Sibby Anderson-Thompkins

Sibby serves as Director of Postdoctoral Affairs in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.  In her role, she oversees the UNC Postdoctoral Policies and Grievance Procedures, the Postdoctoral Research Awards for Excellence, and the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity. In addition, she is available for individual consultations with postdoctoral scholars and faculty mentors.  She also coordinates several of the professional development programs and special initiatives for OPA.

Sibby brings more than 15 years experience in higher education administration.  Her expertise is in serving and supporting the success of international, women and underrepresented minority students and postdoctoral scholars. Previously, Sibby served as Assistant Dean of Students and Assistant Dean in the Office of Student Academic Counseling here at Carolina. In addition, she served as an associate dean of student affairs at Hampshire College in Amherst, Massachusetts. Prior to her return to Carolina, she served as a clinical faculty member in education and dean of advising at Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia. Sibby has been an active member of the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) serving on the Diversity Committee and as the NPA’s first Diversity Officer. Presently, she serves on the Advisory Group for the NPA ADVANCE Project (From Postdoc to Faculty: Transition Issues for Women Scientists) and a committee on Science, Engineering and Public Policy of the National Academies charged with reporting the State of the Postdoctoral Experience for Scientists and Engineers Revisited.

Sibby completed her Ph.D. in Educational Policy Studies at Georgia State University.  Additionally, Sibby holds a B.A. and a M.A. in Communication Studies from Carolina and a M.S. in Educational Research (Ethnography and Qualitative Methods) from GSU.

Dara Wilson-Grant 

With over ten years experience providing career management education and training, Dara’s mission is to help individuals develop a framework for sound decision-making and career planning while also helping them to develop the skills required for a lifetime of professional success. In her role at OPA, Dara provides individual career counseling and coaching to postdoctoral scholars. She also designs, presents, and coordinates an array of career and professional development programs.

Dara holds a Master’s degree in Counseling from Fordham University and a BA in Business Administration from Goucher College. She is also a National Certified Counselor and a Certified Human Resource Recruitment Specialist. Prior to joining OPA in July of 2006, Dara was the Assistant Director at UNC’s career center and an instructor at UNC’s School of Education.  Throughout her career, Dara has worked with students and professionals in a wide range of disciplines and career fields.  However, her specialty is working with postdoctoral scholars and mid-career professionals in transition.

Taylor Libby

Taylor serves as the Human Resources Consultant for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.  In this role, Taylor provides training and education to human resources facilitators across campus on the wide range of personnel issues facing the postdoc population.  Taylor also works to develop and implement new human resources policies for postdoctoral scholars, advises departments on best practices in human resources, and develops resources, materials, and trainings to ensure consistency and compliance for postdoctoral scholars and their mentors across campus.  In addition to her role within OPA, Taylor also serves as a Human Resources Consultant for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research (OVCR) at UNC Chapel Hill  and serves as a human resources generalist to the units within OVCR.

Taylor holds a Master’s Degree in Public Administration with a focus in human resources from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.  She received a Bachelor’s of Arts in Government with a minor in Sociology from The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia.  In addition, Taylor holds a Professional in Human Resources (PHR) certification.  Before joining OPA in 2012, Taylor worked in the Office of Human Resources at UNC where she worked primarily in the area of classification and compensation, but also worked extensively in areas such as recruitment, onboarding, organizational design, employee relations, and general human resources consulting and compliance monitoring. 

Patrick Jeffs

Patrick serves as the Career Counselor for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. He brings a unique blend of a strong clinical counseling focus with a management background. His mission is to assist postdoctoral scholars to sort through difficult questions on how to make successful career and personal decisions. Patrick works with scholars to discuss career-planning decisions unique to postdocs and develop skills on how to manage current and future career situations. His role is to work with postdoctoral scholars in individual and group settings.

Patrick is currently a doctoral candidate at UNC Charlotte, where he is completing his PhD in Counseling. He completed his M.A. in Counselor Education from Western Michigan University and B.S. in Business Administration (Management and Marketing) with a minor in Psychology.
 

In addition, he served as an intern for University Career Services here at UNC.

Judson Fraley

Judson Fraley serves as the Program Coordinator for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Judson formerly served as the Administrative Manager for the African American Cultural Center at North Carolina State University. In addition, he served as the Program Assistant for the NCSU Office of Institutional Equity & Diversity. Prior to his work at NCSU, Judson served as Assistant Director for Student Activities at the UNC School of Arts (Winston Salem, NC). Judson is also the Founder & Executive Director for Speak Life, Inc. (Winston Salem, NC), a non-profit organization which focuses on HIV/AIDS education and prevention in the African American youth/young adult communities. Judson completed his Bachelor of Arts in Communication (with a concentration in Speech & Rhetoric) at Fayetteville State University and is scheduled to begin his Masters in Human Resources with Southern New Hampshire University in January 2013. 

As Program Coordinator, Judson is responsible for managing the Carolina Postdoctoral Program for Faculty Diversity and providing programmatic and administrative support for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs.

Thomas Tran

Thomas serves as the Graduate Student Assistant for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Specifically, he is responsible for managing the programs for the postdoctoral community and developing metrics to evaluate program performance.

Thomas is a second-year MSPH candidate in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Gillings School of Global Public Health. He received his Bachelor of Science in Hotel Administration and a minor in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University.

Jeanine Naverrete

Jeanine serves as the Graduate Student Assistant for the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs. Specifically, she is responsible for managing the programs for the postdoctoral community and administrative support for office staff.

Jeanine is a second-year MA/PhD student in U.S. History in the Department of History. Her doctoral research focuses on urban Latino communities in the post-WWII South. She received her Bachelor of Arts in American Studies from Wellesley College.