By Leah Colvin
To better identify, provide services for, and track outcomes of the postdoctoral population on campus, a new job code, Postdoctoral Associate (1312) has been created. This change will also allow for a more defined job description and career path for non-postdoctoral research personnel.
Current Job Codes
Employee postdoctoral scholars at CU Boulder are presently hired under one of two job codes: (1) Postdoctoral Fellow (1438) paid through external funds (i.e. NIH or NSF individual postdoctoral fellowships, etc.); and (2) Research Associate (1306) paid through internal funds (i.e. their PI’s grant, an internal fellowship, departmental funds, etc.). A substantial portion of Research Associates are not postdocs, but rather are in a research-based career path – many of whom have been with CU for a number of years and are not in a temporary training position. Linked at the bottom of this article are revised job descriptions for Postdoctoral Associates, Postdoctoral Fellows and Research Associates.
If you are unsure of your current job code, contact Employee Services by phone (303-860-4200) or email (employeeservices@cu.edu).
Reclassification of Postdoctoral Associates
Over the course of the fall semester, postdocs currently falling under the Research Associate job code will be reclassified as Postdoctoral Associates. If you are affected by this job code change, your salary and benefits will remain intact; this change will only impact the job title and code of affected individuals. This change will not affect the visa status of any international Postdoctoral or Research Associate.
Note: The reclassification to Postdoctoral Associate job code only applies to those postdoctoral scholars currently classified as Research Associates. If you are currently classified as a Research Associate, you may be contacted by your unit in the upcoming weeks to determine whether you should be reclassified as a Postdoctoral Associate. No change will occur for those postdoctoral scholars currently classified as Postdoctoral Fellows or Visiting Scholars.
If you are affected by this change, you will be asked to sign and approve an addendum to your offer letter by your department.
A Q&A session about this change is scheduled for faculty & staff from 2-3PM and for postdocs from 3-4PM on Monday, August 28th in SEEC C120. In the meantime, please contact Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (opa@colorado.edu) or the Research Faculty HR team (resfachr@colorado.edu) with any questions. Visa-related questions can be directed to International Student and Scholar Services (isss@colorado.edu or 303-492-8057).
See also: Research Faculty Job Descriptions, Postdoctoral Hiring Decision Tree