Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, December 9, 2004 | 3:00 p.m. | 891st Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Diane Griffin, John Groopman, Martha Hill, and Edward Miller.

Guests: Drs. Karen Bandeen-Roche, Terri Beaty, Charles Boult, Sharon Krag, Thomas Louis, George Rebok, Ellen Silbergeld, and Donna Strobino; Professor Stephen Teret; and Mss. Donna Helm and Diane Glover.

Meeting Convened: Provost Steven Knapp convened the meeting at 3 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 890th meeting on November 11, 2004 were approved.

Remarks by the Provost

Provost Knapp commented on the status of stem cell research at universities, and the potential effect of California's Proposition 71 on the ability of universities outside of California to attract and retain faculty while federal regulations are confusing and funding sources are uncertain. He noted the diversity of opinion about the subject across the country and within the Hopkins community. The University is considering its approaches to stem cell research but does not want to lose faculty to more resource-rich institutions.

Dr. Knapp congratulated Dr. Diener-West and the School on the inauguration of the new Abbey-Merrill professorship and commented on the value of honoring distinguished teachers. He noted that there are now over 300 endowed chairs in the university. Dr. Steinwachs was congratulated on being named the inaugural Fred and Julie Soper professor of Health Policy and Management. Dr. Soper was a distinguish alumnus of the School.

Remarks by the Faculty Senate

Dr. Diener-West remarked that the most recent Senate meeting was held jointly with the Committee of the Whole. The major topics included a presentation from representatives of the Welch Library about alternatives to standard journal publications. Dr. Krag will forward to the faculty a reminder that the School has developed a policy on faculty ownership and use of electronic materials. The overwhelming use of School-maintained printers by students was also discussed. Tracking printer use by students has revealed that a few students have overused the printers while most students fall into a more moderate range of use. Several options were suggested to prevent problems in the future, including limiting the number of pages students can print monthly. A small subcommittee will be designated to recommend the next steps.

Dr. Weiner commented that several suggestions to improve the Balance of Effort recommendations were provided and will be shared with the Senate one last time. Dr. Diener-West thanked Dr. Knapp for the Senate's upcoming role in the Dean Search. Members of the Senate will interact with candidates during second interviews.

Other Business

Proposed Revisions of PhD, ScD and Post-doctoral Fellow PPMs

Dr. Krag reviewed the proposed changes in the PhD and ScD PPMs, noting they bring a little more flexibility to the composition of the preliminary oral examining committee. These changes are consistent with the policies of the JHU Graduate Board. The post-doctoral fellow PPM was revised to be consistent with the policies and procedures now in place in the School for post-doctoral fellows. Dr. Krag commented that departmental academic coordinators and the Committee on Academic Standards have reviewed and approved the proposed changes. The Advisory Board then voted to approve the revisions of the three PPMs.

Sponsored Research Report, 2000-2004

Ms Helm joined the Advisory Board. She reviewed the most recent Sponsored Research Report. Overall research support, particularly from NIH, increased in 2004, however other sponsored activities declined slightly. She noted that NIH remains our largest sponsor, followed by AID. Our application success rate has remained approximately 40%, consistent with the other divisions of the University. She reviewed several methodologic factors to assist in the interpretation of the report. Dr. Black requested that expenditure information be provided in future reports along with the revenue information. Ms Helm noted that HopkinsOne is not expected to allow the importation of historical information so that a report tracking sponsored activities over the span of several years may not be possible until the system is in place and accumulates information.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:55 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

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