Responding to the need for faculty development: a survey of U.S. and Canadian dental schools

The Office of Professional Development at The University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center Dental Branch was established in November 1996 in order to meet the professional development needs of the faculty, staff, and administration. Although other dental schools share similar needs, our research revealed no study to determine how dental schools managed their faculty development needs. Therefore, a preliminary survey to collect data about offices similar to ours was developed and sent to the deans of fifty-four U.S. schools including Puerto Rico and ten Canadian schools. Thirty-seven schools (58 percent) responded, and it was determined that five schools (14 percent) had Offices of Professional Development and seven (19 percent) had Offices of Faculty Affairs. Based on these results, an expanded follow-up survey was conducted. The respondents were asked to indicate 1) which entity within the school was primarily responsible for handling faculty development, and 2) which entity actually sponsored each of eighteen faculty development activities. With a response from thirty-three U.S. schools (61 percent) and six Canadian schools (60 percent), six administrative structures (models) for faculty development were identified: 1) Office of Academic Affairs, 2) Departmental Chair, 3) a Faculty Development Committee, 4) an Office of the Dean, 5) an Office of Faculty/Professional Development, and 6) Other Resources.