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Earlier this year the AUPHA Board conducted six separate focus groups with AUPHA member program directors. On each call at least two AUPHA Board members had the opportunity to hear directly from members about how we are doing and what you’d like us to do in the future.

The following is a synopsis of what we heard:

The first question we asked was: Do you feel that AUPHA provides you and your program resources and tools that make you better able to do your job and make your program better?

In response, access to AUPHA Network was mentioned many times as a way that AUPHA provides such resources and tools, as was the Annual Meeting. Other positive aspects of the member experience included:

• Faculty Development

• HAMPCAS (mentioned several times)

• Good that AUPHA opened membership to all faculty

• Networking

• Benchmarking (mentioned several times)

• Sharing Curriculum

• CAHME Update at meetings

• Announcements about other meetings and events in the field

• AUPHA provides a true peer group and network

• Supports faculty in advancing the field

• Provides knowledge and support

• Annual meeting very educational and worth attending even if it is expensive.

• Faculty Forums—linkage to faculty in other settings

• Certification of Undergrad Programs (mentioned many times)

• Program resources

• Opportunity to present and publish

• Able to role model programs

• Vital role in bringing together folks with a teaching mission

• Interaction with other PDs

• Newsletter

We then asked what more we could do to support programs and faculty. Among the responses we received were:

• Support international students

• Lobbying (should we be doing this?)

• Interprofessional Education

• Recognize and advance scholarship in the field

• Identify AUPHA’s role in reaching out to other accrediting agencies

• Help in identifying research opportunities and writing grants

• Need more materials on how to teach (young faculty and adjuncts)

• Program and individual assessment tools

• Help new faculty develop strong portfolio for tenure track

• Create a means for student interaction

• Create a venue for online programs to share best practices

• Career counseling for students

• Work on how to serve less traditional programs

• More resources on how to adapt to what accreditation requires

• More voice/representation for non-traditional programs

• “Make sure educators have a good understanding of our history and how that impacts health disparities.”

• Advocate for adjunct faculty

We then asked participants about what they thought AUPHA’s position should be as it relates to online education? They told us:

• AUPHA should sponsor research on educational outcomes

• Sharing of best practices in online (mentioned several times)

• How to assess online best practices?

• How can a primarily online program get accredited?

• Not sure we want to take a position different than CAHME

• Online should be included to improve all programs

• Possibly use Sloane Consortium guidelines

• AUPHA should support online but with an expectation of quality

• AUPHA should/shouldn’t advocate for or against accreditation of online programs (both views were expressed)

• AUPHA should serve as a clearinghouse of ideas & best practices

• How do we train reviewers to look at online programs?

• How do you assess students in an online environment?

• F2F experience has proven positive for formerly fully online program

• Bring an expert in online teaching to annual

• Bring online programs together at AM

• Don’t separate programs too much, all share same mission

We asked: What do you think AUPHA’s role should be as it relates to promoting a dialog around global healthcare management education? You told us:

• Need guidelines for global health management curriculum

• Facilitate working with colleagues around the world

• Very important area to pursue in the future

• Medical tourism an increasingly important topic

• “I can’t understand why we wouldn’t do more of that (engaging globally)”

• Appreciates study tour, learned a lot

• Help faculty and students make contacts to bring to other countries

• AUPHA should share best practices for partnerships

• There should be some kind of a requirement for global health in the HCM curriculum

• Faculty like hearing about other health systems

• Many students are involved in international travel and work

• Want a mechanism to send students overseas

• Generally in favor of greater involvement

• Very helpful, would like to see more of it

• Connect with faculty to explore comparative health systems

• Joint conference with associations outside US

• Push global beyond Europe

• Create student and faculty exchange opportunities

• “AUPHA should help create conversations and debates across borders that go along with a good academic environment“

In response to our question about how AUPHA can become more engaged with the practice community you said:

• Link with practice to identify core competencies

• AUPHA could share how to work with advisory boards, perhaps gather input from advisory boards across the country

• Support practitioners in teaching short courses

• Important consideration for next CEO

• Must be present to inform our work and us theirs

• Need to focus more broadly than acute care

• Partner with ACHE

• Good that Board has practitioners

• Leaders Conference is a good venue to connect

• Align with professional associations

• Require joint presentations for AM

In addition we asked what competencies the Board should look for in a new CEO, the results of which I won’t list but have been incorporated into the job description and search philosophy of the search committee.

The Board learned a great deal from the input of our stakeholders and appreciate the time that each one took to participate. Your feedback was used to inform Board conversations at the March Annual Meeting around the topics of online programs and global engagement.  

As an immediate response to your requests, we have rolled out two initiatives since the March Board meeting. The first is that we will be hosting an online program director’s meeting in advance of the AUPHA Annual Meeting in June. This will be an opportunity for the online programs to share issues of common interest. The second is that we have created an online student community to give students a means to connect across programs. If you’d like any more information on either of these programs please don’t hesitate to contact me.

While we won’t be able to act on every recommendation you’ve given us, please know that we have heard you and, when possible, will make every effort to be responsive to  what you’ve told us you need from us. As Sharon said in her Blog, we want to keep hearing from you. Please take the opportunity of the Annual Meeting to talk to staff and the Board about how we’re doing and what more you’d like to see us do in the future.

AUPHA is YOUR association and we want to ensure it meets your needs. Our role is to help you do your job better and help you make your program better. Keep letting us know how we can do that!

Focus Group Participants

• Katherine Adler, AT Still
• Julie Agris, Hofstra University
• Liz Berzas, Our Lady of the Lakes
• Steph Bernell, Oregon State
• Diane Bridges, Rosalind Franklin
• Lloyd Burton, Weber State
• Chris Calkins, Penn State World Campus
• Dolores Clement, Virginia Commonwealth University
• Chris Cochran, Nevada Las Vegas
• Murray Côté, Texas A&M
• Karen Dielmann, Lancaster General College
• Suzanne Discenza, Park University
• Dan Dominguez, Incarnate Word
• Leonard Friedman, George Washington
• Sherril Gelmon, Portland State
• Kyle Grazier, Michigan
• Annie Hewitt, Seton Hall
• Lanis Hicks, Missouri
• Diana Hilberman, California, Los Angeles
• Stephanie Joseph, Winston Salem
• Abby Kazley, Medical U of South Carolina
• Michael H. Kennedy, Eastern Carolina
• Peggy Leatt, North Carolina, Chapel Hill
• Marisa Lewis, Florida A&M
• Ana Maria Lomperis, St. Louis
• P.J. Maddox, George Mason
• Katherine Marconi, U Maryland U College
• Warren McDonald, Methodist
• Robert McGrath, New Hampshire
• Ahmed Moen, Howard
• Carol Molinari, Baltimore
• Eileen Morrison, Texas State
• Andreas Muller, Arkansas
• Richard Narad, Cal State Chico
• Mary O'Shaughnessey, Detroit Mercy
• Reid Oetjen, Central Florida
• Vicky Parker, Boston U
• Beth Patton, U of Phoenix
• Pam Paustian, Alabama at Birmingham
• Monica Rasmus, Texas Southern
• Louis Rubino, Cal State Northridge
• Dale Sanders, Alma College
• Jennifer Schultz, Minnesota Duluth
• Jackie Sharpe, Old Dominion
• Tina Smith, Toronto
• Carla Stebbins, Des Moines
• Mary Stefl, Trinity
• T.J. Stranova, Tulane
• Andy Sumner, Georgia State
• Kevin Valadares, Southern Indiana
• Will White, Cornell
• Don Zimmerman, U Maryland U College