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Center for Faculty Excellence

I. UAMS Faculty Handbook

Welcome to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Faculty Handbook.  This handbook was generated as an overview, which has a wealth of information and resources tailored to support the faculty and designed to serve as a compass for them.  From institutional policies and procedures to valuable insights on teaching, research, and service components of the institution, this handbook was crafted to empower the faculty with the knowledge and tools necessary for success.  As integral and intellectual contributors of our university, your role as a faculty is paramount and we hope that this handbook becomes a valuable companion in navigating the landscape of academia at UAMS.

Academic Senate Faculty Affairs Faculty Handbook Committee:

An ad-hoc committee under the Faculty Affairs Committee, this Committee is responsible for both creating the initial handbook and ensuring that it stays up-to-date. This involves regularly reviewing and updating the content to reflect any changes in policies, procedures, or relevant information.

Message from Chancellor:

Dear Faculty:

Welcome to the University of Arkansas at Medical Sciences. Our faculty here are at the core of the work we do in research, education and patient care. They teach tomorrow’s health care professionals, make new discoveries at the forefront of medical research, and serve our patients directly in our hospitals and clinics, and so much more. UAMS is a special place because it has people like you doing necessary and important work every day for the people of Arkansas. You have become a part of something great, and I’m looking forward to the contributions you will make to better health in our state.

The policies and procedures in this Faculty Handbook will familiarize you with the administration and governance at UAMS. These are in line with our core values: integrity, respect, diversity and health equity, teamwork, creativity, excellence and safety. Once you’ve settled in with your new role, I encourage you to get involved across campus. Join committees. Volunteer. Get involved in leadership. I hope you’ll find something both personally and professionally fulfilling. In the meantime, feel free to share any feedback you have. We are always looking to improve.

Thanks for all that you do as a valued member of Team UAMS.

Sincerely,

Cam Patterson, M.D., MBA

Chancellor and UAMS Health CEO

Message from Provost:

Dear Faculty Colleagues:

I am pleased to welcome you to the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, the state’s only health sciences university.

A vital ingredient for success in the UAMS mission to improve health, health care and well-being is an engaged and thriving faculty community. This handbook provides information on our requirements and policies — but also the resources available to support success in your career, teaching and scholarly endeavors. Also, I believe it reflects our goals of transparency, shared governance and the importance of interdisciplinary participation to achieving our mission.

From my arrival as an assistant professor just over 30 years ago, I am a proud member of Team UAMS and our faculty. Through my career, I found valued collaborations, colleagues and mentors here by serving on committees, participating in UAMS programs and being active in the life of this institution. I encourage you to get involved in your department, college and around UAMS. Our faculty and campus are enriched by your enthusiasm and expertise, which in turn strengthens the quality of our programs for our learners, our patients and the state that we serve.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Gardner

Provost and Chief Strategy Officer

Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs

A.    UAMS Mission and Scope:

i. Mission

The mission of UAMS is to improve the health, health care and well-being of Arkansans and of others in the region, nation and the world by: 

  1. Educating current and future health professionals and the public; 
  2. Providing high-quality, innovative, patient- and family-centered health care, we do this by providing specialty expertise not routinely available in community settings; and 
  3. Advancing knowledge in areas of human health and disease and translating and accelerating discoveries into health improvements.

ii. Scope

  1. UAMS takes its core values of integrity, respect, diversity and health equity, teamwork, safety, creativity and excellence seriously; each supporting the freedom of expression articulated in university policies and routinely practiced by the community.
  2. These values are articulated to constituents in the classroom, in research laboratories and in the scholarship of basic science and health professional literature.
  3. These values are further expressed in the publications to which the faculty and students contribute, and in public forums as well as the many printed and electronic communications tools used throughout the UAMS campuses.
  4. UAMS fosters, encourages and expects honesty, accountability and transparency in pursuit of the highest ethical and professional standards in all that we do.
  5. UAMS takes responsibility for its performance, and engages employees, patients and families, learners and stakeholders in its critical decisions that are timely, complete and accurate.

