NCI-CCR Staff Scientist and Staff Clinician (SS/SC) Organization By-Laws
Created: November 23, 2004; Modified: November 5, 2009, April 30, 2010, June 9, 2014
Current: March 11, 2021
Mission Statement
The mission of the NCI-CCR Staff Scientist/Staff Clinician (SS/SC) Organization is to advance the professional goals and scientific careers of CCR Staff Scientists (SS) and Staff Clinicians (SC).
Vision Statement
The NCI-CCR Staff Scientist/Staff Clinician Organization is dedicated to providing CCR Staff Scientists and Staff Clinicians opportunities to achieve their professional goals and advance their scientific careers while fostering the continued development of scientific and clinical excellence within the institute. We will actively pursue the open exchange of information, personal and professional growth of our members through annual scientific retreats, peer mentoring, workshops, and representation of the organization and its members within CCR.
Membership
All SS and SC currently employed at the CCR may be members. Members have the right to vote and volunteer as members of sub-committees within the organization. Ad-hoc members may include any CCR SS or SC equivalent contractors. Ad-hoc members cannot vote or hold elective office within the organization.
Organization and Responsibilities
The Executive Board of the SS/SC organization will be represented by a total of six co-chairs (CC) representing Bethesda SS (two CC), Frederick SS (two CC), and Bethesda SC (two CC). Each CC will serve for a 2-year term and equally share duties and responsibilities (see below for CC responsibilities). All sub-committee chairs and committee members will form the SS/SC Organization Board and will be eligible to be a candidate for the co-chair position. (see Organizational Chart; Addendum 1)
Election of Co-Chairs:
Eligibility: Any SS/SC who is currently serving in one or more sub-committees (SS/SC Board) will be eligible as a candidate. Candidates for CC will be nominated or self-nominated from the Board to represent Bethesda SS, Frederick SS, and Bethesda SC.
Elections:
- Elections for the next CC will be held in November of the 2nd year of service.
- Candidate nominations along with personal statement will be accepted by September 1st (~ 2 months before election; see Addendum 2).
- The election announcement will be sent to all SS by the presiding SS CC, and to all SC by email distributed by CCR SS and CCR SC Listservs hosted by NCI/NIH.
- Elections will be conducted using an online system (e.g., SurveyMonkey) on the 1st Tuesday of November. The election period will last 1 week (1st to 2nd Tuesday, November).
- Each SS/SC will vote once, per the following:
- Bethesda SS vote for Bethesda SS candidates only.
- Bethesda SC vote for Bethesda SC candidates only.
- Frederick SS vote for Frederick SS candidates only.
- Summarize the election results and send final results to SS/SC by email.
***Note: If a candidate(s) cannot be elected or appointed to fill the vacant CC position(s) then the existing CC(s) may continue to serve till the next election cycle. Each Co-Chair serves consecutively or non-consecutively with a term limit of total 4 years.
Responsibilities of CC:
The organization CC position will be occupied by 2 Bethesda SS, 2 Frederick SS, and 2 Bethesda SC, who equally share the following duties and responsibilities:
- All CC will make efforts to increase visibility of the SS/SC organization.
- The CC will employ existing or newly created SS/SC resources, such as the SS/SC website, the Dossier, Annual retreat, Coffee Social, or Brown Bag seminar series to promote networking among SS/SC.
- To ensure that current contact information for CC, and Sub-committee chairs are on the SS/SC website.
- To organize and manage regular meetings to discuss ongoing issues and concerns. All CC (Bethesda, Frederick) shall meet in person or via virtual meetings, quarterly. All CC and Sub-committee Chairs shall meet once per year in person or via virtual meeting.
- The CC will serve as point of contact in NIH-wide SS/SC organizations and Office of the Director as needed.
- The CC will send Welcome Letters to new incoming SS/SC and update the Alumni Database with information on departing SS/SC (see sample letter; Addendum 3).
- The CC will represent the organization at campus activities, such as the Principal Investigator Retreat and the NIH SS/SC organization retreat.
- The CC will have a representative that will present a poster about the SSSC organization at the PI retreat.
Sub-Committees:
Each sub-committee will have a chair and members. Chairs will be elected annually by the members of the sub-committee for up to 4 years. Sub-committee members must remain in good standing by being actively engaged in the mission of the committee and will not have more than 2 unexcused absences from committee meetings.
- Communications Sub-Committee
Facilitate communication across the SS/SC organization and within sub-committees
- Website:
- Provide current event announcements
- Maintain archive of information pertaining to SS/SC positions and programs
- Maintain archive of committees’ activities
- Maintain CCR Central/Wiki Webpages
- Newsletter: The Dossier
- Provide a newsletter covering a variety of topics pertinent to SS/SC, including news, employment, and research.
