Minutes of the Council Meetings >>

M I N U T E S
MEDICAL SCHOOL FACULTY COUNCIL
Transitional Meeting
TUESDAY, May 25, 2004
SCCC 1301

1. Call to Order

A quorum being present, the meeting was convened at 4:45 P.M.

Dr. Michael Lewis, Speaker of the School Faculty Council, called the Transitional Meeting to order. He explained that the purpose of the Transitional Meeting was to meet with the representatives from the Medical School Faculty Senate to inform them of the previous year’s activities and initiatives, elect new leadership, and discuss issues that the Faculty Council should focus on in the coming year. All members and guests in attendance briefly introduced themselves.

It was announced that Isabel Perez, the Secretary to the Council, would not be returning next term. Dr. Fishman said a few kind words thanking Mrs. Perez for her service and dedication throughout the years and presented her with a gift from the Council. Mrs. Beutler, from the Office of Research, was introduced as the incoming Secretary.

Dr. Lewis noted that the Council had a very productive year. He thanked the Dean and administration of the Medical School for providing an outstanding level of support for the Council’s initiatives. The Council worked on two major pieces of legislation: the UMMG Parental Leave Policy and the finalization of establishing a Faculty Club on the Medical Campus. The UMMG Parental Leave Policy is both progressive and inclusive compared to the policies of other institutions. John Deeley was thanked for all of his hard work in pushing through the legislation for the Faculty Club on the Medical Campus. The Council was pleased with the overwhelming 40% response rate to the faculty club survey. The Faculty Club will be located on the 1st floor of the Sewell Building. No construction date has been set as of yet, but Mr. Deeley will keep the Council posted. The Council had also begun working on the development of a comprehensive Sabbatical Leave Policy, but was unable to complete this initiative during the last term. Hopefully the Council will continue to work on this legislation this year.

It was asked if anyone looked into the possibility of putting the Faculty Club in the new Wellness Center. This prospect was considered earlier, and even proposed by President Shalala, but it was decided that in order for the club to be utilized by the faculty members it needed to be in a central location on campus. This is why the Sewell Building was chosen as the location of the Faculty Club.

It was announced that Dr. Baumbach would be stepping down from the Council due to an increase in her teaching load and genomics activities. She will, however, be heading-up the Scientific Awards Committee for the 2004-2005 term. Dr. Lewis opened the floor for nominations for the Speaker of the Faculty Council. A motion was made to nominate Dr. Lewis and was seconded. No other nominations were made. The Council unanimously approved the re-election of Dr. Lewis as Speaker of the Council.

Dr. Lewis then opened the floor for nominations for the First Vice-Speaker. A motion was made to nominate Dr. Mian. This motion was seconded and the Council unanimously approved the election of Dr. Mian as the First Vice-Speaker.

The position of Second Vice-Speaker was created two years ago and has been useful in dealing with the workload of the Council. Nominations were made and seconded for Dr. Namias, Dr. Lopez, and Dr. Bishopric. Since none of the candidates were present at the time of nomination, the Council decided to hold the voting for the Second-Vice Speaker until the end of the meeting.

Prior to the meeting being adjourned, the Council revisited the issue of nominating a Second Vice-Speaker. A motion was made to nominate Dr. Lopez. This motion was seconded and the Council unanimously approved the election of Dr. Lopez as the Second Vice-Speaker.

The School Council functions as the legislative equitant of the Faculty Senate in the School of Medicine. The Council has Standing Committees that they can delegate problems and complaints to. The Committees also feed legislation upstream to the Council for consideration. Dr. Mian, Chair of the Committee on Committees, keeps track of who will be coming off the Committees, solicits new representatives at the beginning of the year, tracks faculty member votes, and nominates new members that meet the eligibility requirements for particular committees. Dr. Mian explained that the Committee on Committees chooses members based on the candidate’s qualifications, sends notice to the faculty members, and tries to finalize the membership for each Standing Committee before the beginning of the fiscal year. Certain Committees, like the Appointment, Promotion, and Tenure Committee, have very strict guidelines on committee make-up (need representation from clinical, pre-clinical, clinical educator, and research faculty). The chairperson of each Committee reports to the Council at the end of the fiscal year, updating the Council on the status of the Committee and the progress they’ve made over the past year.

This year, around 120 faculty members volunteered to be on one of the Committees. The Committees have been formed and approved by the Senate. A few members still need to be approved by the Council. Everyone on the Council is expected to serve on a Committee.

The Committees develop legislative initiatives, which are then brought before the Council. The UMSM administration also brings initiatives before the Council for discussion. The Council meets twice a month. At the first meeting of the month, the Council discusses the legislation brought before them by the Committees, and at the second meeting, the Dean’s meeting, the Council normally focuses on initiatives brought forward by the Dean and receives reports from the Dean about ongoing processes, which is a source of information for the Council to provide to the School.

Another direction of legislative approval is between the Council and Faculty Senate. For example, the Council may recommend the approval of a new center, etc. and then pass on their recommendation to the Senate for final approval. This relationship is important, which is why the Senate members are invited to attend the Council transitional meetings.

Two of the members on last year’s Executive Curriculum Committee experienced a bit of disconnect concerning their membership status. Dr. Mian explained that apparently last year two of the members felt that they were not informed that they were nominated and therefore obligated to serve on the Committee. The Committee on Committees was just recently made aware of this while they were forming the new memberships. Dr. O’Connell made two recommendations for the replacement of these two members, Dr. Campo and Dr. Gelbard. Hopefully the Council will have time to approve these two members today.

