Postdoctoral Scholar Resources

Welcome!

This guide is intended to help new postdoctoral scholars in the Blue Cluster get oriented to your department and UC Davis as a whole. We're so glad to welcome you to campus, and happy you've chosen to join our community.

In many cases, postdocs are hired to work with a specific faculty mentor. In those cases, your faculty mentor is always a good person with whom to talk, and can help you identify the exact Blue Cluster staff person or external office to help with a given circumstance. If you are working more independently on specific research, your department Chair and the Blue Cluster Academic Personnel team are both great contacts!

About Blue Cluster and UC Davis

Your department is a part of Blue Cluster, an administrative unit which serves several departments and institutes in the social sciences within the College of Letters & Science. What this means in practice is that the core administrative staff with whom you work need not serve as generalists for the entire Davis faculty population, but can instead get to know you and ensure that when they work with you, it's work informed by their experience with the department and your direct colleagues.

Like many large universities, UC Davis is a bit of an organizational beast. The following is a quick reference guide to those units which are generally most relevant to your time on campus.

  • Blue Cluster! We're your primary contact for hiring paperwork and day-to-day research and administrative assistance, and are always glad to help you out.
  • Your Union Contract: Postdoctoral scholars at UC Davis are represented employees in the "PX" bargaining group, organized by the UAW. Your union contract governs many of the ways in which the University and its representatives may affect your position, and is worth reviewing.
  • Graduate Studies: The central campus resource for postdoctoral scholars. They provide administrative support, professional development opportunities, and host the new postdoc orientation.
    • Make sure to check out the Postdoc Meet & Greets which Grad Studies holds! They're a great opportunity to meet other postdocs and learn about campus resources first-hand.
  • Postdoctoral Scholars Association (PSA): An association run by and for postdocs that provides community, networking, and advocacy.
  • UC Path: The online portal for all University of California employees. Use it to manage your pay, sign up for direct deposit, and access your benefits information.
  • The Benefits Office: Your resource for questions about the Postdoctoral Scholars Benefit Plan (PSBP), including health, dental, vision, and life insurance.
  • Services for International Students and Scholars (SISS): If you are an international scholar, SISS is your primary resource for all visa and immigration matters. In most cases, SISS assigns you an Advisor who can be relied upon as a point of contact; if you fall out of touch with them for any reason, though, Blue Cluster staff can help you get connected.

Onboarding Checklist: Your First Steps

Completing these key tasks will ensure a smooth start to your appointment at UC Davis.

  1. Attend Postdoc Orientation: Graduate Studies hosts a New Postdoctoral Scholar Orientation. This is a critical first step to connect with campus resources and other new postdocs.
  2. Set Up Your Accounts: Get your UC Davis Computing Account and enroll in Duo Multi-Factor Authentication, which is mandatory for accessing campus systems.
  3. Complete UCPath Tasks: Log in to UCPath to sign the University patent agreement, set up direct deposit, and complete your W-4 tax forms. Until you enroll in direct deposit, your paychecks will be mailed to your home address.
  4. Enroll in Benefits: You have a 31-day period from your hire date to enroll in the Postdoctoral Scholars Benefit Plan (PSBP). This plan includes medical, dental, vision, life, and disability insurance. Enrollment is managed by Garnett-Powers & Associates, not UCPath.
  5. Get Your Employee ID Card: To get your AggieCard (employee ID), send an email to employeeID@ucdavis.edu with a professional photo on a white background, your 8-digit UC Path ID number, your full legal name, and your department information.
  6. Complete Required Training: Log in to the Learning Management System (LMS) to complete mandatory university trainings, such as Cyber Security Awareness and Sexual Harassment Prevention.

Computing Equipment & Purchasing

You're able to choose whether to use your personal devices on campus or purchase computing equipment using your research funds. In either case, Letters & Science IT can help you get equipment set up and online, and may be reached at lshelp@ucdavis.edu – and in the latter case, you can start off the purchasing process by sending an email to blueclusterbuy@ucdavis.edu.

Do note that (although this may differ depending on your funding agency), it's typical that any equipment purchased with your research funds will have to be returned after your appointment ends.

Housing & Transportation

Housing

The housing market in Davis is a bit tight; it's possible to give up the convenience of biking to your workplace but save money (or get more space for the same money) in surrounding communities like Woodland, Dixon, and West Sacramento. For a more metropolitan experience, downtown Sacramento also offers several transit links to Davis. The Housing page on the UC Davis Front Door website offers a very excellent guide to finding housing options. Be wary of unscrupulous landlords; if possible, it's helpful to see a property in person and/or read reviews online before signing a lease.

Transportation

Davis is well-connected to surrounding communities through a variety of public transportation options. Intercity bus services are available from YoloBus and SacRT, while within Davis one can rely on the unusually-good Unitrans bus network. A dedicated route, the Causeway Connection, offers a direct link between the main UC Davis campus and the UC Davis Health campus in Sacramento. For train travel, both Amtrak and SacRT provide rail services (including links to Bay Area Rapid Transit, or BART). These transit networks also offer ground transportation options to the two major nearby international airports, Sacramento International (SMF)1 and San Francisco International (SFO)2.

A Note on Bicycles

As you may know, Davis is very "bikey"! The city features a robust network of bike paths, many of which are completely separate from main roads. This is a very neighborhood-dependent statement, but it is possible to bike from an apartment in West or South Davis to the UC Davis campus without sharing a road with a car. A full map, produced by the city, can be found here. 

Davis has quite a few places to get bikes, from those which sell fancy new bikes (like Ken's) to the Bike Auction run by campus's Transportation Services department (at which one can bid on bikes abandoned on campus). Two notable options:

  • The Bike Garage sells used bikes and offers free bicycle repair, but also holds classes so that you can learn to maintain your bike and be a happier rider.
  • The Bike Barn is located in the middle of campus, and is run by the student government on campus (ASUCD). They offer new and used bikes, bike rentals, and repairs – and have a little tool stand outside their building where you can quickly fill up your tires or tighten your handlebars. 

Care & Wellness

Aside from your healthcare benefits, our campus provides several free and confidential services to support you during your appointment.

Professional Development

UC Davis offers a wealth of opportunities to help you advance your career and develop new skills.

Your Annual Review

In keeping with Article 21 of your union contract, every year you and your faculty mentor complete a progress assessment. The purpose of this process is simply to ensure you're receiving a comprehensive assessment of your research progress and achievements. Your faculty mentor's expectations for your work should not be an annual surprise, however, and it is very appropriate to discuss them on a continuing basis. It is also your contractual right to request earlier written notice of goals and expectations for your position, independent of the formal review.

It's worth noting that if you disagree with the evaluation you receive you have the right to both respond within the form, formally grieve factual inaccuracies, and prepare an addendum which can be included in your personnel file. The Annual Review's format is determined by Graduate Studies, and currently looks like this. 

  • 1

    With routes available from YoloBus and SacRT, although admittedly rideshare apps offer the most direct route.

  • 2

    Most typically-accessed via Amtrak between Davis and Richmond, and then BART between Richmond and SFO. A shockingly pleasant trip by North American public-transit standards, particularly as Bay Area road traffic can be atrocious.