Introduction
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.
2021 Uniform Application Dates
NCAF believes that the healthcare industry will benefit from better coordination across the field in the development and operation of fellowship programs. Members agree to abide by the guidelines of the NCAF Code of Good Practice, which includes upholding uniform application dates. For 2021, these dates are:
• A uniform application deadline: Friday, October 1, 2021.
• A uniform offer acceptance date: Thursday, November 11, 2021.
• NAFCAS Application Cycle 2 will run from November 22, 2021–January 31, 2022. Note: Deadlines may vary for all available fellowship sites.
• Once the application closes on Friday, October 1, 2021, 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 November 11, 2021, 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 November 11, 2021, 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 November 11, 2021, applicants must be given a minimum of 24 hours to make their decision. Again, applicants may only hold one offer at a time.
• The complete Code of Good Practice can be found here.
NAFCAS: The Centralized Application Service for Administrative Fellowships
NCAF offers a centralized application service (NAFCAS) to simplify the application process for fellowship applicants and administrative fellowship sites. NAFCAS provides a one-stop-shop for administrative fellowship sites, applicants/students, and faculty/staff.
The NAFCAS 2021-2022 has two application cycles:
• NAFCAS Application Cycle 1 will run from June 10, 2021–October 1, 2021.
• NAFCAS Application Cycle 2 will run from November 22, 2021–January 31, 2022.*
Students/Applicants: Visit the perspective fellow resource center for more information.
Membership Categories, Requirements, and Benefits
NCAF membership is on an annual bases and runs from January–December or July–June. The membership fee for all administrative fellowship sites and graduate health management programs is $1,100 + one time $350 member set up fee. Join us in accelerating early-career development for our next generation of leaders.
| MEMBERSHIP REQUIREMENTS AND BENEFITS | Administrative Fellowship & Leadership Development Sites | Graduate Health Management Programs |
|---|---|---|
| Participation in the NCAF Council & Subcommittees | * | * |
| Access to one-of-a kind administrative fellowship benchmarking data (including data around market trend, applicants, fellowship sites, graduate programs, and fellows) | * | * |
| Access to NCHL team to provide data related requests and reports | * | * |
| Access to NAFCAS, the centralized application service, a one stop shop for recruitment during Cycle 1 & Cycle 2 | * | |
| Access to NAFCAS student fee waivers (two per program/annually) | * | |
| Access to NCAF's Summer Enrichment Series for graduate students | * | |
| National visibility, recognition, and searchability around on NCHL's year-round searchable administrative fellowship directory | * | |
| Name and Organization Website Recognition on NCHL website and social media platforms | * | * |
| Receipt of bimonthly administrative fellowship updates including newsletters and other communications | * | * |
| Promotion of administrative fellowship informational sessions | * | |
| Promotion of program/organization at fellowship fairs and industry events | * | * |
| Access to educational opportunities such as webinars, virtual reading clubs, and other learning events | * | * |
| Involvement as a thought leader in an ongoing national dialogue about continuously improving fellowship opportunities | * | * |
| Sharing of best practices, including customized questions such as summer internships, administering fellowships, and more | * | * |
| Visible commitment to a standardized recruitment process and adherence to the Code of Good Practice | * | * |
| Networking, peer to peer collaboration, and ability to direct the future of administrative fellowships | * | * |
| Access to NCAF's annual member meeting | * | * |
List of Members
* Denotes NCAF Affiliate members, including graduate schools with non-CAHME accredited programs and fellowship sites that are currently not offering a nationally competitive administrative fellowship
History of NCAF
Administrative fellowships typically involve one-to-two-year roles taken by recent graduates from master’s level programs (e.g., MHA, MHP, MPH, MPP, MBA, or equivalent degrees) and prepare early careerists for leadership-track careers in the health sector. Although these programs are widely viewed as highly valuable, there is equally widespread recognition that the historical ‘free market’ approach resulted in a highly inefficient process, one that created significant and needless pressure on student applicants, interfered substantially with their graduate studies, and resulted in substantial variability in program quality.
In 2014, NCHL in collaboration with AUPHA and CAHME embarked on an exploratory project to determine whether there was a critical mass of interest in the field to pursue a more organized and collaborative approach to the fellowship process. This included two national surveys, one of graduate program directors and one of fellowship preceptors, as well as a series of information sessions with representatives from stakeholder groups throughout year. These efforts indicated clear interest and need for the (1) establishment of a “Code of Good Practice” and (2) establishment of an oversight body to ensure the Code is upheld.
The member-supported National Council on Administrative Fellowships was launched on October 1, 2014. NCAF members publicly agree to hold themselves and each other accountable to upholding and evolving the Code of Good Practice over time. NCAF does a variety of work to help students/applicants, fellowship sites, fellows, and graduate health management programs. Work includes
• Collecting annual benchmarking data around recruitment and career trajectory that is provided to members (click here to view a sample executive summary)
• Hosting educational webinars, discussion circles, and a reading club to help share best practices and create peer to peer learning
• Assisting in the creation of new fellowship sites and leadership development opportunities through our Guide to Implementing Administrative Fellowships (available upon request)
• Providing leadership and project oriented opportunities on a national level through participation on NCAF’s Steering Committee and four Subcommittees.
