Ohio State colleges now have the option of hiring non-professor professionals from outside the university to teach students valuable real-world lessons, following the revision of a campuswide rule in June.
Clinical faculty members are a rarity at OSU, aside from the health sciences department.
Since 1984, clinical faculty have worked in the college of medicine, dentistry, optometry and veterinary medicine. The pharmacy and nursing programs gained access to clinical faculty in 1990.
Dr. Fred Sanfilippo, senior vice president for health sciences, said clinical faculty are vital to the medical school.
“Much of medical education is based on actual patient care, and the quality of the education is directly linked to having a large number of patients who represent a broad range of teaching opportunities,” Sanfilippo said. “We need additional clinical faculty to care for this large number of patients.”
Clinical faculty members teach third- and fourth-year medical students, interns and residents. They are also expected to conduct research.
Clinical faculty is a non-tenured position, and the university pays little to none of the clinical faculty’s salaries. Sanfilippo said the professionals must generate their own income.
“Our ability to compete as a state-of-the-art medical center requires us to have a faculty that is sufficiently large to meet the patient care, teaching and research mission of the organization,” Sanfilippo said. “Our goal of becoming a top tier academic medical center cannot be achieved without significantly increasing the number of our clinical faculty.”
Many agree these pseudo-professors teach students more than any lecture can teach.
“We need faculty members in colleges that are training students to practice a profession in a clinical setting so that students are prepared upon graduation to enter the profession,” said Ed Ray, provost of the university. “Clinical faculty members often teach students in ‘real life’ settings and in small groups. They provide an educational experience for students that is different from that offered in the traditional classroom setting.”
Barbara Snyder, vice provost for academic policy and human resources, said colleges must submit a proposal to the University Senate for approval before any clinical faculty member can be hired.
“Any time a faculty track is created or expanded, a variety of issues must be addressed,” Snyder said. “These include the criteria for appointment and promotion.”
The Fisher College of Business has already submitted a proposal to hire outsiders, following the business faculty’s approval.
“Clinical faculty are a major plus for students,” said Joseph Alutto, dean of the Fisher College of Business. “Other colleges that use clinical faculty have been involved in leading-edge teaching techniques that enrich the students in their professions.”
Aside from teaching, clinical faculty members are actively involved in their profession, and participate in research and clinical trails headed by tenured faculty members.
“These non-tenure-track clinical faculty members teach students practical skills,” said David Goldberger, director of clinical faculty at the Moritz College of Law. “Most of our non-clinic courses focus on teaching legal doctrine and legal theory, as opposed to practice skills. We would not be able to offer our clinical skills courses without our clinical faculty.”
In the law school, clinical faculty are titled “staff attorney,” offering oversight to all students as they work on court cases and internships.
“Because of (clinical faculty’s) practical experience, they bring important, specialized skills to our curriculum,” Goldberger said.
Two of the OSU business school’s biggest competitors, the University of Texas’ and the University of Michigan’s business schools, extensively use clinical faculty.
“I greatly value the contributions clinical faculty make to Ohio State,” Ray said. “They provide something important to our students preparing to enter the workforce.”
