Note:

Following is text received by Harvey Kaslow, Medical Faculty Assembly President-Elect, from Leslie Bernstein, Chair of the Dean's Task force for Governance and Senior Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs. The text was received as a word-processor file with additions and deletions shown in different formats. Using the the "accept changes" function in Word97, the text below was generated and not modified in any way. Thus, this text may not be completely accurate in terms of language and certainly format. However, until such time as the Administration posts the proposal of the Task Force on the Dean's WWW page, the MFAEB will use the text below for analysis and comment.

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1. Executive Authority

 

2. Responsibility Of The Dean Of The School Of Medicine

 

3. The Faculty Of Medicine

 

4. The Primary Bodies Of The School Of Medicine Advisory To The Dean

1. The Executive Council (EC)
2. The Medical Faculty Assembly (MFA)
3. Administration

1. General
2. Financial Affairs
3. Educational Affairs
4. Faculty Affairs
5. Scientific Affairs
6. Office for Women
7. Office for Disabled Issues

1. Ratification and Amendment

Appendix I: Standing Committees

I. EXECUTIVE AUTHORITY

2. RESPONSIBILITY OF THE DEAN OF THE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE

• developing and maintaining outstanding educational programs for medical students, graduate students, postdoctoral trainees, and postgraduate physicians;
• recruiting and retaining a faculty that excels in educational, research and clinical endeavors;
• providing an environment that encourages scholarly activity;
• managing all fiscal matters pertaining to the operation of the school.

1. By virtue of its competence and concern with education, research, patient care, university and community service, the Faculty of Medicine, through its elected representatives or their delegates, shall exercise primary responsibility for making recommendations to the Dean relative to all matters pertaining to academic policy and faculty status within the School of Medicine. Such policy matters shall include, but not be limited to,

• For medical and graduate students: admissions, curriculum, evaluation, discipline and student affairs;
• For faculty: appointments, promotions, quality of research and quality of medical care.
• For physicians: graduate and continuing medical education programs.

1. When a vacancy in the chairmanship of a department occurs, the Dean shall appoint an ad hoc search committee that shall include faculty members from within the department as well as outside the department in which the vacancy has occurred. The search committee shall include representation from both clinical and basic science departments. The search committee shall conduct a search, and submit to the Dean the names of candidates, either from within the department or from the outside, who the search committee believes are potentially qualified for the appointment. The means for conducting the search shall be the prerogative of the search committee, but the Dean shall specify the charge and the job description to the committee after appropriate consultation with the faculty of the department. As part of the selection process, the committee shall meet with the final candidate(s) for the job of chair. After consultation with the Executive Council and with the faculty of the department, the Dean shall make the appointment in a timely fashion.

The Dean, after consultation with the members of the department, may designate an individual as acting (or interim) chair until such time as the vacancy in the chairmanship is filled in accordance with the procedures stated above.

The same search and appointment procedures shall be implemented in the selection and appointment of a director of an individually budgeted institute that resides outside the individual departments, but within the School of Medicine.

2. Appointment as department chair will be for an indefinite period. The decision to replace a department chair shall be the prerogative of the Dean, as the department chair serves at the pleasure of the Dean and may be terminated at any time.
3. Chair Review Process: Guidelines for the review of department chairs are currently being developed by a task force appointed by the Provost and will detail requirements for the periodic review of chairs. That policy will become an appendix to The Governance Document.

1. It shall remain the prerogative of the departments under the leadership of the chair to establish their own procedures of governance consistent with the provisions of this document and university policies. These procedures shall ensure that each department has a mechanism for input from the faculty to the chair to maintain a dialog needed to make academic personnel decisions (appointments, promotions, merit evaluations) and other matters of concern to the faculty.
2. Department chairs (or their designees) shall meet annually with each faculty member in the department, and prior to the beginning of the School of Medicine academic year, to assess the faculty workload, modify the faculty profile, if needed, and to discuss the prior year’s academic activities and those proposed for the coming year.

