Dear Postdoctoral Applicant,
On behalf of our training site, I would like to offer my appreciation for your interest in our postdoctoral program. We know there are many places to which you can apply for your last portion of training and are pleased that you are considering our site for this experience.
As an APPIC member program, we follow the new Uniform Notification Date (UND) with option for reciprocal offers for all non-neuropsychology postdoctoral programs. This system provides a means for all non-neuropsychology APPIC Programs to make offers on the same date, March 14, 2012. PLEASE NOTE THAT NEUROPSYCHOLOGY POSTDOCTORAL PROGRAMS DO NOT FOLLOW THIS PROCESS. The option for reciprocal offers permits programs, like ours, to match any other bone fide early offer made to you by a non-APPIC program not participating in this system. The specific details are defined immediately below for your review. This system has several benefits for our applicants.
First, applicants receive all offers by APPIC postdoctoral programs (and others who choose to participate) at the same time, allowing you to know all of your options and increasing your chance of training at your highest ranked program. You, as an applicant, would not have to prematurely decide on the first offer "in hand" prior to hearing from other choices. For both our benefit, we are given permission to match offers you may receive from non-participating programs, helping us not to lose out on competitive applicants and not pressuring you to take an early offer that may not be your number one choice.
The process we will follow is outlined below for your review.
All APPIC non-neuropsychology postdoctoral programs (those that do not offer the specialty of clinical neuropsychology) will make offers to applicants only on the APPIC selected date for offers. Programs may make an exception if an applicant is made another earlier bone fide offer, which must follow the guidelines below. On March 14, 2012, at Noon EST, the program will call their top candidate. Once an offer is made to you, you may proceed with one of the following actions: accept the offer, decline the offer, or hold the offer for four hours. If the position is held, it is considered to be frozen and cannot be offered to any other candidate during that time period. (At the four hour mark, you must either accept or decline, otherwise the offer is no longer valid.). Candidates may not hold more than one offer at a time. Once you accept an offer you should call the remaining programs that are lower on your preference list and inform them that you no longer wish to be considered at those facilities. Postdoctoral Training Directors (or their designee) will contact all applicants by phone or e-mail on the day of the UND to inform you of the status of the position. After you and a site come to an agreement, a formal offer letter will be mailed you and you will then formally accept the offer in writing.
If you have been made an offer from a non-APPIC site (whether clinical or research postdoc or job offer) requiring a decision prior to the UND date, you may contact one additional program and request a reciprocal offer. . You would indicate the name of the program making the competing offer and how long you have been allowed to hold their offer.
If it is our site that you contact, we will call your Internship Training Director and verify the competing offer or ask you for a written copy of the competing offer before potentially making you a reciprocal offer
When we (or any other APPIC program) make a reciprocal offer, you are expected to accept immediately. The acceptance is binding. If we decline to make a reciprocal offer, only then are you permitted to contact another site indicating it is (now) your #1 choice.
Application deadlines are permitted at any point prior to UND as determined by our program. Please see our website and brochure for details. Please make sure to send in all required materials by the deadline noted.
If you are no longer being considered for a position, we will notify you of this status.
Please note that the time and date of the UND is Wednesday March 14, 2012, NOON Eastern Standard Time.
Again, I am very pleased you are considering our program for your future training. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any questions as you proceed through the application process.
Sincerely,
Brigid Cahill, Ph.D.
Training Director