocacy efforts also seek to integrate with the wider strategies of the Boston PDA (BPDA).

·       Alumni Committee

The alumni committee contributes to the effort to streamline MIT Alumni Association's Infinite Connection (IC) sign up, and then to promote it widely. Its purpose is to build the whole area of postdoc alumni, create communications and events in these areas, and maximize the IC resource for postdocs.

·       Community Building and Outreach Committee

The objective of the community building community is to ensure active participation and involvement of all the postdocs with rest of the MIT community and beyond. We organize several events throughout the calendar year to facilitate an environment where postdocs can come out of their regular work schedules and get to know their fellow postdocs.

·       Human Affairs Committee

The Human Affairs Chair promotes inclusion, respect, and fair treatment of all postdocs within the MIT community. This is achieved by organizing community-building events, such as the monthly coffee hour, and representing the postdoctoral community as a member of the MIT Committee on Race and Diversity.  The HA Chair participates in and promotes health and wellness programs, advertises these resources to postdocs, and works with the administration to improve current programs.

·       Information Flow & IT Support Committee

The IT committee sets up efficient communication and publicity systems (i.e. Email Listserv, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook groups, etc.), maintains and up-to-date internet site of resources and information, and establish consistency and continuity in the mission, organization, and conduct of the PDA.

·       Orientation Committee

The orientation committee chair has two main responsibilities, which are maintaining an up-to-date version of the slides for the postdoc orientation and organizing volunteer presenters from active members of the PDA. Additional duties include collecting survey results to better understand the concerns of incoming postdocs and providing feedback to the PDA and HR about any such concerns.

·       Postdoc Initiative Grant Committee

The Postdoc Initiatives Grant (PInG) Committee oversees the solicitation and selection of awards to seed the funding of new initiatives to benefit the postdoc community. The PInG Committee Chair is also responsible for being the point person for all ongoing and new PInG initiatives.  Previous initiatives include: Postdoc Organization for Women Engaged in Research (POWER), Postdoc Yoga, Glimpse: the postdoc podcast, Postdoc Zumba, and Postdoc Running Group.

·       Professional Development Committee

The role of the chair for professional development is to help all postdocs in shaping their careers by organizing career-building workshops, research symposiums, industry ventures, etc. The second main task is to award travel grants to postdoctoral trainees to support travel to conferences.

·       Sports Committee

The Sports Committee of the PDA is building a vibrant, welcoming community for MIT postdocs through sports and social events. We organize pick-up games (volleyball, soccer, basketball…) open to anyone, regardless of their skill level, followed by socials that usually involve free food. Over last year, the Sports Committee organized weekly Sports & Pizza Thursdays that consisted of afternoon outdoor volleyball and soccer games followed by PDA sponsored pizza at Muddy’s. The events were very popular, consistently attracting between 20 and 50+ postdocs every week. These events bring together postdocs from across MIT and lead to community and new friendships that would not have been otherwise established. As a Sports Committee chair, we hope you will continue the tradition of Sports Thursdays and come up with new events that will keep us all active and happy.

·       Fundraising Committee

To apply for a position, click here<https://form.jotform.com/62177028423958>

(please click here<http://pda.mit.edu/about/bylaws/> to see the responsibilities for each position )

NOTE: Candidates are required to be present on the 16th of September during the elections and pitch to the postdoc electorate. MIT postdocs must also be present to vote at the elections.

Important dates :

August 8, 2016 - Applications open

September 8, 2016 – Applications close

September 9, 2016 – September 14, 2016 – Verify candidature, meet candidates, and release the slate with proposed candidature list

September 16, 2016 – General Elections in E25-401 at 12-2 pm. Open to all MIT Postdocs.

All positions are open and postdocs currently serving are also encouraged to run again for the same position.This is a great chance to take on a leadership role, interact with other postdocs and the MIT administration and help shape the postdoctoral experience at MIT!

Best Regards,

—
Wasifa Jamal
President, MIT Postdoctoral Association

Postdoctoral Associate
Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
43 Vassar Street, Building 46-4089

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.mit.edu/pipermail/mit-postdocs/attachments/20160906/b9524b92/attachment-0001.html