Posted June 9, 1999

MEDICAL FACULTY ASSEMBLY

Minutes for the meeting of June 1, 1999




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 present
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 James Daniel
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Frank Markland
Cardiothoracic Surgery  
Cell and Neurobiology  
Children's Hospital  
Emergency Medicine Michael Orlinsky
Family Medicine  
Medicine Om P. Sharma
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Joe Landolph
Neurological Surgery Donald Larsen
Neurology  
Norris Medical Library Pamela Corley
Obstetrics and Gynecology Rebecca Sokol 
Ophthalmology Ronald Green
Orthopedics Tom Hellman
Otolaryngology Dennis O'Leary
Pathology  
Pediatrics Laura Wachsman 
Physiology and Biophysics Herb Meiselman
Preventive Medicine  
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Bruce Gross
Radiation Oncology  
Radiology  
Rancho Los Amigos Hospital  
Surgery Jeffrey Peters
Urology  

Also attending: Leslie Bernstein, Ronald Kaufman, Henry Slucki, Austin Mircheff, Victor Henderson, Daniel Kempler, David Miller, Cynthia Stotts

1.  Minutes, Calendar, and Election Results:

The meeting was called to order by President Harvey Kaslow at approximately 12:10 PM.
    Consideration of the notes of the April 13, 1999 meeting of the Faculty-at-Large was deferred until a quorum was present, and the notes of the meeting were then approved unanimously.

    The minutes of the May 4, 1999 MFA meeting were also considered after a quorum was present and were unanimously approved.

    President Kaslow presented the results of the election of new MFA representatives. It was decided to use the election results based on ballots received by the May 20 deadline even though some additional ballots had been received after that date. In some cases departments may need to collegially resolve uncertainties about their representation. New representatives in attendance were introduced and welcomed.  (Election is for a two-year term with about one-half the constituencies electing representatives each year.) List of current MFA members.

    The proposed 1999-2000 MFA Calendar was considered. It was decided by a vote of 15 to 0 to keep the meeting date on the first Tuesday of the month.  The approved calendar.
     

2.  Election of MFA Officers and Senators to the University Academic Senate President-elect Loren Laine asked if there were any additional nominations from the floor for MFA officers or board members. None were offered, and the slate of officers and board members proposed by the Nominating Committee was unanimously approved. Thus, MFA officers and board members for the 1999-2000 year will be: President-elect Laine presented outgoing President Kaslow with a commemerative plaque on which a gavel was displayed. Dr. Kaslow then passed the official MFA gavel to President-elect Laine.

The election of Senators to represent the School of Medicine at the Academic Senate was discussed. It was decided that the six Senators would be:

 All other MFA representatives were designated as alternates to the Senate, with the individual Senators having the responsibility of arranging for an alternate to attend in their stead when necessary, and notifying the Secretary of the MFA in advance of the Senate meeting of the name of the alternate who would be attending. 3.  USC-LACHS Affairs
    Dr. Challoner reported on comments made by Dr. Thomas at a recent meeting of APLACH, including his suggestion that the County might take back a number of the USC physicians.

    Dr. Heseltine offered the following analysis of the current situation: The negotations are not concluded. A number of issues remain including USC agreeing to indemnification of the County in connection with new HRSA rules and the above suggestion by Dr. Thomas (LAC DHS) that physicians presently working for USC under the CPSA return to direct County employment in some manner. The recent vote to approve the UAPD as the union representing the LAC employed physicians undoubtedly will have some effect on the terms that will be offered to USC. In the interim, a request that the Board of Supervisors approve another year of the old contract (roll-over) will be considered at their June 15 meeting. If passed, this will assure continued funding of those Faculty paid from CPSA, during 1999-2000.

    Senior Associate Dean Bernstein stated that she had no additional information to report about LACHS affairs.
     

4.  The Faculty Handbook Information was distributed regarding: 5.  The Faculty Contract
    Information was presented from email messages brought to the MFA Executive Board regarding language appearing in letters of hire sent to some prospective new tenure-track faculty.

    Email # 1 (redacted) stated:
     

      "...There are actually two places in my contract which show that the university wants complete control over my salary, and I wonder what your thoughts are"

       "1)... it is expected that you will be able to eventually support your academic salary by 50% or more..."

       "2) Annual merit review focus on research (particularly obtaining and maintaining important sponsored research), teaching, and service to the university. By signing below, you acknowledge that, whether or not you are tenured, your salary could go up, go down, or stay the same as the result of annual merit and budget review processes... "
       

    Email # 2 (redacted) stated:
     
      "...I am faced with a difficult decision, but from all that I can gather, it does not appear that I would be able to change the wording in the contract no matter how strongly I might fight for it. At this time, I know of at least two other faculty who have signed their contracts with nearly identical wording, one of whom is very senior and the other very junior. [Name] says that the wording comes from the lawyers, at the request of the University president and that it is virtually impossible to change for a single individual candidate...."


