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One of the premier programs of NCHL, the National Council on Administrative Fellowships (NCAF) is leading the way across the country to build the bridge between practice and academia. It is made up of fellowship sites and graduate health management programs that are working together to continuously improve early-career development opportunities for our next generation healthcare leaders. NCAF creates an industry standard in the recruitment for administrative fellows. In doing so, NCAF allows for a uniform and coordinated recruitment process, helps organizations access a national pipeline of the next generation of healthcare industry leaders, and brings fellowship sites and graduate health management programs together to share ideas and best practices.
The National Council on Administrative Fellowships began on October 1, 2014. As of January 2022, NCAF is made up of 122 member organizations including both fellowship sites and graduate health management programs. These organizations work collaboratively to continuously improve early-career development opportunities for our next-generation healthcare leaders.
The National Council on Administrative Fellowships brings tremendous value and impact to the industry. Cornerstones of the program include:
NCAF believes that the healthcare industry will benefit from better coordination across the field in the development and operation of fellowship programs. All members agree to abide by the guidelines of the NCAF Code of Good Practice, which includes upholding uniform application dates.
2022
• A uniform application deadline: First Friday in October (Friday, October 7, 2022)
• A uniform offer acceptance date: Second Thursday in November (Thursday, November 10, 2022)
• NAFCAS Application Cycle 2 will run from the third Monday in November (November 21, 2022) through the last Monday in January (January 30, 2023) Note: Deadlines may vary for all available fellowship sites.
• Once the application closes on the first Friday in October at 11:59:59 PM ET, fellowship sites are able to make formal, written offers as they choose.
• Applicants are not required to accept any offer until the second Thursday in November Noon CT, which is the official offer acceptance day. Applicants may choose to accept, decline, or put an offer on hold. Note: Applicants may only hold one offer at a time.
• Applicants should accept or decline any offers before or on the second Thursday in November at Noon CT. Fellowships may elect to extend offers to alternate applicants for positions that have not been accepted by that time or may choose to provide the applicant with additional time to make a decision.
• If a fellowship site is extending a formal, written offer on or after the second Thursday in November, applicants must be given a minimum of 24 hours to make their decision. Again, applicants may only hold one offer at a time.
NCAF members get exclusive access to a centralized application service (NAFCAS) to simplify the application process for fellowship applicants and administrative fellowship sites. NAFCAS is a one-stop-shop for administrative fellowship sites, applicants/students, and faculty/staff.
The NAFCAS 2022-2023 has two application cycles:
• NAFCAS Application Cycle 1 will run from the second Thursday in June (June 9, 2022) through the first Friday in October (October 7, 2022)
• NAFCAS Application Cycle 2 will run from the third Monday in (November 21, 2022) through the last Monday in January (January 30, 2023)
Visit the prospective fellow resource center for more information.
NAFCAS is powered by Liaison International
NCHL conducts four annual benchmarking surveys to assess trends, impact, and challenges that exist in the graduate healthcare administrative fellowship area. NCHL reports aggregated responses back to participants and to the broader graduate healthcare management community. Responses provide everyone with important knowledge on the current state of fellowships and help our program members navigate the future of administrative fellowships. 2022 results of the NCAF benchmarking surveys will be released in early spring.
NCAF’s agenda is member-centric. The NCAF governance structure is comprised of a Steering Committee and two workgroups, the Benchmarking, Metrics Research Workgroup, and the Emerging Leaders Advancement Workgroup. The Steering Committee and Workgroups are comprised of members from the top fellowship and leadership development programs and graduate health management programs.
NCAF’s Steering Committee strategically sets the direction of NCAF’S forward trajectory, in alignment with membership goals and to advise the NCHL staff on the evolving Code of Good Practice, membership, long-term strategy, events/meetings/webinars, development, partnerships, research and data collection, and member communication. NCAF is currently reevaluating its subcommittee structure and future plans for 2022 will be shared soon. NCAF’s current subcommittee is featured below.
Chair: Troy Treanor, Director, Women’s Cancer & Specialty Services, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) *
NCAF’s Benchmarking, Metrics, & Research Subcommittee collects comprehensive data from fellowship sites/leadership development programs, fellows/young leaders, graduate health management programs, and applicants/students to analyze and evaluate fellowships/leadership development programs.
Chair: Julie Robbins, PhD, Director, MHA Program, The Ohio State University †
Planning for the 2022 Summer Enrichment series is underway.
Watch previous content from our 2020 series.
NCAF membership is on an annual basis and runs from January to December or July to June.
In 2022, the membership fee for all administrative fellowship sites and graduate health management programs is $1,250 + one time $500 member set up fee. Join us in accelerating early-career development for our next generation of leaders. Review all the member benefits included when your organization joins NCAF here.
NCAF members include administrative fellowship sites and graduate health management programs. Members join as an organization, not on an individual basis.