The Office of Postdoctoral Affairs (OPA) oversees the process of postdoctoral fellow appointments. 

Postdoctoral appointments are made by completing the recommendation for postdoctoral fellow appointment form.  This is in fillable PDF form and available here for download. Guidelines to assist faculty members complete the form are available under faculty resources.

Postdoctoral fellows paid through the University payroll system and visiting postdoctoral fellows hold research staff appointments with a set end date that are approved by the school dean or center director under oversight of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Postdoctoral fellow appointments are for a fixed term up to three years.  The two contingencies are availability of funds and satisfactory performance.

Part-time postdoctoral fellows and visiting postdoctoral fellows may be appointed for a term not to exceed 1 year by following guidelines for these specific categories. The term of employment can impact benefits eligibility and departments should contact the Benefits Division with questions on this matter.

An effort in good faith to employ persons in EEO classes underrepresented in the research activity is expected on the part of the unit seeking the appointment.

Non-citizens

If the appointee is not a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, a copy of the approved appointment form must be sent to the International Office http://www.northwestern.edu/international/ by the initiating department or center. The International Office can provide assistance in obtaining the visa that is necessary for employing a foreign national or to extend an offer to visit.

Procedure for initial appointment or renewal

The Postdoctoral Fellow Appointment Form has some key differences both in content and procedure to the previous recommendation for appointment form used by the Office for Research. The key difference is this: that the final approval of a postdoctoral appointment will be made within the Dean's office.  The Dean's office in this system is entrusted to ensure accuracy of data entered and approve an appointment.  Papers will not be routed through the OPA although copies of certain documents will be required to be submitted in PDF to the OPA.  Details are included in the form instructions.

The following procedures are used for initial appointments and renewals for covered individuals, except that a curriculum vita (CV) is not required for reappointment in a position at the same level. As appointments expire, faculty sponsors initiate recommendations for renewals on a case-by-case basis.

Appointment form process overview (Please follow the form instructions closely)
 
1. The form is a recommendation for postdoctoral fellow appointment by the PI after careful review of references and to be completed by the PI or designated department administrator by following instructions (attached) on how to fill the form that are based on University guidelines.
 
2. The form requires an additional data field to be completed: Degree award date. An individual may not be appointed as a postdoctoral fellow until verification that all degree requirements have been met is obtained.
 
3. The form requires 3 signatures, the PI's, Department Chair/Center Director's and the Dean's.  While 1 signature can be an administrator, the other signature needs to be a designated faculty member before submission to the dean’s office.
 
4. Depending on individual school or center procedures, the dean, the center director or the department, initiates an Appointment and Position Data form to be sent to the Payroll Office at the Department of Human Resources (HR). HR forms may be found at the HR web site.  In ALL instances, the approved postdoctoral appointment form must accompany the HR forms submitted to Payroll.  HR forms not accompanied by an approved Postdoctoral Appointment form will not be processed by Payroll until the form is submitted.
 
5. Each Dean's office will nominate a signatory to be entrusted with this submission job which will become part of the official list of signatures that payroll will use to determine appointment approval by the school.  This will be the ONLY signature accepted by Payroll on this form. The new postdoctoral appointment form replaces the research staff recommendation form for postdocs, but the rest of the payroll process remains the same.
 
6. It is the responsibility of the Dean's office that their signatory have HRIS access and be able to reconcile data in HRIS against forms submitted through their office to Payroll.
 
7. A copy of the completed application form must be sent to the OPA in PDF, simultaneous to submission of paperwork to the Payroll Office.  All forms must be submitted together to payroll.  If papers are not accompanied by an approved Postdoctoral Appointment Form they will not be processed by Payroll until the form is submitted.
 
8. The candidate may be notified of the appointment once the Dean's office has approved the form.  In the case of international fellows, notification of appointment can be made after processing through the International Office.