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The
Keck School of Medicine Governance Document
1980-1998 2005 2011 2015-19
GOVERNANCE DOCUMENTS AND THE
KECK SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA:
CHRONOLOGY 2015…..
·
2015-12-17: A memo
from Henri Ford, KSOM Vice Dean of Education, notifies faculty that the
LCME accreditation process includes formation
of Institutional Self Study (ISS) Subcommittee A to consider issues related
to Administration. Harvey Kaslow, Associate
Professor of Physiology, is selected to chair the subcommittee.
·
2016-10-23: A report
from ISS Subcommittee A states Governance Document 2011 fails to ensure
transparency, record-keeping and distribution of information, and input from
the general faculty.
·
2016-12-13: ISS
Subcommittee A submits the recommendation the school generate a new
Governance Document that ensures:
• Transparency regarding current and historical school governance documents,
policies, and procedures.
• Rule‐making procedures that enable and encourage faculty input.
• Prompt distribution of information establishing whether or not rules are
implemented and enforced.
• A clear description of the assignment of authorities and responsibilities for
the functions of the school.
• Effective mechanisms for accountability.
• A faculty council comprised of faculty members elected by faculty
constituencies.
·
2017-07-17: An unsigned email
from the KSOM Office of Faculty Affairs to faculty regarding the
Governance Document states:
“We have been reviewing this important document in light of the upcoming
accreditation site visit and realized that it needs updating….
“In collaboration with the faculty
representatives on the school’s faculty council, we have updated the Governance
Document and are now presenting it to the faculty. The document has already
been reviewed by Department Chairs, Institute Directors, Dean’s Cabinet, and
the Dean, and it has been reviewed and approved by the faculty council members.
There will now be a 10‐day period, from July 17 to July 26, for faculty
review and comments.”
The email characterizes the changes
to the document as “quite extensive.” Attachments to the email are:
1) the 2011
Governance Document.
2) a July
17, 2017 proposed Governance Document with redlines that show changes
to the 2011 Governance Document.
3) the July
17, 2017 proposed Governance Document (without redlines).
·
2017-07-20: An email
from Harvey Kaslow, ISS Subcommittee A Chair to the KSOM Faculty
Council explains the role of Subcommittee A in the LCME accreditation process
and provides its October
23, 2016 report and December
13, 2016 recommendations which are many and substantial. The
email requests the KSOM Faculty Council forward the email and associated
documents to the KSOM Faculty. The email
and documents are not forwarded to the faculty.
·
2017-07-24: An email
from Judy Garner, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs forwards the material
from Harvey Kaslow to the Keck Faculty Council and states, “We should at least discuss this.”
·
2017-07-25: An email
from Judy Garner, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs reminds KSOM faculty
members that the period for faculty feedback regarding changes to the
Governance Document will end July 26.
·
2017-07-25: Zia
Borok (Medicine) submits suggestions regarding clarity and asks:
1) How are Faculty Council meetings
publicized?
2) How does the Faculty Recruitment
Committee interface with the Faculty Appointments, Promotions, and Tenure
Committee?
·
2017-07-25: Jonathan
Samet (Preventive Medicine) raises this issue:
“As
written, the text takes the position that the Vice Dean is ‘…responsible for
oversight for all Keck School of Medicine educational programs that do not
include training or responsibilities in clinical or patient care.’ There is no
consideration of the departments that house many of the covered programs and
the lines of authority and responsibility from the Vice Dean to the department
chairs and program leaders. While the Department of Preventive Medicine is
unique for the scope of its educational programs, there are generic issues in
the language below. This ambiguity needs to be addressed to assure that there
is neither confusion nor conflict…”
·
2017-08-14: Michael Quick, Provost and Senior Vice
President for Academic Affairs, approves KSOM Governance Document 2017.
·
2017-08-18: An email
from Judy Garner, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs, to faculty members
states:
“I
am happy to inform you that the revised 2017 version of
the Keck School of Medicine Faculty Governance Document has been approved
by the Provost (attached).
“I want to thank all the faculty
members who provided important feedback on the document. Your thoughtful
suggestions and comments were carefully considered by the Keck Faculty Council
and many of the suggested changes were adopted.
I would also like to thank the Keck Faculty Council for their careful
review of the document and their substantive changes. Everyone working together
resulted in a much improved document.”
·
2017-08-18: Harvey Kaslow uses Acrobat Pro to produce a document
attempting to identify changes made to the July 17, 2017 document
leading to the document approved on August 14, 2017. No substantive changed are identified.