1. THE EXECUTIVE COUNCIL (EC)

1. Duties

1. Chairs of all individually budgeted academic departments;
2. Directors of all individually budgeted institutes, such as the Cancer Institute and Institute for Genetic Medicine, who report directly to the Dean;
3. The President of the Medical Faculty Assembly;
4. The two Co-Presidents of the Associated Students of the School of Medicine (one vote collectively);
5. The President of the Health Sciences Campus Graduate Students Association;

1. Ex officio members serving without voting privileges shall include:

1. The Dean;

 

2. The associate and assistant deans;

 

3. Key administrators such as the Director of Public Relations, Director of Development, Director of the Norris Medical Library, and administrators responsible for clinical activities within the Clinical Organization with direct reporting responsibilities to the Dean (as specified in the appended organizational chart, Appendix II);

 

4. Chief Executive Officers of the four integrated hospital partners;

 

5. The Director of Graduate Medical Education at Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center.

1. In the Dean’s absence, the Dean shall appoint an associate dean to preside.
2. An administrative staff person shall be appointed by the Dean as Secretary of the Executive Council; he/she will be responsible for creating the agenda for all forthcoming meetings based on requests from the Dean, and from voting and non-voting members of the Executive Council; notifying all members of forthcoming meetings and distributing the agenda for all regularly scheduled meetings; preparing and distributing minutes of all meetings; and preserving all documents of the Executive Council meetings and task forces.

1. Special meetings of the Executive Council may be called at the behest of:

1. The Dean;
2. Any four members of the Executive Council;
3. The President of the Medical Faculty Assembly;
4. Any twenty members of the faculty.

1. Attendance at Executive Council meetings shall be limited to members and guests invited by the Dean. Minutes of meetings will be recorded except when the Executive Council is in executive session as determined by a majority vote of the voting members present. When the Executive Council is in executive session, only voting and ex officio members shall be present.

 

2. Approved minutes of the Executive Council shall be made available to all faculty by posting on the Dean’s Web Page or through alternative means.

1. THE MEDICAL FACULTY ASSEMBLY

1. The Medical Faculty Assembly is the elected faculty council for the School of Medicine. Its purpose shall be to represent the faculty of the School. It shall be concerned with issues directly related to faculty status, responsibilities and welfare within the School of Medicine. In discharging its functions, the Medical Faculty Assembly serves as a fact-finding, deliberative and consultative body with the authority to make studies, reports and recommendations on all matters that have a significant bearing on the work or status of the faculty. The Medical Faculty Assembly shall discuss and debate current issues and matters of interest to the faculty and may advise the Dean and the Executive Council on academic and faculty status matters.
2. Elections: To assure representation of faculty within the Medical Faculty Assembly, each department in the School of Medicine shall elect two faculty members, one to serve as its representative and the other to serve as an alternate. Representatives shall be faculty members who hold full-time academic appointments (tenure track or non-tenure track) at the School of Medicine. These representatives shall serve for a two-year term and may be reelected for a second two-year term. Other approved constituencies shall be similarly represented. These other constituencies are defined as major hospital affiliates with ten or more full-time faculty and the Norris Medical Library. All faculty members who hold full-time academic appointments (tenure track or non-tenure track) in the School of Medicine shall be eligible to vote for a representative. Those who are members of more than one constituency (such as a department and a hospital affiliate) must choose to cast a vote from only one of the two constituencies.

Representatives shall be subject to recall if a petition requesting recall is signed by at least 20% of their constituency. The secretary of the Medical Faculty Assembly shall distribute a ballot to the constituency upon receipt of this petition. A simple majority vote determines the outcome of this ballot. If a Medical Faculty Assembly representative is recalled, that position is then filled by the department’s or constituency’s alternate and a special election is held to elect a new alternate.

3. Officers:

1. Officers of the Medical Faculty Assembly shall be the President, President-elect (who functions as Vice President), and Secretary. When the President is from a clinical department, the President-elect shall be from a basic science department and vice versa. Officers shall be elected by the representatives and shall serve for one year with terms of office beginning at the close of the June meeting.
2. No officer shall hold more than one position at a time nor shall he/she serve more than 2 consecutive terms in the same office.
3. Election Procedures

1. A nominating committee shall present its recommended slate of candidates to the Medical Faculty Assembly in April.
2. A secret ballot shall be held at the June meeting with each representative entitled to one vote.
3. If a majority of representatives present rejects the proposed slate of candidates for office, the representatives may offer nominations and elect a slate of officers at the June meeting.

1. If an elected officer resigns or becomes unable or ineligible to serve, the representatives shall elect a successor from among the eligible representatives to serve the unexpired term.
2. A petition of one-third of the representatives for recall of an officer is sufficient to cause a recall election. The recall ballot is then distributed to representatives by the Secretary. If 2/3 of the representatives vote in favor of the recall, the office shall be declared vacant and a special election shall be held to fill the unexpired term for that office.

1. Duties of Officers:

1. the President shall preside at all meetings, serve as the representative of the Medical Faculty Assembly to the Executive Council, and preside at meetings of the faculty-at-large.
2. The President-Elect shall preside at those meetings where the President is absent and chair the Nominating Committee.
3. The Secretary shall notify representatives of the times and places of all meetings and inform them of the meeting agenda; notify the faculty-at-large of agenda items before the Medical Faculty Assembly by publishing this information in a newsletter mailed to all members of the faculty; prepare minutes of all meetings and distribute them through an appropriate vehicle to the faculty; preserve all documents of the Medical Faculty Assembly and its standing and ad hoc committees.

