Interprofessional Community of Faculty Scholars (CFS) Writing Intervention: Climate and Culture Assessment, Inner Strength, and Resourcefulness

Purpose:

This study evaluated outcomes associated with implementation of an academic Community of Faculty Scholars (CFS). 

Methods:

A correlational, repeated measures mixed methods design was used to answer the research question:  What effect does a faculty writing mentoring program have in cultivating a culture of scholarly inquiry?  The intervention consisted of three phases.  Phase I used a scholarly writing retreat to inaugurate a CFS.  Faculty writing groups paired scholar mentors with scholar fellows for a one year partnership.  Phase II initiated customized strategies to support mentors and fellows.  Phase III entailed celebration and closure. Twenty interprofessional fellows collaborated with five mentors.

In Phases I and III, fellows completed pre/post scales: Inner Strength Scale, Resourcefulness Scale, Climate and Culture Assessment Survey. Related Samples Wilcoxin Signed Rank Tests were used to analyze pre/post scores. Narrative analysis evaluated qualitative data across phases.   

Results:

Analyzing pre/post scores of three instruments revealed change in an undesired direction. Quantitative results from the Climate and Culture Assessment Survey were significant of overall effective communication (p=.046), email communication (p=.013), and face-to-face communication (p=.011) which suggested a trend of rankings downward. The subscale of Connectedness in the Inner Strength Scale and the Social Resourcefulness subscale in the  Resourcefulness Scale were significant at p=.038 and p=.021, respectively.  A difference was found in the Total Resourcefulness Scale median scores (p=.038) with the trend of median scores downward. Further, no significant differences were found in any of the total or subscale scores of the Inner Strength and Resourcefulness Scales among the subjects who published manuscripts, were in progress, or made no progress.

Conclusion:

Although all participants reported benefit from the CFS intervention, empirical evidence suggests that the writing intervention did not have the intended result of creating an academic spirit that fostered a sustainable community of scholars. Upon reflection, the investigators speculate how changes in an environment may affect faculty capacity for nourishing a program of scholarship. Further study is needed to identify how best to support faculty members when external factors may impede scholarly writing.