Sad, but true.
As a former clinical assistant professor, I had an agreement to have protected time to perform research in 2008. Due to illness and a change in staffing, I lost that protected time. My clinical services were needed, and my research time was taken away. I resolved to make my teaching and clinical services my priorities. When the affected individual returned to work later in 2009, my reward was that I was given more teaching responsibilities and no time or funding for research. As I scrambled for grants and contacted industries to help support funding after the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009, I came to realize that the likelihood for funding was gone. Without prior research or publications, no funding was available to support time off from clinical work for independent research. This did not stop me from continuing my clinical work and research, once I left the world of academia. I became self-funded by dedicating a percentage of my salary to research purposes.
I believe that self-funding is the way to go. If Universities will not use their endowments to invest in research at their institutions where their review boards approve the research, then why should the janitorial staff that cleans the research buildings pay for the research with their tax dollars. If Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery are dedicated to researchers, then use clinical dollars to support the research that needs to be done. Shift funds generated from ancillary personnel, such as NP’s and PA’s and Fellows, to a core research fund. Researchers need to be held accountable for the costs of their studies for there are no more blank checks.
Sad, but true.
As a former clinical assistant professor, I had an agreement to have protected time to perform research in 2008. Due to illness and a change in staffing, I lost that protected time. My clinical services were needed, and my research time was taken away. I resolved to make my teaching and clinical services my priorities. When the affected individual returned to work later in 2009, my reward was that I was given more teaching responsibilities and no time or funding for research. As I scrambled for grants and contacted industries to help support funding after the economic downturn of 2008 and 2009, I came to realize that the likelihood for funding was gone. Without prior research or publications, no funding was available to support time off from clinical work for independent research. This did not stop me from continuing my clinical work and research, once I left the world of academia. I became self-funded by dedicating a percentage of my salary to research purposes.
I believe that self-funding is the way to go. If Universities will not use their endowments to invest in research at their institutions where their review boards approve the research, then why should the janitorial staff that cleans the research buildings pay for the research with their tax dollars. If Departments of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery are dedicated to researchers, then use clinical dollars to support the research that needs to be done. Shift funds generated from ancillary personnel, such as NP’s and PA’s and Fellows, to a core research fund. Researchers need to be held accountable for the costs of their studies for there are no more blank checks.