·
2017-11-14: At the November 14, 2018 meeting of the Keck
Faculty Council, Harvey Kaslow and Robert Farley (Physiology and
Neuroscience) provide
documents and discuss the concern that the report and recommendations
from ISS Subcommittee A were not considered during the process leading to the
approval of KSOM Governance Document 2017.
·
2018-02-06: At the February
6, 2018 meeting of the Keck Faculty Council, Judy Garner states she was
unaware of the LCME ISS Subcommittee A report regarding the KSOM Governance
Document until it was submitted to the Keck Faculty Council in July 2017 by
Harvey Kaslow (recollection of Harvey Kaslow and Robert Farley).
·
2018-04-03: At the April
3, 2018 meeting of the Keck Faculty Council, Donna Elliot, Senior Associate Dean for
Student and Educational Affairs, who directed the LCME accreditation process,
states the LCME ISS Subcommittee A report and recommendations regarding the
KSOM Governance Document were not provided to Judy Garner or the Keck Faculty
Council. (recollection of Harvey Kaslow
and Robert Farley.) The minutes of the
meeting state Donna Elliot will “go back
and look at where these recommendations were routed.”
·
2018-05-29: A letter
to Dean Mosqueda from Harvey Kaslow, ISS Subcommittee A Chair, states the above events
lead to the concern that the essence of the report and recommendations from ISS
Subcommittee A was not communicated to the LCME. To address the concern the
letter requests the Dean provide the report submitted to the LCME and the
response of the LCME.
·
2018-06-05: An email
from Judy Garner, Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs, on behalf of the Dean,
does not provide documents to Harvey Kaslow but states full access to all the
individual subcommittee reports was provided to the LCME.
·
2018-06-05: An email
from Harvey Kaslow to Judy Garner requests that in order to address the
concern she provide two documents supplied to the LCME:
1. The final version of the ISS
Subcommittee A report regarding governance and the governance document
(Standard 1.5).
2. Text from the Executive Summary
concerning governance and the governance document.
·
2018-06-07: An email
from Judy Garner to Harvey Kaslow states the Executive Summary “does not go back to the subcommittees.” The requested documents are not provided.
·
2018-06-11: A letter
to Dean Mosqueda from Harvey Kaslow, ISS Subcommittee A Chair, requests
the Dean provide two documents supplied to the LCME:
1. The final version of the ISS
Subcommittee A report regarding governance and the governance document
(Standard 1.5).
2. Text from the Executive Summary
concerning governance and the governance document.
The letter quotes the LCME: “The
usefulness of the self-study as a guide for planning and change is enhanced
when participation is broad and representative, when the participants have
engaged in a thoughtful process of institutional analysis and reflection, and
when the results and conclusions are widely disseminated.”
·
2018-06-15: An email
from Dean Mosqueda to Harvey Kaslow does not supply the documents and
states “I have received your letter and
have no further response.” The email
is copied to Lil Gomez Delcampo, Associate General
Counsel, Office of the General Counsel.
·
2018-06-20: A letter
from Harvey Kaslow to Provost Quick, who approved Governance Document
2017, states the above events lead to the concern that he was not provided the
report and recommendations from ISS Subcommittee A and a rationale explaining
how the revision of the document addressed the concerns in the report. The letter requests he:
1. State whether or not he was provided the ISS Subcommittee A report
and recommendations regarding governance and the governance document (Standard
1.5).
2. Provide the final version of the
ISS Subcommittee A report regarding governance and the governance document
(Standard 1.5) as submitted to the LCME.
3. Provide the text from the
Executive Summary submitted to the LCME concerning governance and the
governance document.
·
2018-06-21: An email
from Marty Levine, Vice Provost
and Senior Advisor to the Provost, to Harvey Kaslow states the Provost asked
him to reply to the letter from Harvey Kaslow.
The email gives a rationale to support the decision that the Office
of the Provost “is not going to engage
with you on your questions.”
·
2018-07-03: A letter
from Harvey Kaslow to Rick Caruso, Chair USC Board of Trustees,
summarizes the above events and states:
“The
above events indicate that, regarding the governance document, the process
leading to the accreditation of the medical school did not facilitate broad,
reflective, and representative input from the Faculty. Subsequent discussion of these events has not
been met with transparency and engagement.
I look forward to receiving your thoughts regarding these events and how
they relate to governance in the University as a whole.”
