Implementing Age-Friendly University Principles: Institutional Supports, Barriers, and Outcomes

The University of Utah Gerontology Interdisciplinary Program received an Age-Friendly University (AFU) seed grant through GSA’s Academy of Gerontology in Higher Education, funded by AARP, to develop a model for promoting lifelong learning in partnership with university and community stakeholders. We designed and instituted a targeting marketing campaign that supported our goals: 1) to implement AFU principles; 2) to promote awareness of HB60, a legislative bill allowing people 62+ to audit courses at public universities for a minimal cost; 3) to enhance HB 60 enrollment through increased communication of online course options and tuition waiver support; and 4) to improve university and community stakeholder engagement. This presentation describes project benefits, including increased awareness of AFU initiatives, promoting age diversity, safe participation through online coursework, and enhanced community partnerships. The initiative garnered strong departmental support for marketing, communications, and structure for the post-award process. Barriers occurred due to a lack of HB60 infrastructure at the university level, which inadvertently obstructs organizational engagement. This initiative targeted AFU principles while supporting the university’s strategic goal of engaging communities and preparing to pursue membership in the AFU Global Network. Future AFU goals include developing advocacy channels within the university to improve organizational support.

The mediating role of residents’ wellbeing between program leadership and quality of care: A cross-sectional study

Background Research has shown that organizational leadership and support affect organizational outcomes in several sectors, including healthcare. However, less is known about how organizational leadership might influence the wellbeing of clinical trainees as well as the quality of their patient care practices. Objectives This study examined the mediating effects of burnout and engagement between program director-resident relationship quality and residents’ reported quality of care, and the moderating effect of perceived departmental support. Methods The authors conducted a cross-sectional study in September 2020, using a 41-item questionnaire, among 20 residency programs in an academic medical center in Lebanon. Measures included program director-resident relationship quality, perceived departmental support, burnout subcomponents, engagement, and self-reported quality of care. Ordinary least squares regression was used to conduct parallel mediation and moderated mediation analyses using SPSS macro-PROCESS, to assess the strength and direction of each of the proposed associations. Results A total of 95/332 (28.6%) residents responded. Results revealed that program director-resident relationship quality had a significant indirect effect on residents’ suboptimal patient care practices and attitudes towards patients, through at least one of the wellbeing dimensions (p < .05). Perceived departmental support did not play a dominant role over program director-resident relationship quality, and thus did not influence any of the mediated relationships. Conclusion Our study adds a new dimension to the body of literature suggesting that program director-resident relationship quality plays an important role in promoting residents’ wellbeing and achieving important clinical health outcomes. Such findings imply that the quality of program director-resident relationship could be an important component of residents’ wellbeing and patient safety. If further research confirms these associations, it will become imperative to determine what interventions might improve the quality of relationships between program directors and residents.

Supports: A Key Factor in Faculty Implementation of Evidence-Based Teaching

Evidence-based teaching (EBT), such as active learning and formative assessment, benefits student learning but is not present in many college science classrooms. The choices faculty make about how to teach their science courses are influenced by their personal beliefs and motivations, as well as their departmental structures and institutional cultures. With data from 584 science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) faculty trained in EBT, we compare which of the following factors most relate to faculty’s use of EBT: 1) faculty’s personal motivations (e.g., teaching value, confidence, beliefs about intelligence); and 2) their experiences with their institutional teaching environments (e.g., departmental support, student enthusiasm). Faculty’s perceived supports in their teaching environments (e.g., having supportive colleagues, being able to access curricular resources) were by far most predictive of their use of EBT. Faculty’s personal motivations had little to no relationship when supports were included in these models. The effects were robust, even when controlling for faculty gender, minority status, and teaching experience. Much of the literature has focused on perceived barriers to EBT implementation (e.g., lack of time, constrained teaching space). The current data indicate that a focus on building supports for faculty may have the greatest impact on increasing the presence of EBT in college STEM courses.

