UW Seattle Campus Resources for Postdocs

The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs convened a brief but rich Winter 2016 Postdoc Orientation last week. For those unable to attend, we wanted to highlight a few of the resources featured during the event. We also are debuting the first UW Postdoc Handbook (v 1.0), available by February 1 on our website to download.

Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) While research advisors, schools, colleges, and programs retain primary responsibility for postdoctoral researchers within their disciplines, the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) is here as a resource for postdocs, postdoc advisors and managers. We are invested in a productive postdoc experience where postdocs can successfully transition to their next career move.

Need Career Guidance? UW Career Center
A list of online resources and in-person services offered by the Career Center for postdocs seeking careers in the academia, corporate, non-profit, and government sectors. Some consultation services are fee-based. All workshops are open to post-docs free of charge. Check out their Academic Career Series and Non-Academic Career Series.

Looking for Community?

FIUTS – FIUTS connects students – and postdocs – to local and global communities through programs that build international awareness, cross-cultural communication, and informed leadership. Based on campus at UW, FIUTS programs create a community of international and American students, members of the local community, and alumni around the world.

Q Center – UW Q Center is a primarily student run resource center dedicated to serving anyone with or without a gender or sexuality: students, postdocs, staff, faculty, alum, and community members. They put on regular programming events, and house a lending library. The Q Center also hosts a queer mentoring program – sign up to be a mentor or receive one. Their office is located at Husky Union Building (HUB) Room 315.

SACNAS – SACNAS UW Chapter supports the mission of fostering success of Chicano/Hispanic and Native American scientists – from college to professionals – to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in science. Postdocs are welcome at monthly meetings and events.

UWPA – The University of Washington Postdoctoral Association (UWPA) is an organization run by postdoctoral researchers for postdoctoral researchers. It is served by an executive committee, elected by peers, who have generously donated their time and efforts to improve the state of postdoctoral affairs at UW.

Working to Resolve Conflict?
Ombuds for consultation and mediation – The Office of the Ombud serves the entire university community by providing a collaborative and confidential environment to discuss your situation, consider options, and develop a plan for the future. Consultation and guidance regarding effective strategies to manage conflicts on your own are most common. Mediation is also available. To make an appointment, please call: 206-543-6028.

Questions about Benefits or Visas?
Benefits Office Anne Winkelman, Director

International Scholars Operations (ISO) For questions about visas, including relevant academic appointments, contact acadvisa@uw.edu.

Need Childcare Resources or Support as a Parent? Worklife and Childcare
Amy Hawkins, Director

There are other offices on campus who can help (the new Postdoc Handbook lists several). If you are in doubt about which services you need, please consult the Office of Postdoc Affairs (UWOPA@uw.edu) and we can point you in the right direction.

Originally posted on January 21, 2016.

Writing Help for ELL Students

Hello, I’m a grad student in school of engineering. I need to improve my writing (second language) for my assignments. I have seen some programs in OWRC, which one would you recommend me? The drop-in or the TLC? Or maybe other program? —Tori

(This week’s answer is courtesy of Peter Freeman, Interim Director of the Odegaard Writing and Research Center.)

I’d say both are definitely worth exploring. If you join TLC, you and your group will get to meet with a tutor facilitator every week for an entire quarter and work through anything you all have questions about. The drop-in sessions are similar, but allow you to meet with a tutor on a one-on-one basis. Of course, you’re certainly welcome to do both. We can definitely help with grammar. In this case, our tutors will ask questions to help identify specific concerns and offer suggestions and strategies to help address those concerns. We also have plenty of resources on our website to help with grammar and other writing conventions.

I hope this helps!

Ask the Grad School Guru is an advice column for all y’all graduate and professional students. Real questions from real students, answered by real people. If the guru doesn’t know the answer, the guru will seek out experts all across campus to address the issue. (Please note: The guru is not a medical doctor, therapist, lawyer or academic advisor, and all advice offered here is for informational purposes only.) Submit a question for the column →

ASUW Bike Shop

ASUW Bike Shop offers repairs, products and classes at great prices and offers a 10% discount to students. Better yet, you can work on your bike for free in their space and learn bike skills so you can take care of your bike yourself. Knowledge, the ultimate discount.

Media Center

Why pay for Netflix? The UW Libraries Media Center has thousands of DVDs for your viewing pleasure. Not just B&W French films, either. Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation is sitting on the shelf at Suzzallo right now!

Online Courses

The last thing you want to do is take more classes, but maybe there’s a gap in your knowledge or skill base you want to fill without paying more tuition. The UW offers free online courses, based on popular classes offered by UW degree and certificate programs.

