For the uninitiated: I work for a research lab at The University. This past fall, the head of our department announced that he was resigning his position to take a job with the University of Alberta in Canada. The DH’s staff and my lab are very close. My boss is a pediatric surgeon as well as a researcher; over the years he has relied on the DH (a PhD not an MD, so no hospital responsibilities) to help him investigate organ transplant immunology.
I would really like to make the DH out to be a selfish bastard who is abandoning everybody here for greener (but colder) pastures, but I can’t. DH is not a bad person; he’s just the most naive individual I have ever encountered. He honestly thought that we would all go to Canada with him, that the guy he wants to take over the Department would accept the position, and the transition would go smoothly.
Only one of the DH’s staff is going North with him. She’s a Research Associate* who is from Canada; she even has family in Edmonton. This RA is also horribly allergic to mice, we have been begging DH to hire someone in Edmonton to take care of animals we’re shipping there so she doesn’t have to. (Oh, we’ll find someone eventually.) The DH continues to work with various committees and journal editorial panels. (This is very important! I just can’t take a leave of absence. Yes, you can and considering everything that’s going on, you should.) He never tells his people when he’ll be out of town – ala the Absent Minded Professor cliché. His staff has had to muddle through the transition process on their own: the post-docs wrote reference letters for the Professional Research Assistants** and helped them find jobs. Funding is drying up and now the post-docs need to find positions. The DH hasn’t stepped up to help them. They are very fucked at the moment.
I’m furious at the DH for the way he’s treating his staff and refusing to see that everything is NOT going to be just dandy. Also, I feel like he screwed over my lab and my boss. The building we work in was built as a joint effort between the U and a private non-profit (PNP) organization. When DH announced his decision to leave, he promised us his equipment, because the U of A was provided him with a fully stocked lab. Since we have very little money and have been using his stuff for years, we were thrilled that we didn’t need to scrape up funds for appliances. Then the PNP head found out about this and moaned that HE wanted the lab supplies. University policy says that DH has discretion about who gets his stuff, but DH is notorious for avoiding conflict. Rather than stand up and say “no” to the PNP, he hasn’t made a decision either way and time is running out. (DH is out of here on March 1st.) People from other labs are already coming over to “claim” goods.
My boss has been looking at other institutions – including the University of Alberta. I can’t blame him. Dr. Boss wants to do more research but the children’s hospital here is under staffed, so he spends 95% of his time there and has little time or energy for the lab. My co-worker is looking for a job back home in Australia. Right now, I’m trying not to panic. My job hunt has turned up nothing. While, technically, employers are not supposed to discriminate against pregnant applicants, I seriously doubt that anyone would hire me.
*A little clarification: At the U a Research Associate is a PhD who works for a Principal Investigator.
** AKA Bench Monkey. This is my job title as well. Sometimes over drinks we try to figure out what an Amateur Research Assistant is.