What do you do as chief faculty affairs officer?
I oversee faculty support for the schools of medicine, dentistry, nursing, health-related professions and population health. I think about things from a faculty life-cycle perspective, which encompasses early and late career issues. How do we attract high-caliber faculty? How do we bring them successfully into the organization? What development opportunities do we create for them?
We have more than 1,200 faculty members, and one of the things I've focused on is recruiting talented and future-oriented leaders. Hiring top-notch deans, directors and department chairs is a very effective way to support our faculty because they have a significant impact on the people they are managing.
How do you use your psychology training?
Overseeing faculty is all about human behavior, and being a psychologist has prepared me perfectly to lead an enterprise like this. I have to know how to manage conflict, have difficult conversations and use evidence-based approaches that incorporate the most current and valid research results available on concepts such as engagement, satisfaction and retention.
Every two years, we ask the faculty to evaluate their satisfaction and engagement, and based on those results we coordinate adjustments to our organization. I look at systems that are affecting our faculty and work with leaders to create a more satisfying environment. One year, for example, we learned that only 34 percent of the faculty were satisfied with the promotion and tenure process. They felt that the process was unclear. In response, we created department promotion and tenure committees that raised awareness about the process. We also changed the way department chairs learn who is coming up for tenure. Now 78 percent of the faculty are satisfied with the promotion and tenure process.
Where did you get the training and experience needed for your job?
I started as an assistant professor in the department of family medicine in 1995, and within a few years I was invited to join the campus human research institutional review board. I did this for six years, during which time I also created the professionalism and communications curricula for the Family Medicine Residency Program. Then I was invited to join the School of Medicine's curriculum committee and lead their professionalism subcommittee. Based on my work in family medicine, I led the creation of a four-year longitudinal professionalism curriculum for medical students. This was work outside of my responsibilities as a professor. I have always believed it is important to volunteer and get involved. Fortunately, my department chair was supportive. Through all of this, I began to know people and develop relationships, which eventually led to my current role.
How did you find out about the job?
It became clear to the dean of the School of Medicine that we needed an office of faculty affairs. We had hundreds of faculty members who did not have centralized processes managing their initial employment, faculty appointments, onboarding/orientation, academic advancement, annual evaluations and terminations. Historically, medical schools haven't had an office dedicated to overseeing the faculty experience, which can lead to higher attrition and turnover rates. The dean of the medical school and the associate dean of academic affairs asked if I would be interested in the position. They had witnessed my communication, analytical and organizational skills through the work I'd done on committees and boards. In 2009, I became the associate dean for faculty affairs for the School of Medicine, and in 2014, my role expanded to include the schools of dentistry, nursing, health-related professions and population health.
What is challenging about your job?
The economic changes in health care that are on the horizon are going to transform the world of academic medicine. Now physicians employed by the School of Medicine usually do clinical service as well as education. They are expected to write papers, do presentations and have innovative ideas to get promoted. In the future, schools will most likely need to employ physicians in the community who can contribute to the revenue cycle of a large academic medical center. They will not necessarily have an office on campus and may have no interest in research. This will mean we have to create new models to attract faculty and support them.
What is the most rewarding aspect of your position?
It's very rewarding to help faculty who are educating future health-care professionals to provide clinical services to populations that need health care informed by innovative research. Our small office is able to support the people who are doing phenomenal work to make an impact on three million people in Mississippi.
