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RS03: Postdoctoral Fellowships

Draft RS03: Postdoctoral Fellowships will replace VIU policy 31.16 Postdoctoral Fellowships and its associated procedure.

The purpose of this policy is to define VIUs commitment and responsibilities towards Postdoctoral Fellows.

Consultation on the draft policy is now closed. The consultation took place from December 16, 2024 until 4 pm on January 24, 2025. The policy may be updated based on the feedback received. The Policy Office may also make minor changes to formatting/wording for consistency. Consultation feedback and policy changes will be outlined in the consultation report. The consultation report will be provided to the Board of Governors and posted on this policy page.

We anticipate this draft policy will be provided to the March 31, 2025 Board of Governors meeting for approval. Check back on the RS03: Postdoctoral Fellowships policy page for updates as this policy moves through the Board of Governors policy approval process.

Thank you to everyone who provided feedback. 

 

The Tri-Agencies encourage institutions to set policies and procedures for post-doctoral fellowships (PDFs), and they set rules for how Tri-Agency PDFs’ funding is distributed (these rules do not apply to other types of PDFs). A board level policy meets the institution’s obligations to the Tri-Agencies for the PDFs that they fund and manages risk.

VIU’s existing policies were adapted to the new template, with new sections added where required. The procedures were de-coupled from the policy. This is to allow the procedures to be more aligned with other HR policies, which will be held at a departmental level. It will also allow VIU to be more responsive to changing Tri-Agency and HR requirements.

Table of Concordance: Policy 

Section – New Policy

Notes

Purpose

New

Scope and Application
  • Portion taken from “Purpose” section of the original policy
  • New content

Policy
  • Content from the “Statement” and “Purpose” sections of the original policy
  • Additional content from “Purpose” section of original procedure

Considerations

New

Interpretation

New, aligns with the role of the Provost

Roles and Responsibilities

New

Related Documents

New, from original procedures

Revision History

New

Appendix A: Definitions
  • Content from the original policy, with updates from subject matter experts (SMEs)
  • PDF definitions taken from original procedure, with updates from SMEs
  • “Letter of Offer” removed as it is no longer referenced in the policy

Removed

  • The line regarding the temporary nature of PDFs was removed as this is specified in the “Definitions”