Information for Postdoctoral Associates & Fellows
Starting Off
Mandatory PaperworkOn your first day of employment, you will have to fill out the following forms with CSAIL’s Human Resources staff in Headquarters (32-G415):
- Inventions and Proprietary Information Agreement form
- Employment Eligibility Verification Form (I-9) - You will need to show documents which establish work eligibility; HR staff can give you a list of accepted documents
- Personnel Information Form
http://web.mit.edu/mitcard/
W20-021 (basement of Stratton Student Center); 617-253-3475
Hours: Monday – Friday, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.
- Go tot he MIT Card Office and have your picture taken for your ID
- You must bring a photo ID with you in order to receive your card
- After picking up ID, email John Merriman (merriman@csail.mit.edu) to receive after hours access to CSAIL
- For information on how to obtain & activate an MIT ID card, visit: http://groups.csail.mit.edu/hq/wiki/hq/wiki/bin/view/HQ/MitCard
While you will probably use your CSAIL address for most of your email, you need to set up a MIT Athena (a.k.a. email) account to obtain web certificates. Web certificates are a security tool which identify the user in many MIT applications.
- To get started, visit: web.mit.edu/ist/start and click on "Intro to Computing at MIT".
- The two links on the left of the page that you should visit first are "Accounts", then "Web Certificates".
CSAIL computer accounts are separate from MIT accounts. You may get these before you get your MIT ID.
- To get started, visit TIG: www.tig.csail.mit.edu and click on "Getting Started and Connected" on the left
- If necessary, please confirm your research group with your CSAIL supervisor
Non-US Citizen/Permanent Residents Only
web.mit.edu/scholars
4-105; 617-253-2851
Walk-in Hours: Monday - Friday, 9:00AM - 3:00PM If you are not a US citizen or permanent resident, you must check in with the International Scholars Office within your first three days at MIT. Be sure to bring your passport and visa documents with you. If you have any questions at any time during yoru stay regarding yoru visa, please contact anyone in CSAIL HR or the International Scholars Office.
Pay, Benefits, Etc...
Employee Self Servicehttp://web.mit.edu/sapwebss
You will use the Employee Self Service site for a number of activities, so you should bookmark this page! Through this link you will:
- Submit direct deposit and tax withholding information
- Select your beneftis
- Report vacation days taken
- Update contact information
MIT requires that all employees enroll in Direct Deposit. Paychecks are deposited into staff members’ bank accounts on the last business day of each month and paystubs are delivered to employees’ offices. To change your bank information, visit the Employee Self Service site and click on the “Money Matters” tab. If you have any problems with your paycheck, please see any CSAIL HR staff member.
Benefits
You should receive (or already have received) an offer letter from MIT. You must sign up for benefits through SAPWeb (Employee Self Service) within 31 days of your start date. Along with the virtual orientation, you will also have the opportunity to attend a Q&A session and a campus tour. This information should be sent to you along with your offer letter.
Virtual employee benefits orientation: http://hrweb.mit.edu/welcome/benefits/ Overview of benefits options: http://hrweb.mit.edu/benefits/
Tax Withholding/ Tax Forms
To set your tax withholdings:
- Enter Employee Self Service website (http://web.mit.edu/sapwebss)
- Follow "Money Matters" link and click "Tax Withholdings."
Please find out if you are eligible for coverage by a tax treaty. You may a) visit the Payroll Office in NE49-3131 (600 Tech Square) to obtain forms; or b) email payroll@mit.edu with your name, MIT ID number, and country of residence to ask if you are eligible. You will need to file a US tax return by April 15 for the preceding calendar year. For more information about tax publications and resources for international scholars, visit: http://web.mit.edu/scholars/taxres.html
Vacation, Sick Time, and Other Leave Policies
Postdoc Associates who are paid by MIT and have a minimum of a one-year appointment receive four weeks of vacation each year (20 days). Every month you will receive an email reminding you to report your vacation days.
Vacation Reporting Process
- Log on to Employee Self Service: http://web.mit.edu/sapwebss and select "SRS Vacation Tracker" from the "Time" tab
- A screen showing your recent vacation history will appear
- Please report all vacation days taken. If no days were taken, please report “zero days taken.”
- For more information, please see the Vacation Tracker Quick Card
There is no method of sick leave accrual for Postdocs. Supervisors have a right to request a note from a physician if you will be absent for more than three consecutive days, or on a recurrent basis. Cases of extended illness are treated on an individual basis. If you plan to be out for a medical procedure or recovery for more than five days or have any questions about extended leave policies, please contact Ann Tremelling in 32-G424 (atremell@csail.mit.edu or 324-5115).
