The study included informal surveys of current institutional and departmental policies and practices. Most universities lack the kind of central administrative oversight of postdoctoral appointments that they maintain for undergraduate and graduate students. Moreover, most institutions appear to have few policies designed for postdocs specifically. . . . The lack of clear central oversight of postdoctoral education raises serious questions about how successfully institutions are meeting their obligations to postdocs as trainees and professional colleagues. It is common for institutions either to have no time limits on the length of postdoctoral appointments or regularly to ignore or waive established limits.
Few institutions report having campuswide compensation policies for postdoctoral appointees.
In response to these findings, the report first recommends universal adoption of a standard definition of postdoctoral appointments. The development of explicit guidelines for recruitment and appointment of postdocs and for the duration of their appointments. Periodic evaluation of the balance of interests among postdoctoral appointees, their faculty mentors, their home departments, and the institution as a whole, in order to assure that the legitimate educational needs and career interests of postdocs are being fully met. Career advisement and job placement assistance. Formal letters of appointment and formal letters or certificates of completion, to assist postdoctoral appointees in securing subsequent employment.