Minutes of the Council Meetings >>

MEDICAL SCHOOL FACULTY COUNCIL
Speaker's Meeting
TUESDAY, July 27, 2004
SCCC Room 1301

1. Call to Order
The meeting was called to order at 5:10 P.M.

2. Approval of Minutes
The minutes from the Speaker’s Meeting April 20, 2004, Transitional Meeting May 25, 2004, and Speaker’s Meeting June 15, 2004 were unanimously approved.

3. Women and Minorities Report: Elizabeth Ouellette, M.D., MBA
Dr. Elizabeth Ouellette attended the meeting at the Council’s request to present her findings from the Women and Minorities report. The Dean asked the Council to make this issue a top priority for this year.

Dr. Ouellette explained that this data on salary equality was presented to the General Welfare Committee, which is part of the faculty Senate. She presented a handout that summarized the findings for six basic science departments and preliminary data for three clinical departments. She explained that all of the individuals included in the analysis had the rank of professor (i.e., research assistant professor, tenured associate professor, tenured professor, etc). All individuals who had alternative work arrangements were excluded from this analysis. Salary was determined by the amount listed on the faculty member’s W-2 form. The salaries of male and female UM faculty members were compared to the national salary average for that department. The 50th percentile of the AAMC salary data was used as the national average. The national average included both private and public schools, as well as both males and females. The analysis also accounted for RVUs in order to determine of discrepancies were due to a poor work environment (e.g., a poor workbench or additional assigned duties might hinder a faculty members from generating as much revenue). The salaries of the faculty members in each of the six UM departments were compared to the national average for the corresponding department. Then the data from all six departments were combined together to present the final results in order to preserve privacy.

Dr. Ouellette found that overall, among the six basic science departments, females earned 97.5% of the national standard, while males earned 96.9% of the national standard.

Results broken down by type of appointment are as follows:
Tenured Professors:
Females (n=9) earned 89.7% of the national standard
Males (n=34) earned 94.2% of the national standard
Tenured Associate Professors:
Females (n=5) earned 120.8% of the national standard
Males (n=18) earned 105.3% of the national standard
Research Assistant Professors:
Females (n=11) earned 88.8% of the national standard
Males (n=5) earned 78.2% of the national standard

In the basic science department, compensation is related to grant income.

It was asked if the data were adjusted for geographic differences. Geographic adjustments were not made since the UM data was compared to the national AAMC standard.

For the clinical comparison, Ophthalmology, Otolaryngology, and Urology were combined into one group. As with the basic science departments, all individuals in the three clinical science departments who had alternative work arrangements were excluded from this analysis. Dr. Ouellette found that overall, among these three science departments, females earned 109.4% of the national standard, while males earned 113.3% of the national standard. It was asked why Dr. Ouellette chose these three departments to be combined in one group. Dr. Ouellette explained that according to the AAMC, lumping like groups would result in clearer statistics. It was suggested that the discrepancy between males and females might be due to the “squeaky wheel” syndrome.

Dr. Ouellette is currently working on the rest of the clinical department data. She has the RVU’s for all faculty members. She noted that the data presented here is only a start and that there will be more to come.

Dr. Ouellette has spoken with President Shalala and informed her that most UM faculty members are paid at the 50th percentile of the national standard. It was asked if bonuses were included as part of employees salaries. Bonuses were included since this information would be reported on the faculty member’s W-2 form. It was asked if there were individual AAMC male and female national standards. Dr. Ouellette explained that there is just one national standard that includes both male and females.

Dr. Fletcher questioned why the AAMC data was being used as the national standard. Dr. Ouellette said that she would bring more information on the AAMC data next time. She also explained that individual institutional comparisons might not be as accurate as using the AAMC standard for comparison, for example, the orthopedics department at one institution may only have physical therapists while the same department at another institution may also have orthopedic surgeons. Using a nation-wide standard accounts for this type of error. Dr. Lewis questioned the concern with using the AAMC data as the standard since this seems to be the only publicly published yardstick. Dr. Fletcher stated that she had concerns with comparing the UM data to both public and private institutions. Dr. Ouellette commented that there was not much of a difference between the private and public institutions, but she could provide this comparison at the Council’s request.

It was questioned if Dr. Ouellette was differentiating between tenured and non-tenured faculty members. This was not being done with the basic science departments. She was asked to add tenured track assistant professors to the basic science data.

Dr. Ouellette stated that the Council could email her a list of specific questions or variables that they would like her to include in her analysis.

