Faculty Members' Opinions of What Defines a "Star" in Academic Pharmacy

Objective. This study sought to identify attributes or performance aspects, most notably those defining what constitutes a "star" faculty in academic pharmacy, and to describe differences in perceptions of the strength of these aspects across faculty varying by discipline, academic rank, experience, type of institution employed, and supervisory experience.Methods. An electronic survey was distributed via email link to a census sample of 3378 members within the2018 American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) list-servs. Performance aspects were derived from key literature enumerating academic responsibilities and behaviors. Reminders were employed to maximize survey responses. Frequency distributions and Kruskal-Wallis tests were conducted to describe the data.Results. Responses from 463 persons identified the importance of quality rather than quantity of teaching; publishing in refereed journals, and demonstrating collegiality to be among the more salient aspects defining a star faculty member. There were differences in perceptions of what constitutes a star mostly by institution type employed and among pharmacy practice respondents vs those from other disciplines. Respondents from private institutions indicated that their deans and chairs were less likely to recognize and attempt to retain star faculty. However, responses were generally in the same direction and congruent, even between those with vs without supervisory responsibility.Conclusion. This study highlighted the importance of demonstrating collegiality along with high-quality teaching and productivity as qualities warranting star status in academic pharmacy. Given the importance of faculty stars, academic pharmacy organizations, particularly private institutions, should make an effort to recognize and retain them.