GSA Performance Framework

The GSA Performance Framework sets the benchmark of performance excellence and distinguishes the importance of student affairs in medical education as a profession.

Explore the GSA Performance Framework, the foundation of the GSA PDI, for role-based critical behaviors that serve as guideposts for excellence across student affairs. Learn more about the GSA Core Values and Guiding Principles and the core components of the GSA PDI.

It outlines critical behaviors essential for successful performance and career progression, inclusive of all roles and functions across the GSA community, in alignment with the LCME standards.

The Framework consists of four components:

1. GSA Core Values and Guiding Principles
2. Common Areas
3. Areas of Expertise
4. Benchmarks

In addition, learn more about how to use the framework and find the full framework here.

Define what is most important to the GSA community and set a guidepost for how professionals should strive to perform their work.

Four areas of critical behaviors essential for successful performance for all student affairs professionals; regardless of specific titles, roles, and services provided.

• Leadership: Position self and others to successfully maximize their potential and achieve targeted results while exhibiting the highest ethical and professional standards of performance. Sustain a supportive and inclusive climate, engaging others through role modeling, meaningful work, accountability, and targeted professional development.
• Organizational Acumen: Apply essential business practices to plan, manage and execute work priorities to navigate effectively in a dynamic environment. Contribute to the achievement of targeted, strategic results in compliance with relevant institutional and external requirements and standards.
• Relationships: Cultivate and sustain mutually beneficial and collaborative alliances through effective communication practices. Engage self and others by understanding and capitalizing on personal strengths, perspectives, and preferences to promote inclusion and shared commitment for achieving desired results.
• Service: Provide guidance and resources to enable effective support of students in their pursuit of a career in medicine. Promote and capitalize on the application of products/resources, services, and capabilities across the academic health center to increase the value and impact of student affairs and student success.

Eight areas of more technical critical behaviors essential for successful performance unique to specific roles, functions, and services provided.

• Student Wellness & Mental Health: Build, promote, and manage programs, policies and interventions to enable student wellness and mental health. Collaborate across the academic health center and broader community to recognize and counsel students as necessary to sustain optimal health, wellness, and performance.
• Student Academic Progression: Build, promote, and leverage resources, policies, programs, and interventions to enable successful academic progression for all students. Collaborate across the academic health center and broader community to help students proactively address and mitigate risks and issues necessary to optimize their educational experience and growth.
• Student Diversity & Inclusion: Position diversity as a key driver of educational excellence, a diverse physician workforce, and ultimately equitable health care for all. Advocate for and foster an inclusive, engaging environment to optimize student performance and experience.
• Student Professional & Career Development: Empower and guide students in setting and advancing their achievement of effective, individual-driven career and professional goals. Provide students resources and a supportive community of advisors, mentors, and staff to promote their development and transition from medical school to residency training.
• Unit Operations Management: Establish, execute, and allocate resources necessary to support strategic and programmatic goals and priorities and overall direction of student affairs. Lead efforts to maintain ongoing alignment of services and programs with the dynamic needs of students and the mission of the school.
• Student Records Management: Interpret, communicate, and act in accordance with the laws, regulations, and school standards for maintaining the academic records of students. Establish and oversee processes to ensure the ongoing integrity, security, and fulfillment of information needs.
• Medical School Recruitment & Admission: Develop and execute effective, data-driven pipeline programs and admission policies, processes, and practices to ensure a broadly diverse and well-rounded student body that advances the mission of the medical school.
• Student Financial Assistance: Provide medical students, applicants, and graduates with sufficient financial aid and effective debt management counseling, education, and resources. Establish mechanisms and recognize opportunities to enable students to minimize medical education debt.

To accommodate the diversity of position descriptions, titles, and roles across the GSA community, three performance benchmarks were developed and validated to support the professional development and talent management practices of all GSA professionals. Each benchmark represents a grouping of critical behaviors, ranging from tactical to strategic, that align with typical roles present across student affairs functions in medical education.

The critical behaviors within each benchmark set a common standard of performance excellence against which professionals can confirm their responsibilities in their current roles and assess their capabilities. The benchmarks can also be used to identify development opportunities to facilitate ongoing success, both in current and aspirational roles.

Note: It is inherent in the Framework that the three benchmarks are related and progressive. Each provides the foundational building blocks to progress to the next benchmark.

The Framework was developed to complement and enhance current professional development practices and results for all GSA professionals and the larger community.