Dean for Faculty Affairs Maureen Connelly has announced the completion of her leadership team, a milestone in the efforts of the Office for Faculty Affairs to speed and streamline the promotions process for faculty at Harvard Medical School and the Harvard School of Dental Medicine.
Carol Bates, associate professor of medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, joined Mary Walsh, instructor in anaesthesia at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, on the HMS quadrangle this summer. Both are assistant deans for faculty affairs.
Bates is a general internist who has practiced primary care internal medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess since coming to Harvard in 1988 and served as director of the Beth Israel Deaconess Primary Care Residency Program from 1992 to 2011. In her new role, Bates will oversee all aspects of the assistant and associate professor appointment and promotion processes at HMS and HSDM. She will also manage faculty development activities of the Office for Faculty Affairs, including the HMS Leadership Course, the New Junior Faculty Orientation, and the Eleanor and Miles Shore 50th Anniversary Scholars in Medicine Program.
Walsh has been part of the Medical School community since 2002, training in the anaesthesiology department at Brigham and Women’s, and joining the Office for Faculty Affairs in 2007 as a program director for faculty appointments. She was appointed assistant dean in 2010, overseeing the professorial appointments and promotion processes for faculty at HMS and HSDM. Her responsibilities include providing guidance to faculty participating on search and evaluation committees for senior faculty appointments as well as serving as a source of expertise and advice on all content, technical and administrative details related to senior promotions. Walsh works closely with Harvard University on faculty hiring systems and is leading the implementation of the streamlining of the professorial promotion process.
Through outreach efforts that include presentations at affiliated institutions and a promotions hotline (OFA_promotions@hms.harvard.edu or 617-432-7112), Bates, Walsh and other senior staff in the Office for Faculty Affairs work to educate faculty members about the promotions process and allay concerns.
A common misconception involves areas of excellence, Walsh said. A faculty member may feel locked into the area—research, clinical or education—emphasized in his or her first promotion. In fact, Walsh said, a scholar’s focus can change as each develops new skills and interests. “The promotion criteria are more flexible than people think,” Walsh said. “The structure is meant to reflect to reflect the breadth of each faculty member’s academic activities.”
Bates noted that another misconception involves the tenor of promotion committee reviews. “There’s a perception that evaluators are looking for flaws,” she said, “but it’s been my experience that the review is in fact a celebration of the individual.”
