Oakland University Senate
12 February 2009
Minutes
Members present: Andersen, Berven (D), Berven (K), Bhargava, Brown, Condic, Debnath, Doane, Dvir, Eberly-Lewis, Eis, English, Frick, Giblin, Goslin, Graetz, Grossman, Hawley, Hightower, Howell, Ingram, Keane, Khattree, Larrabee, Law-Sullivan, Lemarbe, Lombardo, Machmut-Jhashi, Meehan, Mittelstaedt, Mitton, Moore, Moudgil, Penprase, Polis, Preisinger, Rammel, Sangeorzan, Spagnuolo, Sudol, Thompson, Wharton, Wiggins, Williams, Wood, Zou
Members absent: Kusow, Medaugh, Mili, Moran, Murphy, Nixon, Pelfrey, Russell, Shablin, Tanniru, Townsend, Voelck
Summary of Actions:
1. Informational Item:
School of Medicine Update – Mr. Moudgil
2. Roll Call. Approval of minutes of 11-13-08. Mr. Frick, Ms. Eis
3. Motion to approve revised Constitution in the School of Business Administration. First reading. Mr. Polis, Ms. Moore
4. Motion to approve staffing of Senate standing committee. Ms. Howell, Ms. Lewis. Approved.
Calling the meeting to order at 3:15, Mr. Moudgil noted that Mr. Shablin was ill and thus would postpone discussion of the Full-Year Registration until next month. Mr. Moudgil then turned to updates on the School of Medicine. The Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), the accrediting body for medical schools, requires the appointment of key administrators and faculty prior to a site visit. Presently, there are five associate deans appointed, as required by LCME. Two are William Beaumont Hospital (WBH) employees, and are compensated by that institution: Dr. John Musich, Associate Dean of Graduate and Continuing Medical Education and Dr. David Felten, Associate Dean for Research and Clinical Research. The three administrators appointed by OUWBSOM are: Linda Gillum, Associate Dean of Academic Affairs and Faculty Development; Angela Nuzzarello, Associate Dean of Student Affairs; and Michele Raible, Associate Dean of Undergraduate Medical Education.
Mr. Moudgil expressed his gratitude for the support of the University Senate as regards the School of Medicine. The recent review of materials by the Senate standing committees as well as the amendment to the AAUP contract has now allowed the hiring of faculty for the School. The ratification vote by the AAUP members was 228-18, an overwhelming margin. The amendment now permits the establishment of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, which will allow the inclusion of faculty from multiple disciplines. He noted that a single academic department can contain faculty members with different specialties. Faculty hiring will be carried out by a core group of faculty in this new department. Dean Folberg is currently meeting with individual faculty members who have expressed an interest in becoming part of this core group. There are two types of appointments: a primary appointment for an individual in the medical school, and a secondary appointment, in which the individual maintains an appointment in his/her current unit, but has a secondary affiliation or adjunct position in the SOM. The most important aspect for medical school accreditation is the quality of teaching; thus, student evaluations will be significant for LCME’s consideration and for recruitment. Dean Folberg is creating a ‘master educator plan’ that will emphasize excellence in teaching, and that at a future time lab space will become viable to engage additional researchers.
Mr. Garner, of the student newspaper, asked whether the current plans for a research park in the community were made with the specific intention of integrating the medical school. Mr. Moudgil replied that he would defer the question to Mr. Russi. Mr. Goslin inquired whether replacements would be sought for faculty who take primary appointments in the SOM. Mr. Moudgil assured him that faculty lines would be replaced in the former unit. Mr. Khattree then asked about the tenure of faculty who move to the SOM, to which Mr. Moudgil replied that tenured faculty would not need to undergo another review, but that those who are at the c.1 or c.2 stage would follow criteria developed in the SOM. Mr. Khattree then observed that tenure in the medical school is different from what is currently in place in the units, for example, a percentage of one’s salary needs to be brought with tenure. Mr. Moudgil commented that tenure procedures vary widely among medical schools. Most institutions are non-unionized and have individual criteria for tenure; for example, a faculty member would need to have two external grants and to publish a certain number of journal articles annually. Mr. Moudgil asserted that at this time faculty are not expected to bring their salaries, but that later, when expanded research facilities are available, those sorts of expectations may be appropriate. Mr. Polis asked about a situation in which lay-offs of faculty would occur in the medical school. Should the SOM experience such challenges, Mr. Moudgil noted, a grandfather clause would allow a faculty member to return to the parent unit with tenure. If new faculty lines were added in the interval, they would remain intact.
