MEDICAL FACULTY ASSEMBLY
Attendance by Officers and Members of the Executive Board:
| President | Harvey Kaslow | present |
| President-Elect | Loren Laine | present |
| Secretary | Robert Stellwagen | present |
| Treasurer | Jerry Gates | |
| Past President | Kathryn Challoner | present |
| Member-at-Large | Peter Heseltine | present |
| Member-at-Large | Roger Jelliffe | |
| Member-at-Large | Dennis O'Leary | present |
Representation at the Meeting:
| Anesthesiology | Jim Daniel |
| Biochemistry and Molecular Biology | Frank Markland |
| Cardiothoracic Surgery | |
| Cell and Neurobiology | Gene Albrecht |
| Children's Hospital | Gary Lerner |
| Emergency Medicine | Kathryn Challoner |
| Family Medicine | |
| Medicine | Om Sharma |
| Molecular Microbiology and Immunology | Joseph Landolph |
| Neurological Surgery | |
| Neurology | |
| Norris Medical Library | Candes Benjes |
| Obstetrics and Gynecology | Rebecca Sokol |
| Ophthalmology | Ronald Green |
| Orthopedics | Tom Hedman |
| Otolaryngology | Dennis O'Leary |
| Pathology | Florence Hofman |
| Pediatrics | Laura Wachsman |
| Physiology and Biophysics | Austin Mircheff |
| Preventive Medicine | Daniel Stram |
| Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences | Bruce Gross |
| Radiation Oncology | |
| Radiology | |
| Rancho Los Amigos Hospital | |
| Surgery | |
| Urology |
Also attending: Leslie Bernstein, Ronald Kaufman, Victor Henderson, Peter Heseltine, Henry Slucki
The meeting was called to order at approximately 12:10 PM by President
Harvey Kaslow. The revised minutes of the MFA meeting of Nov. 3, 1998 were
approved. The minutes of the meeting of Dec. 1, 1998 were approved as presented.
President Kaslow asked for a change in the agenda to allow Dr. Landolph
to report on the visit of the Provost to the Faculty Appointments and Promotions
Committee while Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs Bernstein was
present. The remainder of the agenda would then be considered in its original
order. There was no objection, and the agenda was changed.
At the request of President Kaslow, Dr. Landolph attended the Nov.
11, 1998 meeting of the School of Medicine Faculty Appointments and Promotions
Committee in the place of the MFA delegate to the committee, Dr. Meiselman,
who was out of town. At that meeting, Provost Lloyd Armstrong discussed
the promotion process with the Committee, and at the request of President
Kaslow, Dr. Landolph prepared a written report regarding the meeting. Dr.
Landolph indicated that his written summary had been reviewed and stated
to be accurate by Dr. Bernstein, Dr. John Peters, Chair of the Committee;
and Provost Lloyd Armstrong. During the discussion of the report, it was
agreed by Dr. Landolph, Dr. Bernstein, and the MFA that Dr.
Landolph's report should be posted on the MFA web site where it
may be viewed by all interested individuals. Dr. Bernstein
also noted that the Office of Faculty Affairs has increased efforts to
inform new and continuing faculty about the promotions process, and that
an orientation meeting had been recently held for all for new faculty.
The Office intends to hold additional orientation meetings on a regular
basis. In a response to a suggestion from the floor, Dr. Bernstein indicated
that the Office would distribute the Landolph report to new faculty members
along with other information regarding the promotions process.
Lanching a new listserver: USC-MFA-LACHS-L. President Kaslow
discussed the recent use of the department-specific listservers to distribute
a questionnaire from Dr. Kaufman to collect information from faculty about
laboratory testing at the LAC-USC Medical Center. President Kaslow explained
that there exists a dormant listserver called USC-MFA-LACHS-L (with LACHS
an acronym for Los Angeles County Health Services) which would be more
appropriate for contacting faculty specifically about County issues. In
addition to President Kaslow, the other owner of the list is Dr. Peter
Heseltine, MFA delegate to CPSA negotions. President Kaslow raised the
issue of how to increase faculty subscription to USC-MFA-LACHS-L. One approach
would be to invite faculty to subscribe; a second approach would be to
add faculty to the list and invite them to unsubscribe if they had no interest
in the topic. President Kaslow pointed out that the first approach would
likely mean that it would take considerable time to build the list, and
that in the interest of speed, he favored the second approach. There was
no objection to President Kaslow taking the second approach and he indicated
he would do so. Additional discussion of listservers in general followed,
and a summary of information about listservers at USC was distributed and
will be posted on the MFA WWW site: Listservers
at USC: General Information | Listservers
at the School of Medicine
Reports regarding LAC+USC and the negotiation of the new CPSA. Dr.
Kaufman stated that he had so far received 14 responses to his questionnaire,
and he encouraged other faculty to respond. He commented on the responses
received and the purpose of the survey. Dr. Kaufman indicated that negotiations
regarding the CPSA were continuing and that those involved in the negotiation
process were mindful of the fact that if no agreement was reached by the
end of March, then the University might feel obligated to issue notices
on March 31 that faculty might suffer reduction in salary or a lay-off
on July 1. President Kaslow urged the adminstration to use the USC-MFA-LACHS
listserver to keep faculty informed of progress regarding the CPSA, both
in advance and subsequent to the March 31 date.
President Kaslow reported on his presentation of MFA
Recommendation 1998-99-002 to the Executive Committee. He
indicated that there were no comments on the recommendation from the Chairs
present at the meeting. Dr. Van Der Meulen, Chairman of the Finance Committee,
stated that the Finance Committee was fullfilling its responsiblities as
described in the Governance Document. Dean Ryan stated that he felt that
the MFA was exploring its role on the Finance Committee in an appropriate
manner, and suggested that Dr. Van Der Meulen discuss the MFA recommendation
with the Finance Committee and President Kaslow. Dean Ryan confirmed his
suggestion in an email to President Kaslow
dated Dec. 21, 1998, which was distributed.
President Kaslow reminded the MFA representatives that the new Governance
Document states that the appointment of the departmental representative
to the Educational Policy Committee (EPC) "shall normally be in accord
with the recommendation of departmental faculty." There was discussion
regarding implentation of this policy, and it was suggested that the MFA
Executive Board bring recommendations back to the MFA.
There was discussion of whether faculty should be paid stipends for
service on the EPC, or other committees. Dr. Kaslow pointed out that the
Governance Document is silent on this issue, and that he was unaware of
faculty being paid stipends for service on the MFA. Some representatives
indicated that the educational coordinator in their department was paid
a stipend for organizing educational activities and also had been appointed
to serve on the EPC. It was felt by some that because of departmental variation,
decisions regarding the payment of stipends for service on the EPC should
be decided by individual departments. It was also pointed out that payment
of some stipends may violate policies of the University. No formal
motion was made regarding this issue.
Review of the Calendar of the MFA. Dean Ryan has informed
President Kaslow that he will be unavailable for the scheduled meeting
of the Faculty-at-Large on April 6. It was decided that the date of the
meeting should be changed so that the Dean can attend a late afternoon
meeting. President Kaslow also distributed the calendar
for the year as approved by the MFA regarding the nomination and
election of MFA representatives, officers, and Academic Senators.
Other Reports. None were given.
Submitted by: Robert H. Stellwagen, MFA Secretary; edited by Harvey
Kaslow