Vice President for Postdoctoral Associates
Althea Pestine-Stevens
Postdoctoral Associate, School of Social Work
I am running for the position of Vice President for Postdoctoral Associates and Fellows to be a voice for postdocs among the community of Rutgers unions. As a postdoctoral associate in the School of Social Work, my research on community collaborations for aging in place has solidified my perspective that working together across diverse levels of experience and expertise benefits all. I have been an Executive Committee member for the New Brunswick chapter since last fall, and a member of the postdoc bargaining committee since arriving in September 2019. I am thrilled that this position has been created; as short-term employees spread throughout the University, I want to empower postdocs to connect with the greater Rutgers community and advocate for the well-being of all employees. Representation is a first step towards achieving these goals. I will work to build solidarity across all job classifications and address the concerns of all Rutgers workers and community members. It is particularly important to organize and build power together as we all prepare for the upcoming bargaining year. Though we may be here for only a few years, as early careers scholars, postdocs bring fresh energy that can be harnessed towards the collective good.
Executive Council Representative for Postdoctoral Associates (one open seat)
Andrés Morera
Postdoctoral Associate. Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
I am a Postdoc in the department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry here at Rutgers. I have been an active member of the Rutgers AAUP-AFT Postdoc Union for a little over a year now. Throughout my time here, I have become well aware of the ways in which the university management has been shortchanging us postdocs and working actively against our interests. I have also learned of the many issues unique to postdocs, as well as those shared with other Rutgers workers.
I wish to run for Executive Council Representative because I want to get more involved and bring the postdoc voice to the table, since we typically don’t have much representation on leadership bodies. If I become a Representative, I will commit to representing the interests of all postdocs at Rutgers and make sure your concerns are heard.