Husky Card Discounts

UW students with a valid Husky Card are eligible for all sorts of discounts, from retail to tickets to services to travel. (Note: the site is specifically for faculty/staff, but all discounts should also apply to students as long as you have a Husky Card. Call merchant for confirmation.)

Write Well

I am coming back to the regular stream of school after 35 years. I would like to improve my writing skill to the level of my cohorts. —Anonymous

Congratulations! And welcome back to school. Students returning to school after a significant amount of time have unique challenges. The most relevant resource for you would be the Odegaard Writing and Research Center. In Odegaard Library, they offer one-to-one tutoring sessions on any piece of writing.

You can make an appointment or drop in. See their website for details and hours. In Allen Library, they also offer Drop-in Consultations for Graduate Students. Sessions are exclusively drop-in and are specifically targeted for graduate students working on long-term projects. See details and hours. They also offer a variety of other programs that might suit your needs. There are also writing centers across campuses and many departments host their own. Here’s a list of resources on the Seattle campus. Bothell has a Writing and Communication Center and Tacoma’s Teaching and Learning Center offers writing consultations. Good luck! Ask the Grad School Guru is an advice column for all y’all graduate and professional students.

Real questions from real students, answered by real people. If the guru doesn’t know the answer, the guru will seek out experts all across campus to address the issue. (Please note: The guru is not a medical doctor, therapist, lawyer or academic advisor, and all advice offered here is for informational purposes only.)

Submit a question for the column →

Counseling Center

The Counseling Center offers free services (through the Services and Activities Fee) and can help with adjustment issues, depression, anxiety, relationship concerns, and a variety of other challenges.

Being Supportive and Getting Support: Suicide Prevention for Grad Students

“It will never get any better,” or “I can’t take it anymore”–sometimes phrases like these appear as posts on social media or comments in passing. Other times it’s behaviors such as being increasingly anxious, withdrawing from others, increasing drug/alcohol use, or expressing thoughts about wanting to die or feeling like a burden.

Combined together, these are signs that your peer, colleague, or loved one is experiencing intense emotional distress and could be at-risk for suicide. These verbal and behavioral cues are often a person’s invitation for support, and it is our job as a community to recognize these cues and get help.

It is estimated that 11% of college students seriously consider suicide annually, rendering suicide the second leading cause of death among college students nationally. And graduate students are at greater risk than undergraduates.

The good news? The vast majority of suicides are preventable and most people recover from suicidal thoughts.

If you notice the signs that a person might be in emotional distress, follow these steps:

Show you care. Express your concern for the person’s well-being. Say something like, “You mean a lot to me, and I want to help,” or “You really matter. I’d like to support you.”

Ask directly about suicide. Say something like, “Sometimes when people have lost interest in their work, are feeling hopeless, and are withdrawing from others, they’re thinking about suicide. Are you thinking about suicide?” Asking about suicide will not put the idea in someone’s head. It is perhaps the most critical step in suicide prevention.

Get support. If it is a UW student you are concerned about, call SafeCampus at 206.685.7233 (SAFE). If you are concerned about a non-UW student, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1.800.273.8255 (TALK). This will route you to your local crisis center where the person in distress can receive a suicide risk assessment and will be connected to appropriate community resources. Encourage the person to call with you, but you can also call without him/her to seek expert advice on next steps. Please save both of these numbers in your cell phone! You never know when you might need them.

Restrict access to lethal means. Help to ensure that the person in distress does not have access to means that can be used in a suicide attempt, such as a firearm or large quantities of prescription medication.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, there is help available!

You can call SafeCampus or head over to the Counseling Center or Hall Health. Both have walk-in crisis counselors available during business hours from M-F, and you can also receive ongoing treatment there. Importantly, there is no shame in having these thoughts.

Now Matters Now is a fantastic public resource where people who have experienced suicidal thoughts share their clinically proven coping strategies.

For more information on how UW is working to prevent suicide, please visit:
Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention

This post’s guest author is Lauren Davis, Director of Higher Education and Senior Policy Analyst for Forefront: Innovations in Suicide Prevention (School of Social Work) and an MPA student at the Evans School of Public Affairs.

Student Parents

I’m a single parent. Are there any resources available to me? —Anonymous

First of all, congratulations! Kids are awesome. The Student Parent Resource Center provides resource and financial support, in the form of childcare assistance. You can also connect with other student parents. The center is located on the Seattle campus in Schmitz Hall. For Tacoma student parents, the UW Tacoma Childcare Assistance Program helps with childcare costs. (Unfortunately, Bothell currently doesn’t have any funds for childcare assistance.)