Listen now:
Today’s new episode of the Faculty Factory podcast is an interview with Susan Chubinskaya, PhD. Dr. Chubinskaya is Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
I love exploring the different ways our guests’ offices are structured. The faculty affairs office at Rush Medical Center is divided into three different pillars: Faculty Development, Office of Mentoring Programs, and Office of Global Health.
While Dr. Chubinskaya makes it clear it takes full-time faculty to run these offices, Rush incorporates current faculty (volunteering their time) into the different professional development programs offered by her office. This approach seems to be working wonders.
The volunteer faculty select the topics of the different workshops and programs and serve as the educators within Rush’s faculty affairs programs. Dr. Chubinskaya said this approach has helped lead to rich conversations between different generations and perspectives. It has led to a diverse host of voices coming together.
New leadership (deans and presidents) was another topic we discussed in this episode. As I said in the podcast, there is nothing more powerful to change and/or reinvigorate a culture than having a leader that dedicates resources and time to the education of its faculty.
I strongly believe an educational opportunity in our field is how to work with upper echelons of leadership within an institution. Understanding the leadership landscape is critical. Many of us have positions outside of just one department or college within the institution. This is why working closely with presidents and chancellors is so important for us.
Make sure to listen to the entire podcast (via the player located above) to learn more. Dr. Chubinskaya is my former colleague at Rush and she’s a dear friend. I hope you enjoy this episode and find it as enlightening as I did!