For information about emergency MIT closings, call 253-SNOW (253-7669). These and other leave policies for Sponsored Research Staff are discussed more fully in Section 4.0 of the MIT Personnel Policy Manual: http://hrweb.mit/edu/policy/4/index.html
Additional Information
Athletic Facilitieshttp://web.mit.edu/athletics/www
MIT staff and affiliates may purchase a membership to MIT athletic facilities. For membership information visit the MIT Athletics Web Site or call 617-452-3690. The Wang Fitness Center and Alumni Pool, both part of MIT athletic facilities, are on the first floor of the Stata Center.
Holidays
http://hrweb.mit.edu/holidays
MIT is closed on 12 holidays each year. Visit the MIT HR website for a list of MIT administrative holidays.
Parking/T-Pass
http://web.mit.edu/facilities/transportation
Parking
Regular commuting parking in the Stata Garage is allocated to CSAIL staff on an availability basis. Parking costs $709 per year for regular paid employees. You may pay this fee in a lump sum, or you may have it automatically withdrawn from your paycheck. Also available is the occasional parking sticker, which costs $40 for the sticker each year, plus $4.00 per day of parking up to 8 days per month.
T-Pass
MIT's subsidized T-pass program is only available to Postdocs who receive regular MIT paychecks. For more information, please see Annie Lawthers (32-G415) or visit MIT's Parking and Transportation page Libraries
http://libraries.mit.edu
Your MIT ID card will allow you to take out books from any of the MIT Libraries, and many other university libraries in the Boston area. Visit the MIT Libraries Web Site or call 617-324-2275 for information.
Contact Information Update
Please take the following steps to update your contact information:
- MIT directory, Human Resources and Payroll - Visit the Employee Self Services site and click on the "Personal Information" tab, and then the appropriate link in the left menu bar. Your home information is not available to the public, unless you change that preference in the system. To use this system, you must have a MIT Kerberos ID and MIT web certificate.
- CSAIL directory - Please send any updates to merriman@csail.mit.edu
- International scholars – You must notify the CIS and/or the ISchO? of your change of home address within TEN DAYS. Please visit: web.mit.edu/scholars/AR11.html to find which notification process to use based on your immigration status.
As an official member of CSAIL, you will be a member of the csail-all@csail.mit.edu mailing list. This list is only used for very important announcements affecting all members of the lab, and therefore you should not be inundated with many emails from this list. In addition, you will be subscribed to your floor mailing list, based on your office address in the CSAIL directory.
When you apply for your new CSAIL email account, that address will automatically be subscribed to three popular CSAIL email lists: csail-announce@csail.mit.edu, seminars@csail.mit.edu and csail-related@csail.mit.edu. You may unsubscribe and subscribe on your own at any time.
Public CSAIL lists: https://lists.csail.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo
Most popular CSAIL lists: http://tig.csail.mit.edu/twiki/bin/view/TIG/PopularLabMailingLists
Emergency Preparedness, Personal Safety, and Theft
Please be aware that CSAIL is a relatively open space, especially during the workday. There have been thefts of computers, cell phones, and wallets from offices and open areas in CSAIL, so please make sure to secure your area and do not leave valuables unattended.
Important Information
- Dial 100 or 617-253-1212 from a campus phone for all police, medical/ambulance, fire/explosion, and other emergencies.
- Non-emergency injuries should be reported to your supervisor and MIT Medical Department, E23, 253-1311 (open 24 hours per day/ 7 days per week).
- After contacting the proper authorities, please inform TIG about thefts and a CSAIL HR staff person about any injuries within 24 hours of the accident.
- Take note of the fire exits in the building, and in particular, at least two evacuation routes near your work area. The fire alarm system in the Stata Center is designed based on Massachusetts building code.
- To know what to expect in case of an emergency, please visit: http://csail.mit.edu/resources/emergency (br />
32-268; 617-253-8034
The Infrastructure Group, also known as TIG, is responsible for the behind the scenes facility maintenance of the Stata Center, as well as providing and maintaining the computing and network infrastructure. The TIG office is also home to Mail Services that handles the Lab's incoming and outgoing mail. This website is a resource for all your computing and facility related needs. Contact us to report everything from a broken door handle to a problem with a server or email.
- Facilities-related Issues: ops@csail.mit.edu
- Network and computing resource needs: help@csail.mit.edu
The CSAIL website, http://www.csail.mit.edu, has a lot of valuable information for CSAIL members. This includes a member directory, lab administrative contact names, research abstracts and activities, events calendar, awards listing and a resources section. In the resources section you will find links to reserve CSAIL conference rooms, change your directory information, find emergency information and download CSAIL logo materials.
If printed, this page can be found at: http://hq.csail.mit.edu