- Networking Sub-Committee
- Social Networking
- Promote networking and social interaction in an informal setting
- Arrange bi-monthly events by the sub-committee chair
- Brown-Bag Seminar
- Platform for SS/SC to present and discuss their science
- Present new technologies as well as technologies available in core facilities
- Retreat Sub-Committee
- Organize the SS/SC Organization Annual Retreat
- Abstract Review Committee (see Abstract Review Guidelines, Addendum 4)
- Professional Development Sub-Committee
Identify and establish opportunities for professional development and career advancement. The committee will address the following:
- Updates on the quadrennial review process
- Information on promotion into new positions
- Workshops/courses
- Job postings
- Grant/funding opportunities
- Survey to collect and disseminate demographics related to SS/SC organization members
- Annual Professional Development Day
- Ad-hoc Sub-Committees
Can be established as needed with approval of the Executive Board.
- Addendum 2.
Personal statement from each candidate (Example)
Dr. David Davis (Bethesda SS)
| With my background on the regulation and inhibition of HIV-1 protease, I joined Dr. Robert Yarchoan’s Retroviral Disease Section of the Medicine Branch in 1996 to study the process of viral maturation. A year later I was promoted to Staff Scientist and now I have expanded my research areas to include viral oncogenesis, hypoxia and immunomodulatory drugs for the treatment of viral cancers. I continue my work in Dr. Robert Yarchoan’s lab who is now chief of the HIV and AIDS Malignancy Branch. I have been a regular member of the SS/SC Professional Development Sub-Committee and I am proud to be part of several accomplishments including developing of an alumni database, providing new SS/SC hires with a thorough handbook, and organizing the annual SS/SC PDSC meeting which provides new ways to expand one’s standing at the NCI. I continue to explore different ways in which we can expand SS/SC’s skill set at the NCI and believe that the NCI offers many tools to enhance our standing as scientists. As it becomes more and more difficult to publish in good journals, I, as an SS/SC leader, would strive to get SS/SC scientists to form a collaborative network to facilitate cross-fertilization and allow each of us to maximize our chances for publication and scientific recognition. |
- Addendum 3.
Welcome letter (Example)
Dear Dr. XXX,
Welcome to NCI!
The CCR SS/SC (Staff Scientist Staff Clinician) Organization would like to congratulate you on your recent promotion to the Staff Scientist position.
We would like to introduce the SS/SC organization website; CCR SS/SC Organization https://ccrod.cancer.gov/confluence/display/CCRSSSCArchive/Home
Here, you can find various useful information for SS/SC, such as quad review process, promotion process, brown bag seminar series, career development opportunities, SS/SC Handbook v2.0, “The Dossier” (the SS/SC newsletter) etc.
SS/SC organization has multiple committee/sub-committees. Your participation is always welcome! Please feel free to contact the committee chairs should you consider volunteering in any of the sub-committees.
This time, I would like to highlight that we will have SS/SC professional Development Day event on Oct.2, 2020, Friday.
For more details and registration, please visit the website below. Virtual Joint NCI and NIDDK Staff Scientist and Staff Clinician Professional Development Day https://events.cancer.gov/cct/sssc-pdd
Looking forward to seeing you in the meeting!
Best regards,
Co-Chair, Bethesda SS
- Addendum 4.
Abstract Review Guidelines
Data identifying the author/laboratory will be removed for the purpose of abstract evaluation, including also their own literature citations and credits.
Scores of abstracts that are judged by different groups of judges and/or that are in different sections will be normalized and ranked by z-score.
Using a scale of 1 - 5 (5 = best) abstracts/presentations will be evaluated in the following categories:
- Scientific merit (Significance/Impact)
Does the work address an important problem in the field? Does the work make a significant contribution and/or extend existing body of knowledge or methodology in the field? Is there potential for the high impact of the work on advancement in the field? - Originality/Novelty
Is the work original and innovative? Does the work employ or develop novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools, or technologies for the field? Does the project challenge existing paradigms or develop new and better methodologies or technologies? - Hypotheses, Study Design and Analysis
Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses adequately developed and appropriate to the aims of the study? Are there adequate data, controls, and analyses to support the conclusions? Are research objectives met and conclusions reasonable given the results? - Overall Quality
Does the background provide appropriate perspective/context for the study objectives? Are the study objectives and answers well defined and clearly stated? Is the work clearly and thoughtfully organized, and presented comprehensively?
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