Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, September 29, 2005 | 3:00 p.m. | 900th Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Robert Black, Ron Brookmeyer, and Edward Miller.

Guests: Dr. Sharon Krag; Professor Stephen Teret; and Ms. Diane Glover.

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

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 899th Advisory Board meeting of July 14, 2005 were approved.

Remarks by the Provost

Provost Knapp commented on the many supportive responses across the University to the Hurricane Katrina tragedy. He noted that Dean Klag spent a week in Texas to support the Red Cross shelters and enhance communications among the many health-related agencies in Houston. Thirty institutions of higher education were affected by Katrina. Johns Hopkins is accommodating a number of displaced college students, and has collected tuition from these students to forward to the home institution. The JHU/JMHI Critical Event Preparedness and Response Office (CEPAR) also helped to organize volunteer efforts of Hopkins staff to provide health care to injured and displaced persons. Dr. Knapp reported that 29 undergraduates are visiting students at the Homewood campus. The Bloomberg School of Public Health is hosting 32 displaced Tulane School of Public Health students as well as several faculty. Dr. Knapp announced that Tulane University is expected to open again in January 2006.

Dr. Knapp reported that the search for the dean of the School of Arts and Sciences is proceeding and that approximately 10 candidates will be invited for on-campus interviews. The search for the Peabody dean has been initiated and recommendations for the position were welcomed by Dr. Knapp. Mr. Stephen Dunham has been recruited to the position of Vice President and General Counsel. The new position of University Chief Investment Officer has been created; its purpose will be to increase the size of the University's endowment through improved investment.

In response to a question about Tulane students who wish to remain at Hopkins and matriculate as students, Dr. Knapp noted that the Association of American Universities (AAU) is convening a task force to formulate a policy. The Bloomberg School of Public Health has indicated to displaced Tulane students that they will need to apply and be accepted to one of our academic programs in order to remain as students in the School.

Provost Knapp then welcomed to the Advisory Board Drs. Ellen MacKenzie, incoming chair of the Department of Health Policy and Management, and Thomas Louis, president-elect of the Faculty Senate.

Remarks by the Dean

Dean Klag thanked the members of the Advisory Board for being so welcoming and helpful during his transition to the Dean's Office. He reported on his trip to Houston, where he acted as liaison between the Red Cross, CDC, and local and state health departments. He then reported very positively on the recent Health Advisory Board meeting, and on the exceptional celebration in honor of Dr. Sommer's tenure as dean.

Dr. Klag announced that Dr. Nathan Wolfe, assistant professor in epidemiology, has been awarded an "NIH Director Pioneer Award" to "support exceptionally creative scientists who take innovative approaches to major challenges in biomedical research."

Dr. Klag briefly discussed plans to accommodate the School's long term need to identify new on-campus space. He then reviewed provisional enrollment figures for Fall 2005, indicating an increased number of students in most programs and departments. While an increase in the number of students is generally viewed positively, classroom space to accommodate these students is now at capacity from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. We will need to evaluate our educational programs, prioritize educational resources, and identify additional growth potential without unduly stressing the full-time faculty.

Dr. Klag circulated information from the School's United Way campaign in 2004, noting that some of the least well-paid staff had the highest participation rates. He stressed the importance of improving our participation rate in every department in the School.

Report of the Faculty Senate

Dr. Spannhake reported that the agenda of the September 8, 2005 Faculty Senate meeting included a presentation by Dr. Krag about subscribing to a plagiarism detection service to assist faculty who suspect plagiarism by students. The Senate felt that the School did not need to subscribe to this type of service at the present time; however there was strong support for increasing efforts to explain the plagiarism issue to students at the start of each term. The Senate briefly reviewed proposed revisions of the Academic Ethics Code and was asked to provide comments to Ms. Fox.

Dr. Spannhake noted that Dean Klag will attend the October 6, 2005 Senate meeting. Dr. Diener-West then reported that the Senate will co- sponsor a session with Professor Teret and other members of the Committee on Appointments and Promotions, and will solicit suggestions from the faculty to inform that discussion.

Other Business

Review of the Academic Ethics Code revision
Ms. Fox commented that a number of revisions to the Academic Ethics Code have been proposed. The draft revisions have also been provided to the Faculty Senate and the Student Assembly. Members of the Advisory board are asked to review the proposed changes, share them with their departments, and forward any comments to Ms. Fox. The Advisory Board will be asked to approve the changes at a subsequent meeting. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

© 2005 The Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, Maryland. All rights reserved.
Last updated 07Nov05 by dgips@jhu.edu