Collegiate Recovery Program (CRP): Student Needs and Employee Roles

Background: Research on Collegiate Recovery Programs (CRPs) is emerging. There is a need to examine aspects of CRPs to highlight program efficacy and best practices within local settings.Aim: As distinct cycles within a larger action research study, two small inquiries within a local university setting assessed: (1) how student members of the organization "Students for Recovery" defined their needs, and (2) how student employees of the CRP described their roles and success in their work.Methods: Semi-structured interviews examined students in recovery and student CRP employees.Results: Thematic analysis for each group produced two sets of qualitative results. Members of the student organization "Students for Recovery" described their needs as social support and safety, awareness and advocacy. Student employees of the CRP described their role as outreach and one-on-one support as well as strategic program planning. Instances of success were described as the departmental support, and their unique peer perspective.Conclusions: Two queries described needs of students in recovery and role descriptions of student CRP employees within a specific setting. Robust studies are needed to understand the impact of local CRP programs and can provide context to guide informed, responsive programming and best practices.

Feasibility of a Comprehensive Medical Knowledge Curriculum in Internal Medicine Using Team-Based Learning

ABSTRACT Background Team-based learning (TBL) is an active learning strategy with descriptions of its use in resident education limited to pilot studies. Objective We developed a comprehensive medical knowledge TBL curriculum for an internal medicine residency, and assessed feasibility. Methods We developed a 135-topic TBL curriculum to replace a noon conference lecture series, and implemented it over a 3-year period (2013–2016). In this article we describe the planning, curricular design, faculty recruitment and development, and lesson structure. We assessed feasibility in terms of faculty participation, resident preparedness, resident and faculty satisfaction, and costs. Results Most faculty initially were unfamiliar with TBL. Through faculty resource materials and flexible faculty development, participating faculty increased from 3 to 74. In a 2015 faculty survey (N = 64, 69% response rate), 73% (32 of 44) reported faculty development was adequate, 70% (31 of 44) indicated lesson preparation time reasonable, and 95% (42 of 44) reported preparation materials were helpful. A 2016 resident survey (N = 89, 72% response rate) revealed that most residents completed reading assignments in advance, 78% (50 of 64) found readings manageable, and 77% (49 of 64) felt they learned better from TBL compared to lectures. Costs included compensated time for 1 faculty TBL “champion” and an assistant. Conclusions Implementing a comprehensive medical knowledge curriculum using TBL in an internal medicine residency was feasible, and resulted in high faculty acceptance and learner satisfaction. Departmental support of a TBL champion, flexible faculty development, and well-designed resource materials were determinants of success.

SoTL Research Fellows: Collaborative Pathfinding through Uncertain Terrain

From 2014-2016, Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) Research Fellows at a mid-sized Canadian research-intensive, medical-doctoral university undertook to study their own formation as scholars of teaching and learning, as well as benefits and challenges of their cross-appointment to our central teaching and learning institute from their home academic departments. Findings from surveys and focus groups identified themes such as identity, community, access, transfer, and structural elements (each with benefits and challenges to practice). Our autoethnographic work confirms assertions in the literature about the uneasy relation between SoTL and traditional scholarship, while also bearing out the need for departmental support, and for key interventions along the path from novice to practitioner identity. Some discussion of the ambassador or translator role that can flow from such arrangements is included. De 2014 à 2016, les chercheurs en Avancement des connaissances en enseignement et en apprentissage (ACEA) d’une université canadienne médicale-doctorale de taille moyenne ayant un coefficient de recherche élevé ont entrepris une étude portant sur leur propre formation en tant que chercheurs érudits en matière d’enseignement et d’apprentissage, ainsi que sur les avantages et les défis de leur nomination conjointe à notre institut central d’enseignement et d’apprentissage tout en enseignant dans leur propre département universitaire. Les résultats des sondages et des groupes de discussion ont permis d’identifier certains thèmes tels que l’identité, la communauté, l’accès, le transfert, ainsi que des éléments structuraux (chacun présentant des avantages et des défis concernant la pratique). Notre travail autoethnographique confirme les assertions présentes dans la documentation existante concernant la relation difficile qui existe entre l’ACEA et la recherche traditionnelle, tout en tenant compte de la nécessité du soutien départemental ainsi que pour les interventions clés sur la voie qui consiste à passer de l’identité de novice à celle de praticien. L’article contient également des discussions sur le rôle d’ambassadeur ou de traducteur qui peut découler de tels arrangements.

