The Medical Faculty Assembly
of the School of Medicine of the University of Southern California

In the 1990's, controversial issues arose in academia and at medical schools in particular, centered in large part on the economic security of tenure.  The medical school at USC was prominent in the controversy (1, 2)

The controversies prompted some faculty members to attempt to instill in the school a culture based on the rule of law and democratic faculty input.  The school's Medical Faculty Assembly became a vehicle for this effort.  These faculty recognized transparent and timely communication was essential for the effort to succeed, and a web site was created.  Below is an early example of the web site's home page.

As the effort grew, the MFA created a list server that enabled both the MFA and individual faculty members to communicate by email.  Faculty could sign onto the list server independently, as shown on the expanding home page of the MFA..

A few years ago, considerable content was removed from the MFA web site.  In light of current efforts to amend the Governance Document of the medical school, here is a chronology of events regarding the Governance Document with backup materials, along with a pdf copy of the 1988 Governance Document.  These materials are from my personal archive of materials, some that were archived from the MFA web site.  Please realize that the University of Southern California may not recognize the posted content as official or accurate. 

The MFA home page shown below contains a quote from an editorial by William Danforth. Another quote from the editorial is:
   "Some in business foresee a work force with loose, and even temporary, ties to organizations.  Universities spring from a different culture. Faculty are citizens of their institutions as well as employees, citizens who deserve the loyalty of the institution even as the institution asks for theirs."

Harvey Kaslow, October 8, 2005

**************

 

M F A
the
Medical Faculty Assembly
of the
University of Southern California
School of Medicine

     Whether universities adapt successfully to the present environment will, in my view, depend on whether individual faculty members correctly read the needs of the era and take personal responsibility for the success of their institutions.  I can think of nothing more important or rewarding than to help preserve our research universities for the next generation so that they may continue to represent the highest aspirations of the American people.

William H. Danforth, Chairman of the Board
Washington University, St. Louis
Science, 22 September 1995

 

Regular Business
and
Minutes of Meetings

Governance
Documents

Recommendations
and
Resolutions

Issues at the MFA
Issues at the
University Academic Senate

Links to
the
World Wide Web

The Medical Faculty Assembly (MFA) is the elected body representing the faculty of the University of Southern California School of Medicine. Select from the following list to learn more about this organization, its activities, and governance issues at USC.

Table of Contents 1 -- Major Topics

  1. Regular Business and Structure of the MFA
  2. Governance Documents
  3. Recommendations Passed by the MFA
  4. Other Web Sites

This page was last updated on February 26, 1997.

Comments or questions should be sent to Robert H. Stellwagen, President of the MFA for 1996-97. E-mail to: stellwag@hsc.usc.edu

Table of Contents 2 -- Regular Business and Structure of the MFA

Table of Contents 3 -- Governance Documents

Table of Contents 4 -- Minutes of MFA Meetings

Table of Contents 5 -- Recommendations Passed by the MFA

Table of Contents 6 -- Other Web Sites