If a faculty sponsor chooses to terminate an appointment early, s/he would be required to follow University policy guidelines (APM 390-50), which requires that a notice of warning be provided to the scholar before any termination action can be taken. If the scholar's performance does not improve, the sponsor would provide a 30-day written notice, which then provides a two-week period for the scholar to respond and, if applicable, file a grievance (APM 390-40) with the administration about a wrongful termination. At this point, Associate Dean John Richardson, who serves as the initial grievance liaison for postdoctoral scholars, would intervene and meet with both parties to ensure that the termination was just.

If you feel that there is a problem in your lab, I would suggest meeting with Dr. Richardson to see if he can assist in resolving the issue(s) and prevent them from happening in the future. Please do not hesitate to contact me at 50636 for further advice and to set up a meeting with Dr. Richardson.

Kyle Cunningham
Graduate Division