AHC FCC MEETING

Thursday, April 2, 2009

10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

Children’s Rehab Center, Room 406

These minutes reflect discussion and debate at a committee meeting of the University of Minnesota Senate or Twin Cities Campus Delegation; none of the comments, conclusions, or actions reported in these minutes represents the views of, nor are they binding on, the Senate or Delegation, the Administration, or the Board of Regents.

Present: Brian Isetts (chair), Colin Campbell, Susan Berry, Vernon Weckwerth, Steve Downing, Peter Davies, Paul Olin

Absent: Cheryl Robertson

Guest: Mark Paller, AHC Sr. Vice President for Research

Chair Isetts called the meeting to order at 10:00 a.m. The minutes from the March, 2009 meeting were approved unanimously.

The Future of the Committee

Isetts addressed the need for members to review the focus, goals and activities of the committee. He said they need to consider what it is they are producing and doing as a committee, and think about what activities are inconsistent with the goals of faculty governance and should be dropped, and what activities they could be doing better and how.

Isetts distributed a copy of the AHC constitution and briefed it with members. He said that continuing the monthly meetings with Dr. Cerra are essential for the committee. Professor Berry thinks that the committee’s conversation with Dr. Cerra last month helped to reinforce with him the need for consultation with the committee. Members agreed that whatever differences they had with administration in regard to how recent decisions were handled, Dr. Cerra does see the committee as an important and viable group. Professor Olin stated that they have been consulted on very few things and asked what the role is of faculty governance. It is his opinion that there are really only two to three people making the decisions for the AHC. He said that if the committee is really going to be consultative there are issues that should be voted on more often and they (the committee) should have their view heard prior to final decision-making. He does not see that administration has taken the broader knowledge base of the faculty. Isetts said that this is their opportunity to voice their opinion and make proposals to Cerra on how they want to proceed as a committee. Berry added that the non-tenure track clinical scholars are not allowed a vote in regard to tenure-track faculty advancement and thinks there will be a rise from scholars about this. Olin said that scholars knew the limits of their positions when they accepted them and gave an example of the dean at the dentistry school that tried to broaden group decision-making. The result was that faculty members discussed the inclusion of others, and it did not work out. Members briefly discussed the continuation for the yearly Fall Faculty Forum and the third Thursday’s Reception. Berry said that the Forum seems like a lot of work for a small audience and the impact is hard to measure. However, all agreed that both functions served a good networking purpose. They agreed that they should continue doing the Third Thursdays.

Awards Screening Committee

Members discussed the continuation of serving as the screening committee for both the Academy for Excellence in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and the Academy for Excellence in Health Research. Berry thinks the research award should be taken off of the committee’s agenda because the awardee group has matured to the degree that AHC FCC review would be redundant. She thinks they should go ahead and screen the nominees for next year’s teaching and learning award as all members do have a connection to the purpose of the award, which is teaching, and that this is a new award and there are only a few Academy members at this time.

Mark Paller, AHC Senior Vice President for Research

Isetts introduced Dr. Paller to members and began by asking what he sees as the role of the screening committee for the Academy for Excellence in Health Research. Dr. Paller gave a brief history of the Academy. He said that his office primarily does the operations component and that the collaboration with the AHC-FCC has been useful but not necessary. Isetts pointed out that his group is not qualified as a research-screening group and asked how far into the screening Dr. Paller would like for them to go. Paller gave a brief history of the process and said that screening the applications has become easier with time, though it is still very time consuming. Berry said that she thinks one of the biggest benefits to the AHC-FCC assisting in the screening is the diversity they offer having a different background outside of research. Paller stated that he would like to see more diversity within the nominees but he thinks those who consider applying may compare themselves with past recipients and think they would not fit into that group. He would like for the academy to look at a broader spectrum of nominees’ qualifications. Paller and Isetts agreed that Paller’s office would take over the screening detail, and the AHC-FCC would continue to promote it and encourage participation in the award. Members stated that they still wanted to be in touch with who the applicants are and their disciplines. Isetts suggested he receive one copy of each application dossier for discussion of the nominees at the AHC-FCC’s May meeting. Paller and AHC-FCC members all agreed on the new process. Lisa Towry, assistant to the committee, University Senate Office, will have applications delivered to Paller’s office, with a copy going to Isetts after the April 3, 2009 due date.

On a different note, Professor Weckwerth asked Paller about his consultative insight. Paller said that he finds tremendous value in honest input from faculty because they are closer to the heart of operations than administration. He finds the difficult part of getting the proper input is that various tasks require input from different faculty groups and that can be very time consuming. It is his observation that administration mandates, while faculty problem solves. He receives faculty consultation from all units he is responsible for on many major decisions. He said that there is no overlap between the consultative groups. When asked if he would use the AHC-FCC as a consultative group, he stated that he did not know if he would because they do not do any of the decision-making on things he is working on.

The Next Meeting with Dr. Cerra

It was proposed that at the next meeting with Dr. Cerra they discuss the next Fall Faculty Forum, including a discussion about potential topics such as the value of clinical scholar input and how to acknowledge that for next year. Olin suggested a discussion about what the faculty of the future should look like. Berry said they should clarify the roles of tenured faculty and clinical scholars and the relationships to each other. It was also suggested that they define clinical scholars by school. Professor Downing stated that consultation is a strong issue in Duluth as teaching track faculty have no say in decision-making and no path for advancement. Members discussed the missing links of decision-making input by deans in each of the different schools. Olin pointed out that the deans supported the Graduate School decision and they were not in touch with the decision being made.

Isetts asked if the Finance and Planning Committee should continue to meet. Olin thinks that it is a good conduit of information. He is waiting to get more direction from Dr. Cerra.

Members discussed membership for the AHC-FCC and the F&P committees for 2009-2010. They agreed to call for nominations next month.

Professor Downing suggested that at each meeting they ask Dr. Cerra to come up with one topic that he would like to be consulted on. By doing that, it would forge the consultative role for the committee. That would give time to consult with individual members and faculty and bring it back to the table. Members liked the idea and agreed to implement it.

Terms of Office and Officer Elections

A.) AHC-FCC Members whose terms of office expire June 30, 2009 are Paul Olin, Susan Berry and Cheryl Robertson. All three individuals are eligible to serve one more three-year term on the AHC-FCC. Therefore, Elections need to take place within the School’s of Dentistry, Medicine, and Nursing within the next 2-3 months. Olin, Berry and Robertson will be asked to facilitate the election process within their individual AHC School’s. It is very important that these individuals inform AHC staff and the University Senate Office how and when the election process for AHC-FCC representative within their individual schools will take place.

It was also noted that AHC-FCC Officer Elections for 2009-2010 will take place at the May meeting (5/7). Individuals who are eligible to be elected as an Officer include those individuals who have a term of office extending through next year, including Campbell, Davies, Downing, Isetts and Weckwerth. Nominations for AHC-FCC Chair and Vice-chair for 2009-2010 will be considered at the May 7^th meeting.

Chair Isetts adjourned the meeting at 11:29 a.m.

Lisa Towry

University Senate Office