B.     History Synopsis:

 i.    Humble Beginnings

  1. Just a few weeks before Thomas Edison invented the first light bulb in October 1879, eight physicians pooled their money and invested $5,000 to start the first medical school in Arkansas. The eight founding physicians were led by Dr. P. O. Hooper of Little Rock, and the street where many patients and visitors now enter the UAMS campus is named in his honor.
  2. The initial investment of $625 made by each of the founding physicians now represents nearly $4 billion in economic impact for the state of Arkansas from UAMS and its affiliates every year.
  3. The former Sperindo Restaurant and Hotel in downtown Little Rock served as the first home for what was then known as the Medical Department of Arkansas Industrial University. As enrollment grew into the 20th century, the school was housed in several different locations, including the Old State House in downtown Little Rock. A new medical school was built in the 1930s with funding provided by President Franklin Roosevelt’s Public Works Administration. Additional funding was provided by a tax on beer and liquor assessed by the Arkansas state legislature.

ii.    Public Support

  1. In 1951, Governor Sid McMath used funds from a new cigarette tax to secure $7.4 million for a new University Hospital on a 26-acre site on West Markham Street in what was then the outskirts of Little Rock. The University of Arkansas Medical Center moved into the new hospital in 1956. Air conditioning came to patients’ rooms 10 years later.
  2. UAMS was transformed from a small medical school with a charity hospital into an academic health center and research leader under the direction of Dr. Harry P. Ward, who served as chancellor from 1979 to 2000. The Harry P. Ward Tower, which opened in 1997, is named in his honor. Dr. Ward was succeeded as chancellor by Dr. I. Dodd Wilson in 2000.
  3. Building on the foundation laid by Dr. Ward, Dr. Wilson began the most ambitious building program in the institution’s history. This round of expansion included nearly $500 million in building projects begun in 2001 to provide additional space for education, patient care, research and outreach programs.
  4. Among the projects was an education building opened in 2008 that the University of Arkansas Board of Trustees named the I. Dodd Wilson Education Building in honor of Wilson, who retired in late 2009. Wilson was succeeded by Dr. Dan Rahn.
  5. In early 2009, UAMS opened a new hospital, a 540,000-square-foot facility with 234 adult beds (since expanded to 346 adult beds) and 64 neonatal beds. This facility enables UAMS to create comfort, hope and healing for more patients and families than ever before. Also in 2009, in response to a nationwide shortage of health care professionals, UAMS opened Northwest Regional Campus in Fayetteville to help produce more physicians, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals.
  6. In addition to its state-of-the art hospital and outpatient center, which serves as the center of the institution’s now 84-acre campus, UAMS is home to the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions, Public Health and a Graduate School with growing enrollment of 2,870 students and 799 resident physicians.

iii.     UAMS Colleges

UAMS College of Health Professions:

The College of Health Professions (CHP) serves the state of Arkansas as the primary arm of the University of Arkansas in offering programs that provide education, service, and research in allied health professions.  In fulfilling its mission, the College of Health Professions offers education and training opportunities for students of the allied health professions to prepare them as graduates to assume the roles of the professional. The College curricula coordinate the professional course work with the arts, humanities, and basic and social sciences into a total educational experience that emphasizes life-long learning in allied health professions. Degrees offered are: Audiology, Clinical Nutrition, Cytology, Dental Hygiene, Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Dietetics, Genetic Counseling, Medical Laboratory Sciences, Nuclear Medicine Imaging Sciences, Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant, Radiologic Imaging Services, Respiratory Care, and Speech-Language Pathology.

UAMS College of Medicine

The mission of the UAMS College of Medicine is to improve health and increase knowledge through innovative teaching, groundbreaking research, state-of-the-art patient care and outstanding service to Arkansas, the nation and the world. It is Arkansas’ only M.D. granting medical school and health sciences university. A three-year accelerated M.D. degree track is available at the UAMS Northwest Regional Campus for highly qualified students who plan to practice primary care.

Student-centered active-learning curriculum fosters critical thinking. It offers 65 ACGME-accredited residency and fellowship programs with about 700 residents/fellows within the COM. Approximately 150 additional family medicine residents and two sports medicine fellows train at 7 of the UAMS Regional Campuses, where the faculty have COM appointments. Medical Scholars in Public Health post-baccalaureate program, a partnership of the UAMS colleges of Medicine, Public Health and Pharmacy, launched in 2021. Students work toward a Masters in Public Health while preparing for future application and admission to medical school.

