Rice is jump-starting a new endowed postdoctoral fellow program (think Harvard Society of Fellows/Berkeley Miller Institute). The first set of fellows is going to be "health-related research" themed, with subsequent cohorts of fellows having different themes. Here is an announcement with additional information, if you or someone you know is interested:
The Rice University Academy of Fellows is accepting applications for its first cohort of scholars through January 11, 2016. Scholars who want to pursue health-related research can find details and apply at http://www.riceacademy.rice.edu. Applicants must have earned their doctoral degree between September 1, 2012 and August 31, 2016, and postdoctoral fellows are expected to begin September 1, 2016. All Rice professors are eligible to host Rice Academy Postdoctoral Fellows.
Joining the Rice University Academy of Fellows is a fantastic opportunity for young scholars. The postdoctoral fellows will join a dynamic intellectual community led by the Rice Academy Faculty Fellows. The standard stipend is $60,000 (the advisor, host department, or some other entity must contribute towards the stipend $20,000 and the corresponding fringe). Rice Academy Postdoctoral Fellows take a concurrent adjunct non-tenure track faculty appointment.
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Anon., it's always tough to tell how much of this is the usual "Kids today! They're so entitled/naive/spoiled/inattentive! Why, back in my day...." and how much is a real effect. I've said before, it's a mistake to think of conventional undergraduate students as paying customers. While there is an element of that (especially at "premium" universities as costs continue to rise), in some sense the incoming undergraduate is also the feedstock/raw material, and the outgoing student is in a way the product. Similarly, while a first-year undergrad is perfectly capable of evaluating some aspects of pedagogy, it's safe to say that s/he is not as technically competent to evaluate other components (e.g., curricular choices, structure of the course, difficulty levels of exams and assignments, pedagogical goals, etc.) as someone with say a decade of teaching experience. A "customer is always right" mentality with student = customer is not the way to go, in my opinion.
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