Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, March 25, 2004 | 4:00 p.m. | 882nd Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Steven Knapp, Martha Hill, Jonathan Links, Edward Miller and James Yager.

Guests: Drs. Sharon Krag and Cecile Pickart.

Meeting Convened: Dean Alfred Sommer convened the meeting at 4:00 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 881st meeting on February 26, 2004 were approved.

Remarks by the Dean

Dean Sommer announced that nominations for the Albany Prize were being solicited, in particular in the area of public health.

Remarks by the Faculty Senate

Dr. Weiner reported that the Johns Hopkins University Effort Reporting requirement has been the Senate s major discussion item. The importance of open communication about this topic is recognized, and Dr. Krag s commitment to act as ombudsperson in the case of disagreements between individual faculty and their chairs was acknowledged. Dr. Weiner noted that the Department of Health Policy and Management undertook an anonymous survey about Effort Reporting and found the faculty had varying degrees of comfort with the present process.

The committee to address the faculty Balance of Effort will be reinvigorated with Dr. Weiner serving as chair. The committee will continue to study the issue and make a number of recommendations in the next several months.

Dr. Weiner proposed that the next joint Faculty Senate/Committee of the Whole meeting be canceled.

Other Items

Request for a tenure-track faculty position in the Department of Environmental Health Sciences

Dr. Groopman remarked that the recruitment of an assistant professor will be undertaken jointly with the Department of Biostatistics. The position will serve the growing needs of the Department of Environmental Health Sciences for biostatistical collaboration, and will be closely involved in the academic programs of the Department of Biostatistics

Follow-up to the Environmental Health Sciences Review Report

Dr. Groopman reviewed the timeline and key dates of the department self study, review, and subsequent activities as a result of the review process. The assistant professors in the Department were charged with revising the Department s mission statement. The concept of translational research is core to the revised mission of the Department.

Dr. Groopman reported that several structural elements have improved communication and coordination within the Department. Among them are the creation of an Executive Committee that consists of the directors of the four divisions; five department-wide committees (Faculty Affairs, Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, Enrichment & Seminars, and Professional Practice Development) that are chaired principally by full professors; and a Steering Committee that consists of the chairs of the five committees. The Division of Radiation Health Sciences no longer exists, and its small number of associated faculty have joined the Division of Toxicology. A few changes to improve the faculty mentoring process have been enacted.

Dr. Steinwachs suggested that representatives from among the junior faculty and students serve on the Steering Committee to improve mentoring and seek feedback from all constituencies in the Department. Dr. Groopman commented the monthly seminar series has been well received, and that the Department s Student Organization has been particularly active. Intra-departmental discussions about scientific issues have been stimulating and have had the positive effect of increased communication across disciplines and divisions. The Department held two scientific research retreats in November 2003 and will hold another in April 2004.

After further discussion, Dean Sommer and the members of the Advisory Board thanked Dr. Groopman for the progress made by the Department in response to the issues raised by the 2003 Review Committee and congratulated the Department on its successes.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

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Last updated 03May04 by dgips@jhu.edu