Starting at The University of Auckland
Induction Hub
The University has a new Research Induction SubHub platform on Research Hub! It has a wealth of great information so please do check it out when you get the chance.
This subhub aims to be:
- A concise, up-to-date and findable induction information for new researchers at UoA targeting those who are new to research at the UoA and/or in NZ.
- A minimal set of pages to help researchers identify the terms they NEED to know to get started as a researcher at UoA.
- A supplement to Faculty-specific onboarding; the site introduces and links to common content needed by all researchers across the university that is not covered in general staff/student onboarding, leaving faculties able to focus on their specific research needs
Each School/Department has their own information about who to approach for help with things like academic information, HR, finances (e.g., travel, employee reimbursement), and services (e.g., room booking, access cards and keys). There should be links to your specific school/departmental information available on the induction subhub.
New staff checklist
The Faculty Early Career Mentoring Programme complied the following checklist of things to do and learn about. This list is intended as a guide, rather than a checklist of things all new staff must do. Some items may not be applicable to your role.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/2u7y8a7312k08m5/Checklist%20for%20new%20staff.pdf?dl=0
How to do stuff guide
The Schools of Chemical Sciences, Environment, and Psychology have released this “How to do stuff” guide for staff. This includes info on various things from getting set up with access keys and office space, to processes and resources you may need throughout your time at UoA, such as academic processes, finance, services, and health and safety.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/0hwwq2xnhxwywuk/how-to-do-stuff-guide-v9-16Mar2021.pdf?dl=0
FoS Research Fellow Society Grants
Starting in 2021, the Society has been receiving annual funding to award grants for seed-funding ($5000 per applicant), publication ($1000 per applicant), professional development ($500 per applicant), and travel ($500/$1000 per applicant).
Please see Funding for more details.
Equity at UoA
Please see this link for a myriad of equity-related information pages from the university.
Supporting staff with children
These policies and guidelines explain how the University works to support you as a staff member as you meet the challenges of combining parenting and a career. The linked page includes information regarding Work-life balance and recognition, Parental leave, Childcare, Breastfeeding and working, and the Expecting and new parents network
Useful links
Information and resources for staff members with parenting responsibilities
CPChttps://cdn.auckland.ac.nz/assets/auckland/about-us/equity-at-the-university/CPC%20Toolkit%20June%202019.pdf(CombiningParenting and Career) Toolkit. Information on pregnancy and work, preparing for parental leave, keeping in touch and HR matters while on parental leave, and returning to work.
Useful information
Working while pregnant
There are multiple parent spaces around the university, where you can take a break during your workday.
Return to Work grant
The Faculty of Science has a ‘return to work’ grant, offering up to $10,000 over two years to academic staff returning to work after an extended period of parental leave. Applicants must have been on leave for at least 6 months and return to work at least 0.3FTE. See here for more information.
Conference travel with children
The UoA Travel policy prevents staff from using Research Grants or Operating Accounts to pay for family/partner to accompany staff on conference travel to care for the baby (even if breastfeeding) or pay for childcare at the conference. It is possible to pay for partner/family member’s flight through Orbit using your own credit card, but they charge a fee for each traveler.
Permission can be granted to not book with Orbit in ‘exceptional circumstances’. This may be a good option to allow for booking an extra ticket for partner, without paying the extra fees.
Describing your achievements and documenting your leave
Some tips from the Achievement Relative to Opportunity guidelines
- For promotion applications mention how parental leave, caring for kids etc. has affected research productivity.
- Focus on quality of outputs, rather than quantity.
- Explain how much time you were away and calculate your average productivity minus that period (e.g. if you have been a researcher for 4yrs and then took 12 months off, divide your total outputs by 4yrs, not 5.)