    President Kaslow said a third email, sent in 1996 at the time basic science faculty had been written that their contracts had been superseded, also indicates a role of the President regarding actions regarding faculty contracts in the School of Medicine. The email was from Barbara Solomon, at that time Vice-Provost for Faculty and Minority Affairs:

    Email # 3 (not redacted):
     

      To: hkaslow@hsc.usc.edu
      Date: Fri, 7 Jun 1996
      Reply-to: solomon@adm-1.usc.edu
      CC: lbern@hsc.usc.edu
      > 960607
      >
      > Barbara:
      > As per our discussion, in which I urged you to in turn urge Sample to reach out to us, has there been any contact or progress?

      Harvey:
      I can only say that every effort is being made to determine whether there is a way to rescind the cuts in pay to Basic Science faculty which was at the heart of the grievance. President Sample is not going to override decisions made by the Medical School administration but encourages us to find a "win-win" solution.
      Barbara


    President Kaslow suggested the above communications support the notion that questions regarding contract issues need to be directed not to senior administrators in the School of Medicine, but to the most senior adminstrators of the University, such as the President and Provost.

    Dr. Leslie Bernstein, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs in the School of Medicine, was present and was questioned about these letters. She stated that letters of hire for appointments in the School of Medicine are different than letters sent to faculty being recruited to other Schools of the University, and that the text in these letters follows orders from higher levels in the Administration. She indicated that the cited language has in fact been inserted into Exhibit A of a few contracts signed by recruited faculty to positions labelled as tenure-track. She explained that a reason for the change was to create a mechanism to reward faculty for success in obtaining grants and to reduce this extra salary when grants ended. President Kaslow asked who the MFA should invite to explain the generation of these policies. Dean Bernstein suggested Associate Provost Martin Levine and University Attorney Todd Dickey.

    President Kaslow pointed out that inserting the above language into Exhibit A would create a far different standard than the one which, regarding budgetary reasons for not renewing a contract, requires a "demonstrated bona fide financial exigency."

    President Kaslow spoke about how the economic security underlying tenure is crucial to the role of the School of Medicine in serving the community. He pointed out that the Faculty Contract for tenured faculty was meant to guarantee the same economic security provided to federal judges by the U.S. Consititution, and for the same reason: to provide a shield from the marketplace. As an example, he shared text from an article published on May 18, 1999 in the Los Angeles Times which read:
     

      "When Dr. Nancy Olivieri at the University of Toronto wanted to warn patients about toxic side effects of a drug she was testing, the company supporting her research tried to quash her findings, citing a nondisclosure agreement."

      "When she alerted her patients anyway, the company suspended the clinical trial and canceled her research contract. Even so, she published her misgivings in the New England Journal of Medicine. The Hospital for Sick Children, where she worked, sided with the company and dismissed her, triggering an international protest earlier this year."

      "Only after sustained pressure by faculty groups and leading health experts was she reinstated."

      " 'I will never ever again accept drug company money that is not clearly and completely free of any secrecy clauses whatsoever,' Olivieri said."


    President Kaslow pointed out that the text cited by the emails above, and the text found in Exhibit A of the contract documents issued this year to many tenured faculty, puts the salary of these faculty at risk if they take an unpopular position that causes them to lose external funding. It is not clear that their contracts will spare them from actions similar to those experienced by Dr. Olivieri.

    In the ensuing discussion, it was suggested that the MFA should formally recommend that the University stop recruiting faculty as tenured or tenure-track if their contracts contained language that denied them economic security unless there was proof of adequate cause for removal as outlined in the Faculty Handbook, or a demonstrated bona-fide financial exigency of the Univesity. A contrary position was put foward wherein all that tenure would guarantee would be an honorary title with no financial security. Discussion centered on whether allowing that meaning of tenure for some would debase it for the University, and thus should not be allowed.

    It was agreed that discussion of the issue would continue at the next meeting of the MFA.
     

6.  Brief Reports and Updates Regarding Ongoing Issues: None
 

7.  New Business: None.
 

8.  Installation of New Officers.

    As called for by the MFA Constitution, as the last item of business, the new officers were declared installed.
9.  Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:30 PM.

Submitted by Robert H. Stellwagen, outgoing MFA Secretary; Edited by Harvey Kaslow, Loren Laine, and Peter Heseltine