Transitioning back to faculty roles after being a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar: Challenges and opportunities.

BACKGROUND: There is a dearth of literature describing factors supporting a successful transition from a career-development fellowship to resumption of the full complement of faculty roles. PURPOSE: Because little is known about the transition back to the full faculty role, a subset of Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Nurse Faculty Scholars (NFS) was interviewed to evaluate the self-identified challenges and opportunities that the scholars faced and factors contributing to their success when they reassumed the full faculty role. METHODS: A subset of scholars from cohorts beginning the RWJF NFS program between 2008 and 2012 (n = 10) was interviewed by members of the NFS National Advisory Committee. NFSs identified challenges and opportunities faced as they transitioned to their faculty roles following completion of the career development fellowship as well as the character of support received from individuals in their organizational influencing the experience of the faculty transition. Evaluation outcomes include recommendations for transition planning for home institutions, colleagues and fellows. RESULTS: NFSs identified transition challenges including managing multiple responsibilities and increased teaching demands coupled with loss of protected time and funding for scholarly work. Opportunities for career advancement were influenced by effective mentorship, institutional supports including advocacy and allocation of time and responsibilities consistent with continued research productivity. Issues contributing to a more difficult transition included non-supportive relationships among administrators and colleagues and newly assigned responsibilities that detracted from success in meeting expectations for tenure and promotion. Effective transition from fellow to faculty included plans for continued mentorship and stakeholder engagement of administration, mentors and faculty colleagues. CONCLUSIONS: Effective transition from fellow to the full complement of the faculty role benefits both the home institution and scholar. Positive outcomes may be contingent on scholar support and organizational investment during the transition period.

O desenvolvimento de uma escala de transição e adaptação acadêmica / The development of the scale of transition and academic adaptation

A experiência vivida por jovens calouros em universidades é composta por várias facetas. Durante o primeiro ano da universidade, o estudante passa por um processo de adaptação acadêmica marcada por mudanças. Esse período, sendo multidimensional e complexo, necessita ser investigado, principalmente no contexto brasileiro, em que muitas alterações ocorreram no ingresso ao ensino superior e poucos estudos foram desenvolvidos para avaliar as dificuldades de adaptação desses novos estudantes. O objetivo deste estudo foi desenvolver um instrumento que avalie a experiência de transição acadêmica enfrentada por jovens calouros. Participaram da pesquisa 275 estudantes de graduação de duas universidades públicas federais. O instrumento utilizado inspirou-se no Questionário de Experiências de Transição Acadêmica ­ QETA ­ introduzido por Stocker e Faria (2008), em Portugal. As análises utilizaram o SPSS ­ StatisticalPackage for the Social Sciences e princípios da análise fatorial: técnicas de extração de componentes principais e rotação Oblimin direct, com o teste de confiabilidade, Alpha de Cronbach. A escala foi definida em cinco dimensões. Os resultados confirmam a pertinência de algumas dimensões, como pares e professores e traz evidências da importância do ensino médio para o estudo sobre a transição e adaptação acadêmica no contexto universitário.

The experience lived by new students in universities consists of many facets. During the first year of University, students go through a process of academic adaptation marked by change. This multidimensional and complex period needs to be investigated, especially in the Brazilian context, in which many changes have occurred in the process of the selection procedures to higher education and only few studies have been developed to assess the difficulties of adaptation of new college students. The aim of this study was to develop an instrument to evaluate the experience of academic transition faced by new students. 275 students of two public universities participated in the research. The instrument was inspired by the Academic Transition Experiences Questionnaire ­ QETA ­ introduced by Stocker and Faria (2008), in Portugal. The analysis used the SPSS ­ Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, and principles of factor analysis: principal components extraction techniques and direct Oblimin rotation, with the reliability test, Alpha of Cronbach. The scale was set in 5 dimensions. The results confirm the relevance of some dimensions, such as peers and teachers, and bring evidence of the importance of secondary education for the studyon the transition and adaptation in the academic context.