In the midst of winter, we offer a recap of Office for Senior Faculty Affairs (OSFA) Senior Thesis newsletters from July 2024 through January 2025. 

• In August, we reviewed our webinar on “The Nuts and Bults of Partial Retirement,” on the practical steps for cutting back while still staying involved (HMS titles, MGH access and benefits). You can rewatch the webinar, review some of the slides, or access a step-by-step checklist.
• In September, we shared what department chairs think a newly formed senior faculty office should tackle. Many of the topics they raised have been reflected in our programming, including leadership development, senior faculty transitions, and staying connected after partial/full retirement.
• In October, we gave a preview of our third Leadership Skills Retreat. Fear not if you missed it!—another (with new topics) is upcoming on March 31.
• In November, we summarized some of the pearls from our Leadership Skills speakers, including “A talk is not a publication, it’s theater,” and ““Add ‘No’ to your vocabulary. Say yes when you’re excited about a project, and you can deliver.”
• In December, we reviewed insights, tips, and pitfalls for promotion to HMS Full Professor, emphasizing that publication impact appears to be given increasing weight. One area not discussed was the newer path to Professor of Clinical X, but stay tuned: the OSFA has organized a panel of experts to speak on this topic in April.
• In January, we ran our first faculty transition webinar on the fraught topic of assessing and handling a decline in skills—whether clinical, scientific, administrative, or manual. OSFA will continue to hold events bringing this often hidden conversation into the open.

We hope that everyone is navigating this period full of changes without pulling their hair out! 

As always, please let us know how we can best support you.

Steve