Conflict of Commitment Policy Revised

 

Following a review of the conflict of commitment policy outlined in the Emory Faculty Handbook, now under the authority of the Faculty Council, the Council voted at its January 21 meeting to revise the policy. The revision is intended to more accurately reflect both current practices and a philosophical shift toward a greater spirit of engagement of faculty in activities on a local, national, and global scale. For example, the earlier version stated that a faculty member must get prior permission from the dean to deliver a lecture at another school within Emory, even when no compensation was involved. The revised policy distinguishes among levels and types of external professional activity with requirements adjusted accordingly. The policy’s guiding principle now states, in part, “The specific responsibilities and professional activities that constitute an appropriate and primary commitment will differ across schools, but they should be based on a general understanding between the faculty member, department chair (if applicable), and dean.” Some individual schools have more detailed private consulting policies; faculty should consult their schools’ policies and websites for more details. To review the full revised policy, click here.

 

Deans and Council Discuss Changes in Academic Medicine

 

In January, the Council welcomed a panel of the three deans of the schools in the health sciences at Emory—Chris Larsen from the School of Medicine, Linda McCauley from the School of Nursing, and James Curran from the School of Public Health—to discuss challenges in their fields in the face of cataclysmic change in healthcare in the U.S. Dean Larsen addressed the imperatives of patient safety, quality of care, and value, as well as rising threats to traditional revenue streams for academic healthcare. Dean McCauley discussed the impending shortage of nursing faculty, opportunities for the nursing school in the anticipated growth of employment of RN’s, and changes coming to nursing school programs and faculty as nursing education grows more competitive. Dean Curran talked about the rapid growth of public health schools in the U.S. in the past few decades and growth in the ranks of full-tuition master’s students to subsidize doctoral programs, as well as increasing challenges as federal research dollars dwindle. As talented investigators lose funding, he said, faculty retention will become a challenge.

 

Understanding Who Constitutes “the Faculty”

 

In a January meeting discussion led by three council members, each representing concerns from faculty in the health sciences, the Council deliberated the evolving meaning of “tenure” and “nontenure” faculty positions across the university. As the numbers of clinical track faculty in the health sciences rise, for example, how are those non-tenure-track faculty supported, and what influence do they have on traditional domains of faculty governance, such as curriculum? Also discussed was the National Institutes of Health’s intention to move away from funding structures that support faculty salaries through research dollars, leaving many faculty in “soft money” positions in the health sciences to wonder about future salary funding sources.