NCAF Steering Committee & Subcommittees
NCAF’s agenda is member centric. Our Council consists of a Steering Committee and four subcommittees, all comprising members of the top fellowship/leadership development programs and graduate health management programs.
2021 Steering Committee
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.
Chair: Troy Treanor, Director, Women’s Cancer & Specialty Services, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) *
Suzanne Austin Boren, PhD, Associate Professor and Director, Graduate Studies, University of Missouri †
D’Anne Carpenter, Executive Director, Talent Development, Trinity Health *
Gina Cronin, Executive Director, Global Leadership & Learning Institute, Cleveland Clinic *
Conan Dickson, PhD, Senior Director, Business Development, Johns Hopkins Medicine *
Samuel Friede, Assistant Professor and Director, External Relations, Health Policy & Management, University of Pittsburgh †
Diane Howard, PhD, Director, Student Development & Associate Director, Department of Health Systems Management, Rush University †
Jami Jones, PhD, Chair, Department of Healthcare Leadership and Management, Medical University of South Carolina †
Christopher Louis, PhD, Assistant Professor of Health Law, Policy, and Management & Program Director, Healthcare Management, Boston University †
Mina Noohi Mirshafiee, Organizational Effectiveness Consultant, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles *
Julie Robbins, PhD, Director, MHA Program, The Ohio State University †
2021 Benchmarking, Metrics, & Research Subcommittee
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 †
Victoria Bratcher, Director, Population Health, Indiana University Health *
Eric Brichto, Director & Counsel, Accreditation Operations, Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Management (CAHME) †
Suzanne Austin Boren, PhD, Associate Professor & Director of Graduate Studies, University of Missouri †
Scott Cook, Administrative Fellow, CHI Health *
Conan Dickson, PhD, Senior Director, Business Development, Johns Hopkins Medicine *
Marilyn Ho, Administrative Chief of Staff, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles *
Nathaniel Kunce, Business Analyst, Business Operations, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center *
Rachel Lefebvre, Vice President, Operations & Senior Military Advisor, Lehigh Valley Health Network
2021 Long-term Planning & Special Projects Subcommittee
NCAF’s Long-Term Planning & Special Projects Subcommittee focuses on current and future projects the council can lead for its members as well as the field.
Chair: Sam Friede, Assistant Professor & & Director of External Relations, Department of Health Policy and Management, University Pittsburgh †
Tracy Bender, Senior Talent Management and Career Enrichment Consultant, Trinity Health *
Jami Jones, PhD, Chair, Department of Healthcare Leadership and Management, Medical University of South Carolina †
David Keyes, Program Director, Deland Fellowship in Health Care and Society, Brigham & Women’s Hospital *
Christopher Louis, PhD, Assistant Professor & Program Director, Healthcare Management, Boston University †
Marilynn McCoy, Deployment Leader, Akron Children’s Hospital *
David Moxley, Associate Director, Executive Programs, University of Missouri †
Joe Riggs, Associate Director, Operations, Johns Hopkins Medicine*
Carolyn Salsgiver, Vice President, Strategy & Business Planning, Yale New Haven Health System *
2021 Membership & Outreach Subcommittee
NCAF’s Membership & Outreach Subcommittee creates opportunities of growth for the field, including the creation of new fellowship/leadership development programs, resources needed in the field, and increasing diversity of programs available for early careerists.
Chair: Nicole Powell, Manager, Anatomic Pathology, Trinity Health *
Madelyn Van Tassel, Program Coordinator, Administrative Fellowship & Group Practice Director, Department of Neurosurgery, Henry Ford Health System *
Susan Castagna, Strategy Project Assistant, Yale New Haven Health System *
Alex Catalano, Director, Wound Healing Services Service Line, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center *
Megan Howell, Access Business Manager, Stanford Children’s Health, Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford *
Jami Jones, PhD, Chair, Department of Healthcare Leadership and Management, Medical University of South Carolina †
David Moxley, Associate Director, Executive Programs, University of Missouri †
Casey Sparks, Project Manager, Rush University Medical Center *
2021 Fellows Education Subcommittee
NCAF’s Fellows Education Subcommittee provides educational resources to current and future fellows/young leaders by creating virtual opportunities of learning and networking.
Chair: Mina Noohi Mirshafiee, Organizational Effectiveness Consultant, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) *
Madelyn Van Tassel, Program Coordinator, Administrative Fellowship & Group Practice Director, Department of Neurosurgery, Henry Ford Health System *
Kaitlyn Nease, Assistant Director, Organizational Culture, Cone Health *
Nina Williams, Project Manager, Mount Sinai Health System *
Erica Kahl, Manager, Accountable Care Relationships, WellSpan Health *
Troy Treanor, Director, Women’s Cancer & Specialty Services, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) *
Brianna Clare, Administrative Fellow, Cleveland Clinic Health System *
Khadyja Sarr, Administrative Fellow, Montefiore Medical Center *
* Administrative fellowship sites
† Graduate health management programs
Become an NCAF Member
NCAF members include administrative fellowship sites and graduate health management programs. Members join as an organization, not on an individual basis.