FACULTY APPOINTMENT AND TENURE POLICIES IN MEDICAL-SCHOOLS - A 1997 STATUS-REPORT

The authors present recent data on changes under way in and the curren t status of faculty appointment and tenure policies in U.S. medical sc hools. The data are drawn from a survey conducted by the Association o f American Medical Colleges in 1997, to which deans at all 125 U.S. al lopathic medical schools responded, supplemented by follow-up telephon e and electronic mail inquiries. Faculty evaluation systems and facult y compensation systems top the list of areas in which medical schools are most frequently making policy changes, with approximately half of the schools involved in each area. Changes in evaluation systems refle ct an increasing emphasis on post tenure review. Changes in compensati on systems are characterized by the division of pay into separate comp onents, each with its own financial guarantees and with the level of c ompensation tied specifically to measures of individual and group prod uctivity. Other policy changes include introducing new faculty tracks and career pathways, redefining or clarifying the portion of salary or compensation that is defined by tenure, lengthening the pre-tenure pr obationary period, and modifying the link between promotion and tenure . Of the 125 medical schools in the United States, only five do not aw ard tenure, while another six effectively limit eligibility for tenure to basic science faculty. Those numbers are unchanged from those repo rted in 1994. Only two schools indicated that eliminating tenure or ce asing to make tenure eligible appointments was being considered, and n either reported that a policy change was imminent. Current data on the status of tenure guarantees, tenure probationary periods, other tenur e eligibility criteria, and special clinical tracks are provided. Near ly three fourths of the medical schools in the United States now have a separate and distinct faculty track for full-time clinical faculty w hose primary responsibilities are in patient care and teaching. The va st majority of these tracks do not permit faculty to be tenured, but 7 1% require evidence of scholarship for promotion. The authors conclude that faculty personnel policies in medical schools are likely to cont inue to evolve, consistent with a growing insinuation of the corporate culture into academia.