Survey on academic medicine culture, enablers & barriers in a newly formed academic department in Singapore

Objective: A positive culture of academic medicine is important for improving healthcare, research and medical education. This study seeks to assess academic medicine culture, enablers and barriers with a multi-dimensional structured survey, in a newly formed academic department from the perspectives of faculty and staff.Methods: Thirteen dimensions relating to academic medicine culture were identified after focused group discussions. Each dimension contains four relevant questions with answers on a 5-point Likert scale. This web-based questionnaire survey was conducted for senior and junior physicians within SingHealth Duke-NUS Obstetrics & Gynecology (OBGYN) academic department in 2011. This unit was started within the academic medical centre formed by SingHealth, and Duke-NUS which is a medical school jointly established by Duke University and National University of Singapore (NUS). Gaps were identified and addressed with various initiatives. A second survey in 2012 and a third survey in 2013 were conducted to assess the change in culture.Results: In the first survey, the top three favorable dimensions (highest percentage of composite positive response) were: Supervisor and Departmental Support for Academic Medicine (64.0%); Academic Faculty Development (57.9%); and Communications & Feedbacks on Academic Medicine (57.3%). The bottom three dimensions which were areas for improvements were: Academic Clinical Staffing Issue (23.8%); Relating Clinical Service to Research & Education (33.2%); and Academic Teamwork across Institutions (36.3%). In the second survey, there was overall improvement for 12 of the 13 dimensions. In the third survey, there was overall improvement for all the 13 dimensions compared to the first survey.Conclusions: There were positive changes, likely contributed by initiatives within the department to engage staff and to address gaps in various aspects of academic medicine culture.

Factors influencing adoption of the international financial reporting standards (IFRS) in accounting education

Purpose This paper aims to explore the challenges faced by accounting educators in their attempts to incorporate IFRS materials in their teaching and explores the impact of various factors (instructor’s attitude, size of accounting department, teaching load, type of institution, teaching experience and teaching materials) on the time spent on teaching IFRS materials in undergraduate accounting programmes. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was administered to faculty members working in Saudi Arabian universities, and interviews were held with a small number of such individuals in different universities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Findings The results indicate that the instructor’s attitude and availability of IFRS materials exert the most influence upon the time spent by teachers on the IFRS. They further find that departmental support, familiarity with IFRS, training and teaching experience in IFRS are positively associated with the time spent on teaching the IFRS. Originality/value The important implication is that accounting educators must adapt their teaching practice in light of the increasing adoption of the global financial reporting standards.

Doctoral Students’ Emotional Exhaustion and Intentions to Leave Academia

The primary aim of this study was to better understand the antecedents of doctoral students’ emotional well-being, and their plans to leave academia. Based on past research, antecedents included departmental support, the quality of the supervisory relationship, and characteristics of the supervisory relationship. We used a mixed-methods study, and surveyed 186 doctoral students from nine countries. We found that supportive relationships, at the departmental and advisor level, reduced emotional exhaustion and intentions to leave academia, and that emotional exhaustion was positively related to doctoral students’ intentions to leave academia. Findings also indicated that advisor experience and frequency of meetings reduced students’ emotional exhaustion but did not affect their intentions to leave academia. Recommendations to reduce emotional exhaustion and to temper doctoral student attrition before and after degree completion are offered.