School of Hygiene and Public Health Advisory Board
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, July 25, 2000 / 4 p.m. / 838th Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, John Breitner, Bernard Guyer, and Edward Miller.

Guests: Drs. Sharon Krag and Noel Rose; Prof. Jon Vernick.

Meeting convened: Provost Knapp convened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 837th meeting on June 25, 2000 were approved.

Remarks by the Provost

Dr. Knapp acknowledged several positive accounts of Hopkins in the media, including an article about the end of the fund-raising campaign, an editorial, an ABC news documentary about Johns Hopkins Medicine, and a prominent article in Science by a faculty member in the Department of Physics and Astronomy. He then recognized the School of Hygiene and Public Health's recent awards from the Gates Foundation for development and testing of a measles vaccine and for micronutrient research, and congratulated School faculty who work directly on those efforts.

Dr. Knapp noted that Dr. Brody has been engaged in a number of fund-raising efforts to continue to increase endowment funds for the University.

Remarks by the Dean

Dean Sommer remarked that the MPH Review Committee has been formed and will begin its work in the next month. The Committee membership includes Drs. Ron Brookmeyer (chair), Eric Bass, Robert Black, Andrea Gielen, Leon Gordis, Joseph Margolick, Brian Schwartz, Donna Strobino, James Yager and Amanda Cline (staff).

Dr. Sommer thanked Dr. Anthony for his service on the Advisory Board representing the Faculty Senate. Dr. Anthony expressed his appreciation and respect for the Advisory Board. The Advisory Board was reminded of the strategic planning retreat on the weekend of July 27-29, 2000.

Dr. Sommer then reported on the major topics raised at the Association of Schools of Public Health Deans retreat, including: examining the accreditation process of schools of public health; credentialing the public health work force; and increasing the emphasis on funding of behavioral and prevention research. Dr. Harrison Spencer has been named to the newly-created position of president of ASPH, and is expected to move the organization to a new, higher level of visibility. Dr. Sommer noted that 5 deans of other schools of public health will visit the SHPH on October 18, 2000 for a Preventive Medicine/Public Health Grand Rounds on the future of academic public health.

Report of the Faculty Senate

Dr. Ensminger reported that the July Faculty Senate meeting included a discussion with the Office of Information Technology about development of the School's new website and were eager to remain involved with the continued development of the new website. The Faculty Senate will address a number of important topics in 2000-01, including the strategic planning process, uses of faculty time, mentoring, and faculty contributions to maintaining the highest standards of academic integrity.

Other items

Request for authorization for the Dean or his designee to act on the Board's behalf in consultation with those Board members available during the summer months - for vote

The Advisory Board voted to approve this request.

Report of the 1999-2000 Academic Ethics Board

Professor Vernick joined the group. Dr. Krag reviewed the report and activities of the 1999-2000 Academic Ethics Board, including meetings with the Student Assembly and a joint meeting with the Faculty Senate and Committee of the Whole. In these meetings, students as a group had expressed concern over their impression of instances of student violations of academic ethics (in part due to perceived grade competition), and faculty as a group had acknowledged their role in helping to prevent violations. At Dean Sommer's request, the 1999-2000 Board developed six recommendations to raise the visibility of academic ethics in the School as well as educate faculty and students to prevent future violations. Dr. Krag also reported on the academic ethics cases in 1999-2000, most of which involved plagiarism. In particular, the outcome of one case was a written personal account of one student's plagiarism that was produced as a special newsletter. In addition, Dr. Krag and Ms Fox will organize academic ethics discussions with incoming students, starting with new MPH class, that will include case studies as well as provision of information.

Dr. Knapp commented on a nationwide perception of increased cheating and plagiarism starting as early as high school, that may be related to a number of factors, including increased emphasis on cooperative work, but noted that few systematic studies have been done in this area. Several divisions at Homewood are considering developing an honor code, but there is no consensus as to the best approach.

The Advisory Board then discussed the recommendations of the Academic Ethics Board, in particular its recommendations to: discuss academic ethics proactively in every course; include an academic ethics statement for students' signature on every exam and paper; and provide periodic reminders to both students and faculty via e-mail that would include summary information about recent cases. Dr. Ensminger noted that one goal of the Faculty Senate in 2000-01 is to emphasize the contributions of faculty in preserving the School's academic integrity. After further discussion, Dr. Sommer asked that the Academic Ethics Board continue to raise the awareness of academic ethics in the School through their recommendations, although he felt that it might be more efficient to implement the recommendations, in stages, over time. He thanked Dr. Krag, Prof. Vernick and Ms. Fox representing the Academic Ethics Board.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

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