UAMS College of Nursing

The UAMS College of Nursing prepares graduates for roles in administration, education, and nursing practice. Degrees offered are: Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program, Master of Nursing Science Program, Doctor of Nursing Practice, and Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing Program.  In addition, through UAMS Integrated Clinical Enterprise (ICE) they offer a Resource Nurse Program (RNP) to promote clinical excellence, quality and performance improvement, and continuous growth of UAMS professional nurses who provide direct patient care.

UAMS College of Pharmacy

The UAMS COP mission is to improve the health of all by preparing the next generation of pharmacists and scholars to address health needs, producing innovative solutions and optimal outcomes through scientific advancement, and pioneering the adoption and supporting the sustainability of accessible evidence-based pharmacy practice. Degrees offered are: Doctor of Pharmacy, PharmD/MBA, PharmD/MPH, PharmD/PhD.  Furthermore, Certificate in Entrepreneurship and Certificate in Nuclear Pharmacy are the two certificate programs available.

UAMS Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health

The mission of the Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health is to improve the health and promote the well-being of individuals, families, and communities in Arkansas through education, research, and service. Degrees offered are:  Master of Science in Healthcare Data Analytics, Master of Health Administration, Master of Public Health (MPH) in Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Environmental Health Sciences, Health Behavior and Health Education, Health Policy and Management, and Climate, Rural, and Global Public Health (online only). Doctor of Philosophy in Epidemiology, Health Systems and Services Research, Health Promotion and Prevention Research, as well as Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) in Public Health Leadership.

UAMS Graduate School

UAMS Graduate School enables graduate and professional students to undertake scholarly study and advanced research and prepare for professional work. School offers several graduate programs leading to Graduate Certificates, MS, and PhD degrees.  Graduate Program in Interdisciplinary Biomedical Sciences (GPIBS), that after completing a common core curriculum, allows students to select among six different tracks that include Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Physiology, Microbiology and Immunology, Neuroscience, Pathobiology, or Pharmacology-Toxicology and Experimental Therapeutics.  It also has graduate programs in Bioinformatics, Biomedical Informatics, Clinical Nutrition, Clinical and Translational Sciences, Communication Sciences and Disorders, Epidemiology, Health Promotion and Prevention Research, Health Systems and Services Research, Implementation Science, Nursing Science, Pharmaceutical Science, and Regulatory Sciences.

iv.     Advanced Institutes

  1. The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute serves as the official cancer research and treatment institution in Arkansas. The Cancer Institute was founded as the Arkansas Cancer Research Center in 1984 and renamed to honor the late lieutenant governor of Arkansas in 2007. A 12-floor expansion opened in 2010. The Cancer Institute has more than 130,000 patient visits per year.
  2. The Harvey & Bernice Jones Eye Institute was founded in 1994 and houses the Department of Ophthalmology and the Pat & Willard Walker Eye Research Center. Through a nationwide network, the Arkansas Lions Eye Bank & Laboratory at UAMS provides the gift of sight to more than 400 patients each year.
  3. The UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute, adjacent to the main hospital, opened in 2009 and combines psychiatric research and education with inpatient and outpatient care as one of the most innovative psychiatric treatment and research facilities in the nation.
  4. The Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute at UAMS is a center for research, education and clinical care related to the spine and features an expansive physical therapy room with special equipment that can measure minute improvements in patients’ progress and a wheelchair-accessible swimming pool designed for water therapy.
  5. The Donald W. Reynolds Institute on Aging, home to the UAMS College of Medicine Department of Geriatrics, is one of the most recognized geriatric centers in the nation. The department was established in 1997 and by 2003 was listed in the top 10 geriatrics programs in medical schools by U.S. News and World Report. The Institute on Aging in 2012 opened a four-floor, 55,000-square-foot expansion, bringing the institute to eight floors. Two months earlier the institute dedicated a 396-foot pedestrian bridge connecting the Reynolds Institute with the nearby Jackson T. Stephens Spine & Neurosciences Institute.
  6. In 2011, UAMS established the Translational Research Institute for stimulating cooperative research that accelerates translation and application of scientific discoveries into clinical and community settings.
  7. In 2024, Institute for Community Health Innovation was established for working with communities to create a better state of health for all. The institute seeks to identify and understand health needs through research and programs and work to create an environment where every person has access to their best health.