Mr. Larrabee wondered how many faculty were to be hired in the SOM. Mr. Moudgil indicated that according to initial LCME guidelines, at least two faculty members from each discipline (a total of seven disciplines) are required. Thus, fourteen new faculty were expected. Now, it appears that LCME revised its requirements in October 2008, and now at least twenty new faculty members are needed to start the medical school. According to Mr. Moudgil, the dean of the SOM is aggressively recruiting physicians at William Beaumont Hospitals, which affords a practical solution as Oakland will not need to pay faculty from WBH. Moreover, twenty may appear to be a large number, but it is important to keep in mind that there is a very large pool of physicians affiliated with WBH, comprising nearly three thousand individuals. Mr. Meehan asked for clarification about LCME’s revisions and the numbers required for each discipline. Mr. Moudgil noted that LCME desires that a full-time back-up faculty member represent the two already required in each area, so that no interruptions would occur should a faculty member be away from campus for research or other reasons. Mr. Polis then asked about the two associate deans of the SOM who are paid by WBH, and their obligations to follow Oakland’s rules. Mr. Moudgil explained that the dean of the SOM has a dual appointment, with his salary shared 50% between OU and WBH. As Chief Academic Officer of WBH, the physician-faculty report to him. Ms. Mittelstaedt then asked whether the WBH faculty would meet the same criteria as OU faculty. Mr. Moudgil stated that WBH faculty would not be eligible for tenure at Oakland University under our governance process.
The secretary proceeded with the roll call, after which a motion to approve the minutes from the November meeting was made my Mr. Frick and seconded by Ms. Eis. The minutes were approved without amendment.
Without old business on the agenda, Mr. Moudgil asked Mr. Polis to make the motion on the first item of new business, with Ms. Moore providing a second.
MOVED that the Senate recommend to the President and the Board of Trustees approval of the new Constitution of the School of Business Administration.
Mr. Tracy was invited to present the revisions to the SBA Constitution. Noting that the revised Constitution was approved by SBA late last spring, he pointed out that the School had been operating with a committee structure outside the parameters of the existing Constitution. As a result, two major changes were proposed. The first entailed removal of most of the Standing committees, which were then placed under the aegis of the by-laws, where greater flexibility is allowed to accommodate changing operational needs of the School. The other involved a change in the composition of the SBA assembly. Some individuals were appointed to the Assembly without clear understanding of when terms ended. That situation has been addressed by restricting the appointments of individuals named for special reasons to one year of service. In addition, some small changes were noted by legal counsel’s review, primarily concerning title changes, and those, according to Mr. Tracy, will be incorporated in the final version.
Mr. Grossman asked whether the SBA has had actual success in recruiting student members of the Assembly, and how students are chosen. Mr. Tracy observed that student participation has historically been high in the SBA Assembly (currently at 14%), and that students nominated by faculty need to submit biographies to be considered, and are subsequently voted on.
Mr. Moudgil then turned to a procedural motion from the Steering committee to staff a standing committee. The motion was made by Ms. Howell, duly seconded by Ms. Lewis, and approved by the Senate.
MOVED that the person listed below be appointed to the Senate Standing committee:
University Undergraduate Committee on Instruction (CAS – Social Science)
Roger Larocca – Winter 2009 (replacing David Dulio)
With no items for the Good and Welfare, Mr. Frick’s motion to adjourn, with a second from Mr. Larrabee, was met with unanimous approval.
Respectfully submitted,
Tamara Machmut-Jhashi
Secretary to the University Senate