Faculty Development Program for Colorado School of Public Health

Transcription

1 Faculty Development Program for Colorado School of Public Health Lori A. Crane, Ph.D., M.P.H. Chair and Professor, Department of Community and Behavioral Health, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Denver The Colorado School of Public Health is a collaborative school that includes University of Colorado Denver, Colorado State University, and University of Northern Colorado. The School opened its doors on July 1, The faculty members of the School come from many departments across the three universities. To date, there have been no formal opportunities for faculty development provided by the School, although there are faculty development opportunities on each of the three campuses. I am working with a subcommittee of the School s Faculty Council to conduct an assessment of faculty development needs. The needs assessment will include three components: (1) a survey of faculty members about their needs and desires for faculty development; (2) interviews with administrative leaders at approximately 10 schools of public health from around the U.S. regarding their faculty development programs; and (3) a compilation of faculty development opportunities available from other sources (e.g., university, academic associations, etc.). I am working specifically on the second component described above. An interview structure has been developed and a list of aspirational schools of public health has been developed. Representatives from these schools will be contacted to learn about their faculty development programs. I will be doing these interviews, along with another faculty member. The interviews will be completed over the winterspring months of A summary of the results will be presented to the subcommittee and considered along with the other components of the needs assessment when determining directions for developing faculty development opportunities for the faculty members of the School.

2 Faculty Development Survey Aspiration Group of Schools of Public Health Introduction: The Colorado School of Public Health, which is a collaborative school that includes the University of Colorado Denver, University of Northern Colorado, and Colorado State University, received its accreditation in Fall We are in the process of putting together a faculty development program and are interested in what other schools of public health are doing in this respect. What kinds of opportunities does your school or university offer to help faculty members in the development of their careers, including teaching, research, and other aspects? Probe specifically on the following: What are you doing, if anything, in the area of. Teaching, such as (mention each area) New class development Online course development Blackboard/online resources Use of technology in classroom Effective teaching strategies Testing and student evaluation Designing effective assignments Effective in class activities Teaching policies/procedures Teaching opportunities & expectations Personal consultation on teaching skills/style Enhancing student independence/responsibility

3 Research, such as: Identifying funding sources Proposal writing Budget development Planning a long term research program Communicating with funders NIH peer review process Publication of results Managing project funds Practice of public health, such as: Building community partnerships Translating research into community settings Communicating with policy makers and other community members about your research Communicating about the value of public health Public health advocacy Communicating with the media Charting a successful career in academia, such as: Planning a path toward promotion Understanding the promotion and tenure process Preparing for mid term review Promotion dossier development Identifying appropriate service activities How to get the most out of the mentoring process Developing skills for administrative leadership

4 Being an effective mentor, such as: Mentoring junior faculty Mentoring post docs Mentoring graduate students Building collaborations, such as: Developing collaborations within your school Collaborating with faculty in other schools on your campus Collaborating with policy makers and community members Developing collaborations with students Management and leadership skills, such as: Time management Effective meeting/committee management Conflict resolution Team building Developing mission and vision Other leadership skills Hiring the right people Oversight of and delegation to project staff

5 For any hits on the above (i.e., they are doing something in an area), ask: What has been the reception of this by the faculty? How many faculty members take advantage of it? How useful do they seem to find it? What feedback have you heard about it? What are your recommendations about whether we should try to do something like this? Can you (or can someone else) send information, an outline, materials, etc.? Of all the things your school or university is doing for faculty development, what do you think is most valuable? Why? What has been the least valuable? What do you think is needed that you aren t doing? What kind of requests do you get from your faculty related to faculty development? Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me about this.