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Investigating Flexibility for Faculty in Academic Medicine

The Alfred P. Sloan Projects for Faculty Career Flexibility

To assist universities in recruiting and retaining highly talented and diverse faculty members, the American Council on Education (ACE), in partnership with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, has been investigating the structural and cultural changes necessary to better balance professional and personal lives. The ACE-Sloan Projects on Faculty Career Flexibility are currently focusing on medical school faculty, both in academic medical centers and in hospitals. The following activities have assisted us in gathering information about the drivers behind the need for flexibility in academic medicine. We hope to identify win-win solutions for both institutions and individuals.

Recognizing and Rewarding Faculty Career Flexibility in Academic Medicine

After investigating the structural and cultural constraints for faculty career flexibility in academic medicine, we are announcing a fourth round of the Alfred P. Sloan Awards for Faculty Career Flexibility, with a focus on medical schools. These awards will recognize and reward medical schools demonstrating policies and promising practices that provide unbiased opportunities for work/life balance. Five awards of $250,000 will be given for excellence in faculty career flexibility as well as two smaller awards of $25,000 for innovative programs, promising practices, and/or models that can be adopted by a larger number of medical schools. The winners and project findings will be announced in September 2012.

• Download the application packet (PDF)
• Preview the institutional survey that will be used for this competition (PDF)
• Download IRB Materials (Word)
• Preview the faculty survey that will be used for this competition (Word)

Timeline and Deadlines

Medical School Pilot Group Members

Medical schools are struggling to understand not only the changing nature of their workforce but also the changing and constrained funding sources available to support their faculty. The increasing need for quality care and the increased number of physicians required to administer that care also further complicate the schools' ability to educate doctors and meet service needs. Several schools have generously donated their time and effort to advance the understanding of the complexity of maintaining work/life balance for academic physicians. These schools, in no particular order, are: the University of California-Davis, Thomas Jefferson University Jefferson Medical College, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Indiana University school of Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, University of Illinois College of Medicine, and University of Massachusetts Medical School.

2010 Invitational Conference for Medical Schools

As part of our efforts, we convened an invitational conference that brought together deans and associate deans from leading medical schools to discuss best practices in using faculty career flexibility to effectively recruit and retain top medical faculty. Co-hosted by ACE and the University of Illinois College of Medicine and funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the conference took place on September 23–24, 2010 in Chicago, IL.

The conference covered such topics as:

• Implementing flexible career policy options for faculty
• Institutional cultural change strategies
• Using career flexibility as a tool for recruiting and retaining faculty
• Cost/benefit analysis of faculty career flexibility

Dr. Sharon Hostler (University of Virginia) was the opening speaker and discussed the current state of recruiting and retention in academic medicine. Other presenters included Dr. Deborah Powell (University of Minnesota), Dr. Molly Carnes (University of Wisconsin-Madison), Dr. Deane Waldman (University of New Mexico), Dr. Walter Schaffer (National Institutes of Health), Dr. Eleanor Shore (Harvard Medical School), and Dr. Robert Drago (Institute for Women's Policy Research). A summary of the conference proceedings and copies of the PowerPoint slides are available at the end of this page. A copy of the agenda (PDF) is available here.

2010 AAMC Annual Meeting

We presented at the AAMC Annual Meeting (Booth #707) and met with colleagues who were interested in further exploring these issues. Members of the advisory committee and pilot group can be found on the poster (PPT) which was presented at the Annual Conference.

To read more about the Alfred P. Sloan Projects for Faculty Career Flexibility, please visit our main web page at www.acenet.edu/programs/Sloan.

Please direct questions about this page to:
jmclaughlin@acenet.edu
This page last updated on 05/21/2012