(409) Empowering Educators: Wellness and Development at the University of Saint Joseph

Objective: To evaluate the engagement of pharmacy faculty in school and university-wide events designed to enhance pedagogy, scholarship, leadership, service and wellness.

Methods: An anonymous survey comprising 25 items was distributed to pharmacy faculty members to gather feedback on professional development and social events held between August 2022 and April 2024. Events included school-wide events (faculty-led pearls and lunch-and-learns) and university-wide events hosted by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness (OIE) or other organizations. Survey items included attendance at each event and faculty perception on the contribution of the event to their teaching, scholarship, leadership, service and/or wellness based on a Likert scale.

Results: The survey response rate was 93.3%. All faculty attended at least one faculty-led pearl or lunch- and- learn session. The majority of the faculty either agreed (42.9%) or strongly agreed (42.9%) that the faculty-led pearls contributed to their teaching, and similar results were noted for the lunch-and-learn sessions (agreed:35.7%; strongly agreed: 57.1%). All faculty attended at least one event hosted by OIE and agreed (35.7%) or strongly agreed (42.9%) that OIE events contributed mostly to improvement of teaching. Other university-wide events did not have strong attendance due to inconvenient time, excessive workload, and lack of relevant subject matter. Overall, most faculty indicated that these school or university events did not significantly contribute to their scholarship, leadership, or service. All faculty attended at least one social event and agreed (28.6%) or strongly agreed (71.4%) that these events improved their wellness.

Conclusion: Pharmacy faculty engagement in events positively contributed to their teaching and wellness. To further augment faculty development, upcoming events should include topics designed to enhance scholarship, leadership, and service.