The OAACD leads several programs and initiatives to recognize faculty accomplishments. Each year, the Annual Faculty Awards Program is held to recognize the achievements of our faculty. Each award (except the Team Awards) may be awarded in two classifications: junior faculty, staff physician or staff psychologist, and senior faculty, staff physician or staff psychologist. Award categories include:

• Advocacy Achievement Award
• Clinical Care Achievement Award
• Educational Achievement Award
• Entrepreneurial Achievement Award
• Mentoring Achievement Award
• Basic Science Research Achievement Award
• Clinical / Translational Research Achievement Award
• Service Achievement Award
• Clinical Team Award
• Research Team Award

The Hidden Gem Awards are given on a quarterly basis to allow faculty to nominate their colleagues for continually making exceptional contributions to Cincinnati Children's or the local, regional, or national community through their clinical, research, educational, advocacy, or community work, and/or improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and health equity. Awardees are recognized on the OAACD intranet site, in its e-newsletters, on the OAACD’s Twitter feed, and on a poster that is displayed at the Annual Faculty Awards Ceremony. Winners also receive a small token to represent their receipt of the award.

Each May, the OAACD celebrates Faculty Development Month by hosting weekly events to celebrate and acknowledge faculty. Some of our past events have included chair massages, boxed lunches, grab-and-go coffee and donuts, an afternoon sweet treat, etc.

New Faculty Orientation provides new faculty members with an opportunity to meet and network with other new faculty members, learn about resources available to them and strategies to be successful as a new faculty member, and collect information about an array of resources directly from representatives of different programs at Cincinnati Children’s including the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and Training, Sponsored Research Services, Biomedical Informatics, Shared Facilities, the Scientific Recruitment Team, Media Relations, and others.

The Junior Faculty Boot Camp orients new faculty to the academic health center and helps them build the skills needed to launch a successful career in academic medicine. This annual event also helps attendees gain a clearer understanding of the expectations of their new roles, identify skills gaps, and learn leadership skills, all while getting to know their new colleagues from across the institution.

The OAACD staff maintain a calendar of national foundation grants / awards and sends weekly notifications to faculty regarding upcoming funding opportunities. Some grants have limitations on the number of applications they will accept from a single institution. In these instances, the OAACD manages the internal selection process for these grants / awards. Information regarding deadlines, materials required, etc. is communicated to faculty via the OAACD weekly.