·
2018-09-20: A letter
from Harvey Kaslow to Wanda Austin, USC Interim President, summarizes
the above events and states:
“The above events indicate that,
regarding the KSOM Governance Document, the process leading to the
accreditation of the medical school did not facilitate broad, reflective, and
representative input from the Faculty based on widely disseminated information. Subsequent discussion of these events was not
met with transparency and engagement. I
look forward to receiving your thoughts regarding these events and receipt of
the requested documents.”
·
2018-12-21:
A letter
from Harvey Kaslow to Wanda Austin, USC Interim President, reports that
in a meeting held November 15, 2018, Vice Provost Levine was asked if the
Provost had been provided the report and recommendations of ISS Subcommittee A
and did not answer. When asked if the
Provost would provide the requested documents he did not answer. The letter states the continuing failure to
answer the question and provide the documents prompts the speculation that the
Executive Summary given to the LCME misrepresented events by stating the
Provost approved a new Governance Document after considering the report from
LCME ISS Subcommittee A and receiving input from the Faculty regarding the
report; sharing the Executive Summary would address this speculation. The letter requests the President share her
thoughts regarding this matter.
·
2019-01-08:
An email
from Dennis Cornell, USC Chief of Staff and Associate Secretary to the Board of
Trustees states: “Thank you
for reaching out to Dr. Austin. We have received your email. The president will
defer to the provost on this matter.”
·
2019-02-05: At the Keck Faculty Council meeting, Harvey Kaslow and Robert Farley suggest the
Council request the Provost:
1. State whether
or not he was provided the ISS Subcommittee A report and recommendations
regarding governance and the governance document (Standard 1.5).
2. Provide the final version of the
ISS Subcommittee A report regarding governance and the governance document
(Standard 1.5) as submitted to the LCME.
3. Provide the text from the
Executive Summary submitted to the LCME concerning governance and the
governance document.
The suggestion is made because Harvey
Kaslow was acting as a person selected by the Administration to participate in
the accreditation process. In contrast,
the Keck Faculty Council represents the Faculty. The Council decides to first consult with
Vice Dean Donna Elliot before deciding on whether to engage with the Provost.
·
2019-03-15: An
email from Alison Wilcox, President of the Keck Faculty Council to Harvey Kaslow states that
she and Gabriel Zada, Council Member, met with Vice Dean Donna Elliot on March
14, 2019. With Vice Dean Elliot they
reviewed the Subcommittee A Report and Executive Summary submitted to the LCME
and learned certain elements of the original Subcommittee A report were
removed/revised and other parts added by the LCME task force. The Report and Summary were not provided as
attachments to the email. Drs. Wilcox
and Zada made the recommendation to the Vice Dean that the next Executive
Summary be made public to KSOM faculty members.
The email states, “The KSOM
Faculty Council feels that due diligence to this matter has been paid, and we
consider this matter closed."
·
2019-04-10: An
email from Harvey Kaslow to Donna Elliot, Vice Dean for Medical
Education, requests an opportunity to inspect the documents submitted to the
LCME to determine:
* What was added and removed from
the Subcommittee A report prior to inclusion into the final, revised document.
* What the Executive Summary stated
regarding the Subcommittee A report.
·
2019-04-18: An
email from Donna Elliot to Harvey Kaslow does not offer an opportunity
to inspect the documents and states “You
were told that ‘the KSOM Faculty Council feels that due diligence to this
matter has been paid, and we consider this matter closed’ and I agree.”
·
2019-11-26: A
letter from Harvey Kaslow to the new Provost, Charles Zukoski,
reviews the above history and states, “The scandals plaguing USC, some
involving the medical school, have led to efforts to increase transparency in
the governance of the University. The report and recommendations from ISS
Subcommittee A are examples of such an effort. Although the scandals led to
promises of transparency, followed by installation of new leadership, it
remains unknown if there will be, in fact, genuine transparency. I would be pleased to engage with you to
discuss concerns involving the accreditation process at the Keck School of
Medicine and its Governance Document.”
·
2020-01-23: After several enquiries to the Provost from
Harvey Kaslow, an email
from Beth Shuster, Chief of Staff, Office of the Provost, to Harvey Kaslow
states, “On behalf of Provost Zukoski, I want to
let you know that we don't have anything to add to what Provost Quick wrote
to you over a year ago. The Keck Faculty Council remains the right channel
for you to raise whatever you wish.”
The
response from Provost Quick came from Vice Provost Marty Levine who stated
the Office of the Provost “is not going to engage with you on your
questions.”
************
The above summary prepared by Harvey Kaslow. File last saved: 01/23/2020 4:54 PM