1. The Dean shall survey the faculty annually to determine their interest in serving on standing committees or special task forces that the Dean may form during the course of the year; the Dean (or the Dean’s designee) shall make the final decisions on committee and task force appointments. The Medical Faculty Assembly shall elect representatives to those standing committees where this representation is designated. These include the Educational Policy Committee, Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee and the Finance Committee.
2. Terms of membership on the standing committees shall be three years with the possibility of reappointment.
3. Appointments shall be staggered so that one-third of the faculty members is appointed annually.
4. Vacancies shall be filled as they occur.
5. Medical student members shall be nominated by the Associated Students of the School of Medicine and graduate student members shall be nominated by the Health Sciences Campus Graduate Students Association.
6. The chair of each committee may be nominated by members of the committee and will be appointed by the Dean.
7. Administrative personnel serving ex officio shall not have voting privileges.
8. A quorum shall consist of one half of the voting members of the committee.
9. Recommendations favored by less than two-thirds of the quorum present at any meeting may be accompanied by a minority report.
10. The Dean's office will provide appropriate staffing for all standing committees.
11. The chair of each committee shall prepare a brief annual report, summarizing the committee activities over the past year. Attendance records will be summarized and included.

1. Financial Affairs

1. Applications for admission to the entering class of the School of Medicine shall be reviewed by members of the Admissions Advisory Subcommittee (see section 3.a. below). The Admissions Committee shall evaluate and consider all interviewed applicants and shall make recommendations concerning the admission of such applicants.
2. The Admissions Committee shall consider and recommend procedures for the identification and consideration of applicants leading to a diverse entering class consistent with University policy on affirmative action.
3. The Admissions Committee may pursue appropriate activities related to the recruitment of students and dissemination of information on admissions to undergraduate or secondary school campuses.

1. Subcommittees

1. The Admissions Advisory Subcommittee shall consist of the Chair of the Admissions Committee; the Deans for Admissions, Student Affairs and Curriculum (or appropriate administrators); a current member of the Admissions Committee; and a former Chair or member. The Admissions Advisory Subcommittee shall consider requests for exception to policy, review recommendations and recommend policy to the Admissions Committee and to the Dean. Members of this subcommittee shall review all applications and recommend applicants for interview.
2. The Advanced Standing Subcommittee shall consist of the Deans for Admissions and Student Affairs (or appropriate administrators) and the Chair of the Admissions Committee. The Advanced Standing Subcommittee shall convene to consider and recommend acceptance of applicants for admission with advanced standing into the third year class.

1. The Educational Policy Committee shall consider and evaluate all matters relating to medical education within the School of Medicine.
2. The Educational Policy Committee shall review the medical curriculum in terms of general scope, schedule and philosophy.
3. The Educational Policy Committee shall review current standards for accreditation and licensure, insuring that the curriculum meets or exceeds such standards.
4. The Educational Policy Committee may formulate such educational policies or procedures as it deems necessary. Such recommendations shall be reviewed by the Dean who shall have final approval authority.
5. The Educational Policy Committee shall further be concerned with evaluation of student progress in relationship to the academic goals of the departments.
6. The Educational Policy Committee shall establish standards and procedures for the evaluation of faculty teaching.
7. The Educational Policy Committee may approve special or experimental programs for a certain period of time and shall inform the Dean of any such action.
8. The Educational Policy Committee may establish such subcommittees as it deems necessary.

1. Curriculum committees with faculty members representing departments and student representatives. The Director of the Division of Medical Education or his designee shall serve ex officio;
2. Curriculum committees;
3. Committee on M.D.-Ph.D. programs in coordination with the graduate school;
4. Committees on Graduate Medical Education and Continuing Medical Education;
5. Student performance committees for each year of medical school, with faculty representatives charged with evaluating student achievement for that year. The composition of these committees is described in the Student Handbook;
6. Committee on Student Evaluation.

