Neurology Academic Advisory Committee: a strategy for faculty retention and advancement

Major effort and expense are devoted to faculty recruitment. Subsequent direction, support, and guidance of faculty members for retention and academic advancement are often inconsistent and ineffective. Individual mentorship is widely endorsed as an important element in advancement but often does not occur or is uneven in its pragmatic benefit. We formed a Departmental Academic Advisory Committee to provide individualized advice and guidance about career development and institutional promotion, retention, and tenure procedures. To assess the effectiveness of this process, a survey was sent to faculty members. A 100% response rate was achieved. The results of the survey demonstrated high levels of acceptance by faculty members and described benefits experienced by faculty, including better understanding of promotion and tenure policies and specific actions taken to achieve professional goals. An academic advisory committee can be a valuable adjunct to individual mentorship and to meetings with department chairs to enhance faculty satisfaction and advancement of neurology faculty members.