Last year, Graduate Division Assistant Dean Dr. Chequeta Allen submitted and was selected for a UCSF Community Well-Being Grant. Her proposal, “Postdoc Financial Literacy: My Wellness. My Community. My Identity,” featured a series of financial literacy sessions and connections to resources. The Office for Postdoctoral Scholars is a part of the Graduate Division. Postdocs undergo advanced research training and academic preparation after they have completed a PhD, MD, or other doctoral degree. We talked with Dr. Allen about her impactful grant.
Tell us about your role at UCSF.
My role as assistant dean has a broad scope. We have more than 1,122 postdocs at UCSF. I’m looking at their overall experience, especially in research training and benefits. I am an advocate. I solve problems, counsel, coach, connect them to resources, and facilitate between postdocs and faculty. I interpret policy, modify it with the dean, and implement it. I focus on development and programming to build community and bring Postdocs together.
Tell us more about the programming you manage.
I partner with different areas of the institution to make sure that postdocs have access to key resources and postdocs’ voices are heard. I sit on the housing committee. I work closely with the ISSO office because many of our Postdocs are international scholars. We partner with the Career and Professional Development office, Office of Sponsored Research, Campus Life Services, Human Resources, Labor and Employee Relations, Disability Management, Ombuds and more.
Tell us about your wellness grant for postdocs.
Postdoc training is stressful. Financial stress is a source of stress, and there is a link between financial wellness and mental health. There is so much emphasis on Postdoc research, productivity and hitting milestones toward manuscript publication. However, they often do not have access to the knowledge or tools to mitigate financial stress or set themselves up for financial success.
From the wellness grant, we created six different modules. The first two were live in-person with nutritional food. We had a lot of fun with it. The last four were delivered by Zoom. We brought in experts in psychology, personal finance, and debt management who created a great interactive series, and we put a wellness “relationship with money” spin on it.
Postdocs are usually just getting started in their careers. We wanted to help them develop strong consumer behavior and build financial skills for managing themselves and their families because this is an important window in their lives.
Postdocs are on limited incomes. They’re living in the Bay Area, where housing is 202% more expensive than in the U.S. and utilities are 33% higher. One session covered creating and living within your budget. One session touched on the pros and cons of student loans and credit card debt, thinking through some big financial decisions to avoid mistakes and promote healthy behaviors. Do they have future plans, such as purchasing a home? All these actions impact credit scores. Surprisingly, they had a lot of questions about retirement — how their benefits work and how their money is being protected.
We want them to think about stability for lifelong economic success.