1. Providing and managing teaching resources such as computer-based and multimedia instructional programs, student laboratory facilities, reproduction and distribution of class handouts or other materials;
2. Coordinating between the Medical Librarian and Faculty Curriculum Committees to insure availability to the students of appropriate learning resources;
3. Insuring, in conjunction with the Associate Dean for Student Affairs (or other responsible administrator), that appropriate student performance and progress records are collected and maintained;
4. Implementing procedures for confidential evaluation of individual faculty teaching efforts. Insuring that the confidential results of such evaluations are transmitted to the faculty member being evaluated and to his/her department chair for inclusion in the faculty member's personnel file;
5. Coordinating and revising curriculum;
6. Implementing special or experimental teaching programs established by the Educational Policy Committee, maintaining appropriate records and coordinating evaluation procedures;
7. Providing appropriate opportunities for enhancement of faculty skills in instruction;

1. Faculty Affairs

The Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (or responsible administrator) shall report to the Dean on all matters that pertain to the faculty and their academic activities. He/She shall counsel faculty with regard to policies and procedures of the University and the School of Medicine. He/She shall coordinate School activities related to faculty recruitment; appointments, promotions, and tenure; programs for faculty mentoring; nomination of faculty for honors and awards; awarding of sabbaticals; retirements; and grievances (which are governed by University-wide policies and procedures). He/She shall supervise the maintenance of faculty records and work with Department Chairs to ensure that faculty are advised and counseled with regard to their academic careers. The Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs shall oversee the Associate Dean for Women with regard to issues related to faculty.

Faculty Appointment and Promotions Committee

1. Duties

The Appointments and Promotions Committee shall act in concert with the academic personnel policies and the Faculty Records Office to advise the Dean on faculty personnel actions involving rank and duration of initial appointment, number of years credited toward the tenure decision year, re-appointments, promotions and tenure. Deliberations of the Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee will be initiated by a written recommendation from the department chair and accompanied by the faculty member’s dossier as required by University policy.

2. Membership

The Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee shall be comprised of one member from each department and one member appointed by the Medical Faculty Assembly. The chair shall be appointed by the Dean from among the committee membership. Faculty members of the committee shall be appointed to two-year terms with one-half of the members appointed each year. At least three-fifths of the members shall hold tenured appointments. The Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (or appropriate administrator) shall serve as an ex officio member and advise members of the Committee, when necessary, on University policy regarding appointments and promotions.

 

2. Scientific Affairs

1. One representative from each of the basic science departments of the School including Cell and Neurobiology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Microbiology and Immunology, Pathology, Physiology and Biophysics, and Preventive Medicine;
2. Two representatives from the clinical science departments;
3. A graduate student nominated by the Health Sciences Campus Graduate Students Association.

1. Duties

The M.D./Ph.D. Committee accepts students into the M.D./Ph.D. program of the University of Southern California, monitors student progress and mentor responsibilities, and disburses available financial support for the program. Admission of students to the M.D./Ph.D. program requires acceptance by the M.D./Ph.D. Committee as well as the School of Medicine Admissions Committee.

2. Membership

1. The Director of the Program who is appointed by the Dean; the Director shall serve as the chair of the M.D./Ph.D. Committee;
2. Nine members from the full-time faculty with one representative from each of the six basic science departments and 3 representatives from clinical or clinical/basic science departments;
3. The Associate Dean for Scientific Affairs (or responsible administrator) who serves as an ex officio member.

1. Office for Women

The Associate Dean for Women (or responsible administrator) shall be responsible for providing and managing services and resources for women in the School of Medicine. Services are provided for women faculty, students and staff. The Associate Dean for Women reports to the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs (or responsible administrator) for issues regarding faculty and to the Senior Associate Dean for Educational Affairs (or responsible administrator) for issues regarding students. Issues handled by the Associate Dean for Women include professional development, negotiation, non-litigational conflict resolution and professional guidance. The office is responsible for monitoring Title IX compliance by the School of Medicine.

2. Office for Disabled Issues

The Board of Trustees reserves the right to alter, amend, or revoke this Governance Document in part or in whole at any time. The Medical Faculty Assembly and the Executive Council will evaluate the Governance Document every five years. Amendments to this document proposed by the faculty shall require a two-thirds majority vote of the Medical Faculty Assembly and a two-thirds majority vote of the Executive Council; subsequently these amendments shall be submitted for general faculty referendum. A simple majority vote of the faculty shall be required recommendations; if the Dean rejects an amendment to the Governance Document that has been approved by faculty referendum, he/she shall notify the faculty in writing of the reasons for this action. Final approval or rejection of amendments to this document shall rest with the Board of Trustees of the University.

Appendix I: Standing Committees

Financial Affairs:

Finance Committee

Educational Affairs:

The Educational Policy Committee

Student Affairs Committee

Admissions Committee

Faculty Affairs:

Faculty Appointments and Promotions Committee

Scientific Affairs:

The Scientific Council

Graduate Council

The M.D.-Ph.D. Committee

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Appendix II: Administrative Structure under the Dean of the School of Medicine

1. Structure under Dean Stephen J. Ryan, M.D.