Challenges and Opportunities on Health Sciences Regional Campuses: A Multidiscipline, Multicampus Survey.

Abstract

We explored faculty and staff perceptions of the challenges and opportunities of working on regional campuses of a large academic health science center. The growth of multicampus academic institutions presents numerous issues for intercampus planning and for organizational/professional relationships. We were interested in learning how regional campus faculty and staff experienced these issues, with the practical goal of making recommendations to both central and regional campus administrations. A cross-sectional, online survey was distributed to faculty and staff who worked at regional campuses of a large health sciences university. Regional faculty and staff felt more valued by local colleagues and administrators than by their central campus counterparts. Top challenges were central administration's lack of communication and understanding of regionals' unique circumstances and needs. Regional campuses' workplace experience is significantly different from that of central campus. More timely communication and active solicitation of regional campus input are needed.