It was asked if there were any discrepancies in minority salaries at UM. Dr. Ouellette explained that minorities did well and that it was the women who were the issue of concern. Mr. Deeley asked Dr. Ouellette to provide her opinion of this data. She stated that it looked like UM was doing ok, and that all that might be needed is to remind department chairs to be in compliance with the current policies.

Dr. Lopez mentioned that the LCME data from about 2 years ago indicated that there might be an issue with not having enough women minorities and that women may be paid lower salaries than men. Dr. Lopez will make sure that Dr. Ouellette receives this LCME data to use in the comparison.

Dr. Ouellette stated that she was looking for meritocracy in this analysis. Dr. Mian agreed that the W-2 was the fairest number to compare since other numbers can be variable. Dr. Fletcher still questioned the use of the AAMC national standard. Dr. Mian commented that the goal is to find out of women are being treated unequal at UM. The AAMC national standard is a good comparison because it is the same for both men and women.

The Council thanked Dr. Ouellette for this presentation and she was excused from the meeting.

4. Annual Reports from Standing Committees
Animal Resources Committee: Written report provided by Thomas Malek, Ph.D.
This written report was noted and accepted. Dr. Mian announced that Dr. Elizabeth Fini had agreed to be the new Chair of the Animal Resources Committee. It was also suggested that Dr. Linda Waterman, the new Director of the Division of Veterinary Resources, be invited to a future meeting to be introduced to the Council and report on her vision for the DVR.

Executive Curriculum Committee: Written report provided by Andrew Taylor, M.D.
This written report was noted and accepted.

5. Establishment of Subcommittee for Administrative Services
Dr. Younis was unable to attend the meeting today. He will be sent an email to confirm if he
will be able to serve on this sub-committee along with Dr. Carraway. This issue will be put
on hold until Dr. Lewis hears back from Dr. Younis.

6. Establishment of Subcommittee for M.D. / Ph.D. Program Admission Process and Training
Dr. Awad was not present to address this issue, so action this topic will be deferred to the next meeting.

7. Establishment of Subcommittee for Appointment, Promotion, & Tenure Process
There seems to be some perceived process problem with appointment, promotion and, tenure. These concerns arose out of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. One concern was that faculty members were being recommended for tenure, but turned down at the Coral Gables Campus with no feedback provided to the Department Chair. Dean Clarkson commented at an earlier meeting that this may be a departmental problem. But since the faculty brought this issue before the Council, they will look into it. The AP&T Committee made some recommendations on important procedural and process elements that should be looked into in their annual report. The Council needs to come to an understanding of what the AP&T process is. Dr. Mian suggested that this issue be brought before the Faculty Senate since the Faculty Council only reports as high as the Dean of the School of Medicine. It was agreed that this issue needed to go before the Faculty Senate with information on the AP&T process.

It was questioned if the Medical School had representation on the committee that reports to the Provost. The answer was not known because no one knew the membership of this committee.

Dr. Thurer mentioned that in the past, the AP&T Committee formed it’s own subcommittee to make recommendations to the Council and that this worked better since the Committee is closer to the issue than the Council. It was decided that the same approach should be used in this situation. Dr. Lewis will approach Dr. Shahnaz Duara and ask her to chair establish and chair a subcommittee to look into the AP&T process and procedures and report back to the Council.

8. Establishment of Subcommittee to address Parental Leave for Research Faculty
The Council was informed that there was an absence of a parental leave policy for male and female research faculty. There is a national parental leave policy (FMLA), but it is for leave without pay. Dr. Fletcher agreed to Chair this subcommittee and will look for individuals to serve, such as those whom this policy would apply to. The recently approved parental leave policy for clinical faculty was not designed for research faculty. Dr. Fletcher noted that research faculty working on a grant needed a means to take parental leave without running behind on their grants.

9. Faculty Club Update
Dr. Lewis will be meeting with the architects in charge of renovating the 1st floor of the Sewell Building for the new Faculty Club on Tuesday, August 3 at 7:30 A.M. The architects will be presenting the proposed sketches to Dr. Lewis for approval at this meeting. A notice will be sent out on the Faculty Council listserv inviting all of the members to attend this meeting.

Mr. Deeley reported that after the sketches are agreed upon, renovation should begin within 3-4 months. Ron Bogue is working on relocating the employees currently located on the 1st floor of the Sewell Building. The estimated cost of the project is around $350,000.

10. Adjournment
There being no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned at 6:00 P.M.