Assistant Dean for Scholarly Affairs, School of Medicine

The Assistant Dean for Scholarly Affairs (or Director for Scholarly Affairs) is a full-time academic leadership position responsible for advancing a cohesive, inclusive, and productive culture of scholarship across the School of Medicine. The role emphasizes the development of people first—faculty, mentors, and emerging scholars—by building mentoring capacity, supporting high-quality scholarly activity, and ensuring that all medical students acquire foundational research skills and complete a meaningful scholarly project.

The Assistant Dean/Director collaborates with Graduate Medical Education (GME) leadership to align scholarly expectations, mentoring capacity, and research skill development across the UME–GME continuum. The role works in close collaboration with Methodist University research administration, clinical partners, and the health system to strengthen research governance, ethical oversight, and scholarly infrastructure. A key focus of this position is supporting, in partnership with the University, the development of a robust and responsive Institutional Review Board (IRB) process that effectively serves School of Medicine educational, clinical, and community-based scholarship as the institution advances toward an integrated academic medical system.

This position provides both strategic leadership and operational oversight of faculty and student scholarly activity and serves as a central integrator across departments, clinical partners, and community settings. Appointment at the level of Assistant Dean or Director will be determined based on demonstrated scope of leadership experience, institutional responsibility, and readiness for school-wide leadership.

Appointment and Rank

• Full-time position with a faculty appointment in the Department of Health Systems Sciences, which will serve as the academic home for this role.
• Faculty rank at the level of Associate Professor (academic or comparable non-tenure track), commensurate with background, experience, and institutional policies.
• Terminal degree required: MD, DO, PhD, EdD, or equivalent.
• For MD/DO appointees: limited, ongoing clinical practice is expected to maintain professional expertise and inform clinically relevant scholarship.

Primary Responsibilities

1. Faculty Scholarship and Mentor Development

Lead the development of a school-wide scholarly ecosystem that supports all SOM faculty across their career stages, with particular attention to clinician-educators, community-based faculty, and novice scholars. This responsibility includes:

• Creating and maintaining a faculty scholarly interests and mentoring capacity directory
• Designing and implementing faculty scholarship development pathways (e.g., works-in-progress sessions, writing groups, novice scholar programs)
• Providing individualized coaching in project scoping, study design, scholarly writing, and dissemination
• Establishing clear expectations and guidance for faculty mentors, including roles, timelines, and recognition mechanisms
• Collaborating with GME leadership and residency program directors to identify shared faculty mentors, align scholarly interests, and support faculty mentoring students and residents across training levels

Deliverable outcomes: expanded mentor pool; increased faculty participation in scholarship; improved completion and dissemination of faculty scholarly work.

2. Teaching and Development of Foundational Research Skills

Provide leadership for teaching foundational research and scholarly skills to medical students and faculty, ensuring learners are prepared to engage meaningfully in scholarly work. This responsibility includes:

• Teaching or overseeing instruction in core research competencies (e.g., research design, ethics, IRB/QI distinctions, basic data interpretation, dissemination)
• Integrating research skill development longitudinally across the curriculum in collaboration with educational leadership
• Developing or curating standardized educational materials and workshops supporting research literacy
• Coordinating, where appropriate, with GME research education efforts to align foundational research skills taught in undergraduate and graduate medical education

Deliverable outcomes: defined research skills curriculum; documented teaching sessions; learner preparedness for mentored scholarly projects.

3. Medical Student Scholarly Activity Leadership

Provide leadership for the medical student scholarly activity requirement, ensuring every student has access to a feasible, mentored scholarly project and appropriate academic support. This responsibility includes:

• Establishing and overseeing a structured scholarly activity framework with defined milestones and timelines
• Implementing a mentor–student matching process aligned with faculty expertise and student interests
• Supporting project completion and dissemination through posters, presentations, or manuscripts
• Coordinating an annual student scholarly showcase or symposium

Deliverable outcomes: on-time project completion; equitable mentor access; annual scholarly showcase; student scholarly products.

4. Committee Leadership and Institutional Governance

Develop and participate in institutional governance structures that advance and sustain the scholarly mission of the School of Medicine. This responsibility includes:

• Establishing and chairing standing committees related to scholarly affairs (e.g., Scholarly Activity Oversight Committee, Faculty Mentorship Committee)
• Serving as an active member of existing committees relevant to the role (e.g., Curriculum, Assessment, Faculty Development, Research Oversight)
• Aligning committee work with institutional priorities, accreditation requirements, and continuous improvement efforts
• Ensuring appropriate representation or liaison with GME leadership on scholarly activity–related committees when alignment across the UME–GME continuum is beneficial

Deliverable outcomes: functioning committees with defined charters; regular reporting to leadership; coordinated decision-making related to scholarship.

5. Scholarly Infrastructure, Compliance, and Support

Oversee and continuously improve the infrastructure that supports ethical, rigorous, and feasible scholarship across the School. This responsibility includes:

• Partnering with IRB and compliance offices to streamline IRB/QI guidance and processes
• Developing standardized tools, templates, and workflows for faculty and students
• Leveraging dedicated support personnel (office manager and faculty statistician) to enhance efficiency and methodological rigor

Deliverable outcomes: standardized scholarly workflows; reduced administrative barriers; improved project quality and methodological support.

6. Monitoring, Evaluation, and Reporting of Scholarly Activity

Ensure continuous monitoring and evaluation of scholarly activity to inform improvement and institutional reporting. This responsibility includes:

• Tracking participation, mentor engagement, project completion, presentations, and publications
• Developing and maintaining a scholarly activity dashboard
• Preparing reports for leadership, accreditation, and strategic planning
• Where appropriate, collaborating with GME partners to identify shared metrics or complementary reporting related to scholarly participation and mentoring

Deliverable outcomes: annual scholarly activity report; accessible metrics dashboard; data-informed program improvements.

Reporting Relationship

Reports to: Vice Dean for Academic Affairs. Until the Vice Dean for Academic Affairs position is filled, the Assistant Dean for Scholarly Affairs will report to the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs in an interim capacity.

Resources and Support

The Assistant Dean for Scholarly Affairs is supported by:

• A dedicated Office Manager
• A faculty member with expertise in statistics and research methodology
  These resources enable the Assistant Dean to focus on leadership, mentoring, and program development rather than solely operational tasks.

Required Qualifications

• Terminal degree (MD, DO, PhD, EdD, or equivalent)
• Faculty appointment eligibility at the rank of Associate or Full Professor preferred
• Demonstrated record of peer-reviewed scholarship
• Experience mentoring faculty and/or students in scholarly activity
• Experience teaching research or scholarly methods
• Strong collaborative, organizational, and leadership skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience leading or coordinating a scholarly activity or research education program
• Experience in clinical, community-based, health services, quality improvement, or medical education scholarship
• Familiarity with accreditation expectations related to scholarship and research education
• Demonstrated commitment to faculty development and mentoring