Vision and Priorities for the Columbia University Medical Center Schools -
Preliminary Summary of Education Strategic Planning Focus Groups

An analysis of the focus group data for all Columbia University Medical Center schools revealed four major cross-cutting, health science-wide themes and priorities for education as summarized below. School-specific needs, visions and priorities were also identified, and these are summarized in separate reports. The issues are related and of highest priority; investments in one area without investments in the others will not result in the educational quality advances that are anticipated and hoped for.

1. Create a culture that values teaching, by implementing effective systems for documenting, rewarding and providing promotion and tenure for scholarly contributions to the educational programs. This needs to come from the top down and requires providing adequate time and support for teaching (see 2 below). Education is seen as a low priority that is not valued or adequately recognized throughout the health science schools. In essence, education is a "second class citizen" - a requirement that is not compensated, and detracts from research. Although there are core faculty who are dedicated to education in each school, and who are deeply committed to developing high quality educational programs, these efforts are not compensated, rewarded, reliably evaluated. They are not systematically accounted for, supported or rewarded. Therefore faculty are limited in the time and energy that they can realistically devote to developing and improving the quality of the education programs. While it is seen as major strength to have faculty who lead the educational programs, they do so in their "spare time" and this detracts from time that could be devoted to research or patient care. The current promotions systems do not adequately compensate for teaching, provide time for teaching, or reward faculty for significant scholarly contributions to the education programs. All teaching must be planned, supported, evaluated, rewarded, and accounted for but not a separate track - there is a desire to keep teaching and research integrated. Suggestions from focus groups to address this problem:
   
   
   • Revise tenure and promotions system so that it elevates and supports and provides time for teaching
   
   
   
   • Redirect fundraising efforts to support the development of educational programs
   
   
   
   • Create a clear tenure system and culture that supports and values scholarly contributions to teaching to the same extent as research - and support as in 2. below.
   
   
   
   • Create a teaching academy



2. Create a central, integrated, institute or center to support the development of the educational programs to provide faculty development, assistance in developing highest quality eductational resources, easy access to technology, administrative support, scheduling, AV etc.
   "Adult-education is not an amateur sport". The quality of the educational programs, resources and methods is not uniform, and many teaching faculty have no training in educational methods. It is extremely difficult for faculty to develop and improve teaching methods, materials and resources. Although some resources do exist, these are fragmented, not coordinated, located in disparate parts of the campus, and are limited in manpower. The infrastructure for faculty support and development to enable curriculum development needs to be augmented so that it can provide, integrated support for curriculum, support for teaching, and improved student assessment. Suggestions from focus groups
   
   
   • Create an "Institute for Excellence in Education", that would provide one-stop-shopping, support and development for all educational needs
   
   
   
   • Provide expert resources to assist faculty in developing the highest quality educational programs and materials, including faculty development on best instructional practice, access and support in the the use of media and technology to support education.
   
   
   
   • Create an infrastructure that would enable state-of-the art excellence in student assessment and evaluation including a Clinical Performance Assessment facility.



3. Develop state-of-the art Educational Space - for teaching, study, socializing and living. There was resounding consensus across schools and constituents that the space and infrastructure for education is unacceptable. There is insufficient number of teaching spaces of every type including lecture halls to accommodate large groups, small group rooms, conference rooms, labs, etc.. These space inadequacies create immense competition in scheduling, inconsistent class locations and times from week to week, and perceived inequities in scheduling priorities across schools. The disparate and fragmented nature of the current educational spaces, the inadequate elevators, result in lengthy transitions between classroom activities that prevents students and faculty from arriving on time. In addition, the quality of the existing space is unacceptable, it is deteriorating, poorly maintained, and poorly supported. The audiovisual and information technology capabilities are limited, outmoded, and inadequately supported, and hard to access. There is consensus that new and/or renovated facilities are needed to create a unified education center in a single central location, that has sufficient capacity to accommodate the multifaceted classroom needs for all schools, provide educational services and support to faculty and students, and the library. The space would include a sufficient number of classrooms of every type, to accommodate different class sizes, to support small group teaching, conferences, to eliminate competition for rooms of every type - small group, large lecture, medium lecture, conferences, clinical space designed to support the educational needs and programs. With proper state-of -the art access to information technology in every classroom and study space, comprehensive audiovisual equipment and dedicated support, effective climate control, computer connections. The space would be easily accessible, central, and foster interaction, communication, and social exchange among all health science constituents, schools, and disciplines. The space would include social space that will foster interaction between all Health Science constituents, and schools. It would include a state of the art, inviting library with adequate study and social space, that would be well maintained and inviting. For virtually every program and school, the housing was cited as inadequate. Dormitories in Bard Hall are inappropriate for older students.
   
   
   • Immediate short-term solutions are need to improve the quality of the current teaching spaces, to increase access to spaces that support teaching needs, improve scheduling, and reduce inequities.
   
   
   
   • Invest in new educational space that will substantially increase the number of large classrooms designed for 80-100 students, increase small group teaching rooms, conference space, office space for faculty, with state-of the art technological capabilities in all rooms. This space should be central, integrated, and foster interactions between students and faculty in all schools and disciplines. It should include space for a clinical performance facilty.
   
   
   
   • Create a strong, unified central infrastructure for state-of the art technology



4. Create systems that facilitate inter-school, campus and departmental interactions and collaborations: Improve interactions, opportunities and collaborations across schools, departments, and campuses. Improve the functional interactions and communication between the schools, and the downtown programs and schools. In general, schools, faculty and students greatly value the opportunities for interactions between uptown and downtown, and cross fertilization between schools. The opportunities for cross-registration, joint degree programs, and inter-disciplinary collaborations are highly valued, however there are limitations and impediments to collaboration, at many levels. For example, different calendars across health science schools inhibit collaborative educational opportunities. Regulations prevent students from enrolling in classes until drop-add periods:
   
   
   • Create opportunities and systems that will foster and collaboration between schools, programs, and hospitals to enhance the quality, yield cross-fertilization, and synergy of the educational programs.
   
   
   
   • Increase and improve communication between schools, between uptown and downtown, and between university and hospital.