Team science criteria and processes for promotion and tenure of Health Science University Faculty.

Although team science has expanded with far-reaching benefits, universities generally have not established criteria to recognize its value in faculty promotion and tenure. This paper recommends how institutions might weigh a faculty member's engagement in team science in the promotion and tenure process. Seventeen team science promotion and tenure criteria are recommended based on four sources - an evaluation framework, effectiveness metrics, collaborative influences, and authorship criteria. Suggestions are made for adaptation of the 17 criteria to committee guidelines, faculty team science portfolios, and the roles of individuals and institutions participating in large, cross-disciplinary research projects. Future research recommendations are advanced.

Racial variance in rationale for HIV testing in community-based setting in the United States: evidence from the National Health Interview Survey.

BACKGROUND: HIV testing varies across racial/ethnic groups in the United States, but it is unclear whether the rationale for testing differs as well racially. The authors aimed to assess the rationale for HIV testing and the racial/ethnic variation therein. METHODS: Using the National Health Interview Survey 2003 (n = 29 753), the authors examined the association between rationale for HIV testing and race. Chi-square statistic and multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to test for racial differences and the effect of race/ethnicity on the rationale for HIV testing. RESULTS: There was a statistically significant racial difference with respect to HIV testing rationale, chi(2) = (24, N = 10,481) = 808.9, P < .001. After adjustment for relevant covariates, compared with Caucasians, African Americans were 37% less likely to be tested due to exposure to sex/drugs, whereas Hispanics were not (prevalence risk ratio [PRR], 0.63, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.47-0.84, respectively). Likewise African Americans and Hispanics were less likely to be tested if they were sick or had a medical problem (PRR = 0.66, 95% CI = 0.44-0.99 and PRR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.43-0.98). CONCLUSIONS: Substantial racial variation occurred in the reasons for being tested for HIV in the United States, indicative of the need to understand such rationale for effective HIV screening and testing.