Academic Health Center

Faculty Consultative Committee

December 6, 2007

Minutes of the Meeting

Present: Lois Heller, chair, Susan Berry, Barbara Brandt, Jeny Kertz, and Paul Olin

Absent: Peter Davies, Brian Isetts, George Maldonado, and Cheryl Robertson

{In these minutes: Third Thursday Events for AHC Faculty, AHCFCC sponsored Forums, Academy for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and a report from the FCC}

Professor Heller began the meeting with discussion of Third Thursday social events for Academic Health Center faculty. There are event posters up in all of the colleges and a notice of the event will go out in the AHC news capsules. The committee considered additional ways of getting the word out including postings in the University News Brief and a notice being sent to all AHC faculty consultative and advisory committees.

Members then discussed follow up on the November forum, “Creating Successful Mentoring Relationships.” Professor Carole Bland, Family Medicine and Community Health, has offered to be a resource to assist deans with starting, or further developing, mentoring programs tailored to the specific needs of individual colleges. Professor Heller will plan to contact Professor Bland about this idea.

Professor Heller asked members if there were any ideas for topics for next years’ forum. The committee will consider ideas submitted by the faculty and specifically ask the faculty advisory committee chairs of their respective colleges for input on possible topics for next years’ forum. Professor Berry suggested the idea of interdisciplinary research, saying that while this has been identified as a desirable goal for the AHC, there are a number of roadblocks and challenges to engaging in interdisciplinary work. She suggested the committee consider evaluating these challenges and determining effective means of promoting interdisciplinary research in the AHC.

Members discussed the format of the forum and whether it would improve attendance to reduce the time commitment and, or, the time of day the event is held. The committee will continue to discuss these issues at its January meeting.

Professor Heller noted that the FCC discussed the Institutional Review Board (IRB) standards for human subjects and Professor Jeff Kahn, director, Center for Bioethics, discussed concerns regarding the consistency of enforcement of regulation standards. The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs is renewing its accreditation to the University. The accreditation is valid for three years. Professor Berry opined that the Medical School employs rigorous standards for human subject related research and the standards are carefully enforced.

Barbara Brandt, associate vice president, Academic Health Center, then said she had been reviewing the 7-12 statements and less than ¼ of them included mentoring plans. She asked those who had omitted plans for mentoring faculty to revise the statement and include this information. She will discuss this further with the committee once all of the 7-12 statements have been resubmitted.

Vice President Brandt then turned to the subject of the Academy for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. She said the new posters featuring the Academy and the Academy of Excellence in Health Research have been put up in fifty locations across the AHC. A letter announcing the Academy for Excellence in the Scholarship and of Teaching and Learning and supporting the Academy of Excellence in Health Research, from she and Vice President Paller, will be sent to the deans, directors, and department heads. Vice President Brandt said the most effective way to generate nominations is through talking with colleagues and she encouraged the members to have those conversations. Members asked Vice President Brandt and Jeny Kertz, coordinator, AHC Communications, if they would be willing to provide a draft of an evaluation tool for the Academy for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning nominations. The tool that has been used for the Academy of Excellence in Health Research needs to be revised and it would be judicious to use a similar design for both evaluations. Vice President Brandt and Ms. Kertz agreed to create a draft for the Academy for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning nominations evaluation tool. They will discuss the evaluation process with the committee at the January meeting.

Hearing no further business, Professor Heller adjourned the meeting.

Sara Balick

University Senate