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President
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Loren Laine
|
present
|
|
President Elect
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Harvey Kaslow
|
present
|
|
Secretary
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Peter Heseltine
|
|
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Treasurer
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Jerry Gates
|
|
|
Past President
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Harvey Kaslow
|
present
|
|
Member-at-Large
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Kathryn Challoner
|
present
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Member-at-Large
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Dennis O'Leary
|
present
|
|
Member-at-Large
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Rebecca Sokol
|
|
|
Anesthesiology
|
Jim Daniel
|
|
Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
|
Robert Stellwagen
|
|
Cardiothoracic Surgery
|
|
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Cell and Neurobiology
|
|
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Children's Hospital
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Gary Lerner
|
|
Emergency Medicine
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Kathryn Challoner
|
|
Family Medicine
|
Allan Abbott
|
|
Medicine
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Om Sharma
|
|
Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
|
Axel Schonthal
|
|
Neurological Surgery
|
Donald Larsen
|
|
Neurology
|
|
|
Norris Medical Library
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Candice Benjes
|
|
Obstetrics and Gynecology
|
Tom Goodwin
|
|
Ophthalmology
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Ron Green
|
|
Orthopedics
|
|
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Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery
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Daniel Kempler
|
|
Pathology
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Florence Hofman
|
|
Pediatrics
|
|
|
Physiology and Biophysics
|
Austin Mircheff
|
|
Preventive Medicine
|
Dan Stram
|
|
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
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Richard Lamb
|
|
Radiation Oncology
|
|
|
Radiology
|
|
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Rancho Los Amigos Hospital
|
|
|
Surgery
|
|
|
Urology
|
|
Also attending: Joseph Van Der Meulen, Victor Henderson, Elaine Kaptein
1. Call to Order and Approval of Minutes
The Meeting was called to order at 12:08 PM by the President, Loren Laine. When a quorum was present, the minutes of the December 7, 1999 meeting were approved by a unanimous vote.
Dr. Joseph Van Der Meulen, Vice President for Health Affairs reported that Dr. Edward Wong has been appointed Interim Medical Director to replace Dr.Ronald Kaufman. The County has hired a head-hunting firm to help find a permanent director. The individual to be recruited should be a person who meets the clinical needs of the County as well as the academic needs ofthe School. The School of Medicine will have critical input into the selection process.Dr. Van Der Meulen also discussed issues related to reorganization of the Attending Staff. A committee chaired by Dr. Ed Crandall has been looking at the issue. Information will be circulated to the faculty regarding proposed changes.
Discussions with County representatives regarding the CPSA are ongoing. Issues related to accountability and compensation are still unresolved. It is unclear whether these issues can be settled in time to avoid the March deadline for sending notices to faculty regarding possible cuts in salary or termination.
President Laine provided a handout summarizing MFA election procedures as stated in the MFA By-Laws. His handout also listed the outgoing MFA representatives and alternates whose terms end this spring. President Laine explained that Dr. Leslie Bernstein, Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, had indicated at the January open faculty meeting that the Office of Faculty Affairs did not have the resources to provide accurate lists of full-time faculty nor would be able to assist the MFA in the election process, as the Office had done in the past. President Laine suggested that one method to identify faculty eligible to vote would be to give the responsibility for this task to the MFA representatives, who could work with department administrators. He also referred to a proposal from Dr. Kaslow that faculty members be asked to register themselves to vote in MFA elections. In the discussion which followed, Dr. Kaslow suggested that even if lists are generated by some other means, eligible faculty who may have been omitted should be allowed to register to vote. The faculty lists currently being used with the departmental listservers, although somewhat out of date, were suggested as astarting point in developing lists of faculty eligible to vote.Later in the meeting it was moved, seconded and passed that the administration of the School of Medicine be asked again to provide lists of full-time faculty who would be eligible to vote in the MFA elections. President Laine urged representatives in the departments where elections will be held to begin thinking about possible nominees. He indicated he would ask MFA Secretary Heseltine to send an email to this effect to the appropriate representatives.
The discussion of elections broadened into the issue of financial support for the MFA from the administration of the School of Medicine. Dr.Kaslow presented a draft motion calling for line item support of the MFA in the budget of the School and for office space for the MFA. It was pointed out that the MFA has not yet responded to an offer made in December by Dr. Van Der Meulen to help obtain financial resources. The possibility of presenting a budget request to Dr.Van Der Meulen along with the motion for ongoing support was discussed. No formal action was taken.
Drs. Austin Mircheff and Victor Henderson, members of the Task Force , were present to answer questions and listen to opinions about the report of the Task Force. The report had been presented at the open faculty meeting in January and is available on the web. There were questions and discussion about why the Task Force chose to make the proposals in the report applicable to new faculty only. Dr. Mircheff indicated that the President of the Senate had instructed the Task Force to restrict itself to policy recommendations regarding new faculty only. Concern was expressed that it made little sense to offer economic security to only new hires. It was not clear why the President of the Senate had restricted the charge of the Task Force.Dr. Challoner raised two issues: One related to the difficulty that faculty in clinical departments have in meeting the criteria for tenure in the usual amount of time, given their heavy clinical loads. She also pointed out the importance of being able to offer tenure track appointments to recruit desirable faculty candidates. Dr. Green asked aboutjob security for long-term clinicalfaculty on the non-tenure track, such as rolling multi-year contracts as has been proposed in the past. It was pointed out that the Task Force had been directed to focus its efforts on tenure-track faculty. However, it was recognized by many that the issue of job security for faculty on the non-tenure track also needs to be addressed.
Another issue discussed involved the proposal by the Task Force that salary guarantees should be for nine months, instead of 12 months as has been the case. It was pointed out that in 1995, the basic science faculty had been changed to nine-month salary guarantees, and that this action had been reversed in 1997. In fact, in a letter dated June 10, 1997, the Dean, the Interim Dean, and the Provost stated that:
“It has become clear during the course of a review of teaching requirements of the School of Medicine that, in fact, teaching in the School of Medicine is best served by year-round participation of the faculty. That is, the change to a nine-month basis does not conform to the real demands of the teaching program.”Discussion included the speculation that one reason for the reversal of 1995 action may have related to issues involving the accreditation of the School. It appears that the Task Force has not considered this review by the Deans and the Provost, and that it should be considered.The consensus was that the MFA needs at least another month to consider the Task Force report before deciding whether or not to support it.
Not discussed.
Not discussed.
Discussed by Dr. Van Der Meulen under item 2 above.
Discussed by Dr. Van Der Meulen under item 2 above.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:20 PM.