The Policies and Procedures for the Faculty Council were not included in the members’ packets, but can be found online on the Faculty Council website at http://medicalcouncil.med.miami.edu/. This document explains things such as the appeal process, promotion and tenure guidelines, etc. It’s important for the new members to be aware of these policies and procedures when discussing problems with other faculty members.

Dr. Lewis announced two central initiatives for this Council this year. One important piece of legislation that the Council was not able to develop during the past year was a comprehensive Sabbatical Leave Policy. The structure of the current policy is not suitable for a physician’s schedule. Dr. Namias expressed interest in heading-up this initiative in the past and will be asked to work on this.

A second piece of legislation Dr. Lewis would like the Council to work on is the appointment, promotion, and tenure process. Dr. Lewis will be attending a meeting on June 7 about the concerns raised by the faculty regarding the workflow of the paperwork, particularly what occurs when the paperwork leaves the Medical Campus and goes to the Coral Gables Campus. This issue is a large concern and is a source of much faculty anxiety.

A third concern that the Council should make a priority for this year is responding to the report issued by the Committee on Women and Minorities. This report suggested that there are gender-based inequities in faculty compensation, especially in the School of Nursing, but which may also exist at the School of Medicine. Dr. Fletcher reported that she and Dr. Ouellette have met with the Dean, who supported a review and any actions that may need to be taken if compensation inequities exist. The report issued to the Senate recommended that all Schools make their data on this issue available by October of 2004. The Dean asked that the UMSM report be available before this date. Dr. Lewis announced that the Council should make this issue a top priority and focus on it over the summer. Dr. Fletcher is the former Chair of the Committee on Women and Minorities and will continue to serve as a member this year. Since Dr. Fletcher will be unable to attend the June 15 Speaker’s meeting, Dr. Ouellette will be invited to attend the meeting to address this topic.

A fourth proposal the Council should investigate is a parental leave policy for research faculty. The new UMMG Parental Leave Policy may not address the special needs of research faculty. Dr. Fletcher recommended forming a subcommittee to address this issue. This item will be put on a future agenda for discussion.

It was reiterated that that Council would follow-up on the status of the Faculty Club with Mr. Deeley. Dr. Lewis will be meeting with Ron Bogue to discuss this issue in the near future and will report back to the Council.

UMSM: Access to Medical Care
It was suggested that the leadership from the Faculty Council and the Faculty Senate meet sometime over the summer in order to air any issues that need discussion. It was recommended that the Council and Senate could discuss the topic of health insurance coverage at UM. In the future, staff members will have to cover a higher proportion of healthcare costs. This decision will have an impact on the Medical School. It was mentioned that it is becoming increasingly difficult for UM staff members to go to UMSM for a lot of their healthcare needs. It was questioned if this was a system access issue or a healthcare issue. Some members responded that it was an access, accessibility, and an insurance issue. Dr. Mian explained that the co-payments for a staff member seeing a doctor at UMSM may be higher than that of a doctor off-campus, so the staff member may go off-campus in order to avoid hospital fees. Employees also have to pay very high costs for certain tests, such as x-rays. It was also noted that there seemed to be an access problem since it appears that unless you know someone, it is very difficult to be seen in a timely manner at UMSM. Others commented that even if you do know someone, it is still difficult to get seen and that the mindset for customer service is lacking. Dr. Arnold contended that UMSM is inundated with difficult cases, many physicians are booked for over 6-weeks in advance, and physicians are doing much more than what one is normally expected to do in a clinical practice. A remark was also made about JMH’s unwillingness to use the IDX system to schedule appointments, which further complicates this issue.

Mr. Deeley stated that the changes made to increase the x-ray charges last year will be revisited this year. He also informed the Council that the proposal for UMSM employees to have separate fringe benefits from the rest of the University was recently approved and that a committee of faculty members is currently being formed to address this issue. It’s possible that this policy will not be put into effect until January 2006.

This is an important, complex issue that involves quality of care and delivery of care. Patients need access to the appropriate contact person and physicians. It was commented that this is a multi-dimensional problem that cannot simply be blamed on the physicians. For example, Dr. Markoe noted that physicians are often unable see patients when they want to because there are no rooms available. Dr. Markoe stated that a central scheduling system might solve this problem. Whatever the solution, it will take money and commitment to resolve this predicament.

Dr. Lewis questioned if this was an issue for the Council or the UMMG. Dr. Arnold said that the issue of customer service has been addressed at UMMG and that plans were put forth to address this problem. Mr. Deeley said that service at UMSM was currently under review. It was suggested that the Council refer this problem to UMMG and ask them to report to the Council. Mr. Deeley would also be asked to report to the Council on this topic. Dr. Lewis stated that the Council would follow-through with this problem and obtain data in order to become more knowledgeable about this process and provide feedback. This topic will be on the Council’s agenda this year.

Barriers to Tenure
Dr. Mitrani stated that the Faculty Senate was concerned with the barriers to tenure track positions and thought that the Faculty Council should discuss this issue. The Council will address this issue when they look at the promotion and tenure process (one of the central legislative initiatives for this term).

With no other business to discuss, all attendees who would not be members of the next incoming Council were excused from the meeting.

Each Standing Committee has a representative from the Faculty Council. The election of Council Representatives to the Committees was deferred to the July 15, 2004 meeting.

Dr. Mian nominated Ana Campo, M.D. and Mark Gelbard, M.D. for appointment to the Executive Curriculum Committee. This motion was seconded and approved unanimously. The Dean will be asked to send the each of them an appointment letter.

There being no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 5:43 p.m.