Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, May 19, 2005 | 3:00 p.m. | 896th Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Steven Knapp, Robert Black, Robert Blum, Diane Griffin, John Groopman, Martha Hill, and Edward Miller.

Guests: Drs. Sharon Krag and Laura Morlock; Professor Stephen Teret; and Ms. Diane Glover.

Meeting Convened: Dean Alfred Sommer convened the meeting at 3:10 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 895th Advisory Board meeting of April 28, 2005 were approved.

Remarks by the Dean

Dean Sommer noted that the Dean's Alumni Advisory Council had a successful meeting earlier in the day. He reminded the Advisory Board of the abbreviated meeting on May 24 at 11 am to credential the 2005 graduates, which is expected to be the largest graduating class ever. He then welcomed Dr. Lynn Goldman as a new member of the Advisory Board representing the Interdepartmental Applied Public Health Program.

Report of the Faculty Senate

Dr. Spannhake reported that the most recent Faculty Senate meeting focused on providing Senate input into the dean selection process through the Faculty Senate Executive Committee. He expressed appreciation on behalf of the Senate for the opportunity to take an active role in the dean selection process.

Other Business

Follow-up to the Biostatistics Review Report
Dr. Zeger reviewed the main issues and recommendations identified by the Committee to Review the Department of Biostatistics in 2004. He then reviewed the Department's response to each recommendation point-by-point and noted that a number of changes that have already been implemented. Dr. Zeger commented that it is mutually beneficial if faculty from the Department interact with doctoral students from other departments as early as possible (i.e., no later than the preliminary oral examination) to assure that appropriate biostatistical oversight and support is provided to the students as their dissertation research begins. Dr. Zeger also highlighted the periodic "Wall of Wonder" presentations that attempt to make biostatistics both more relevant and integrated across the School. These presentations have been well-attended and well-received.

Dr. Sommer thanked Dr. Zeger for his comprehensive presentation.

Revisions of the DrPH PPM
Dr. Morlock reviewed the concerns raised by members of the Advisory Board when the draft revisions were discussed at an earlier meeting. She noted modest changes in the membership of the DrPH Executive Board; that a required letter from the student's employer was deleted; and that DrPH students would not be required to start as a cohort at a single time of the year. While the DrPH program believes it is important to build cohorts of students, particularly among part-time students, other avenues to create cohorts will be explored. The Program is also thinking about ways to optimize the DrPH seminar for part-time students. Dean Sommer noted that several members of the Dean's Alumni Advisory Council suggested that the part-time DrPH program be marketed as an "Executive" program even though it will differ from a "lockstep" program and will have a dissertation requirement.

After further discussion, the DrPH Program PPM revisions were approved.

2004 - 2005 Faculty Salary Analysis
Dr. Zeger reviewed the results of the 2004 - 2005 Faculty Salary Analysis conducted on behalf of the Committee on Affirmative Action to assure that salaries of women and minority professorial faculty are comparable to those of male and non-minority professorial faculty. He then reported that the salaries of women and minority professorial faculty are, as a group, within the same range as the salaries of male and non-minority faculty. For the first time, a cross-sectional analysis of scientist-track faculty was conducted, revealing some differences between the salaries of female and male scientists of comparable degrees, years in rank, etc.; there were no statistically significant differences between the salaries of minority and non-minority scientists as a group. Dean Sommer will contact the chairs of the departments with female scientist faculty identified as having lower than expected salaries to review each individual identified and make adjustments as appropriate.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:45 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Robin Fox

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Last updated 07Nov05 by dgips@jhu.edu