Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, October 23, 2003 | 3:00 p.m. | 877th Meeting

Members Absent: Dr. William Brody, Marie Diener-West, Bernard Guyer, Robert Lawrence, Edward Miller, Jonathan Samet, Donald Steinwachs, and James Yager.

Guests: Drs. Sharon Krag and Barry Zirkin; and Mss Sylvia Eggleston Wehr and Diane Glover.

Meeting Convened: Provost Steven Knapp convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 875th meeting on July 17, 2003 and 876th meeting on September 18, 2003 were approved.

Announcements

Dean Eggleston Wehr circulated a draft schedule of events on April 23, 2004 for the School's rededication. She asked that the department chairs provide the names of a few faculty to invite to the rededication who could represent the department and the School.

Remarks by the Provost

Provost Knapp commented on the recent large Alumni and Board of Trustees meetings held at the University over the weekend, marking the half-way point of the fund-raising campaign. He then updated the Advisory Board on the status of several searches at the University level. Ms Charlene Hayes has been named Vice President for Human Resources, and the search for the University Vice President and General Counsel is in the second round of interviews. The search for a dean of the School of Engineering is continuing and a new dean is not expected to be named for several months.

Dr. Knapp then remarked on developments in the US Department of Homeland Security that are likely to affect the University. While the Department will undertake research sponsorship, its goals and priorities have not yet been finalized. The Department is interested in research activities that may be construed as "sensitive" (although not classified) with respect to publication and access, and Dr. Poehler will be collecting the relevant information from across the University. The Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) is now based in the Department of Homeland Security, and many universities have seen a subsequent tightening of visa application requirements for faculty and students. Dr. Zeger expressed concerns about uncertainties for international faculty members with respect to their international travel.

Remarks by the Dean

Dr. Sommer shared with the Public Health faculty the "NIH Road Map", and will shortly forward to them information on funding and collaborative opportunities as part of the NIH Foundation's "Grand Challenges in Public Health."

Remarks by the Faculty Senate

Dr. Weiner reported that Dr. Diener-West is president-elect of the Faculty Senate and thus has joined the Advisory Board. The major issues that the Faculty Senate will tackle this year include faculty titles of non-tenure-track faculty, the balance and equity among the faculty's balance of effort, and increasing faculty mentoring.

Other items

Revisions of the Conflict of Interest PPM

The Advisory Board briefly discussed the proposed changes in the PPM, and then voted to approve the PPM as proposed, along with a few additional changes suggested by Advisory Board members at an earlier meeting.

Revisions of the Institutional Animal Care and Use PPM

Dr. Krag noted that the proposed revisions were developed to be consistent with recent changes and practices related to oversight and governance of animal care and use at the University level. The Advisory Board voted to approve the revisions as proposed.

MPH Program Update

Dr. Brookmeyer reviewed the current enrollment in the MPH program, which experienced a record class size of over 200 full-time students in 2003-04. He noted that there are presently 531 MPH students, including approximately 328 part-time students who are studying either on the internet or predominantly in face-to-face classes. He reported that 2003-04 is the first year for students to take advantage of one of the ten "concentration areas." Fifty-eight percent of the full-time MPH class signed up for one of the concentration areas, which include approximately 20 of the required 80 credits, and link to a related capstone experience. The remainder of the full-time class has the traditional "customized" curriculum. It is not known whether interest in the concentration areas will vary from year to year, or whether there will be fluctuations in interest in some concentration areas.

Dr. Brookmeyer noted that one of the major issues affecting the MPH program is the need for large classroom space. An evaluation of the summer curriculum offered for the first time in 2003 has been very positive, and a few more changes will be made in the summer of 2004. In response to a question, Dr. Brookmeyer reported that advisors for "customized program" students are designated by the members of the MPH Executive Board, whose dedication and cooperation has been critical to the success of the program. Dean Sommer noted that the "customized" MPH has been the hallmark of the School's program since its inception.

After further discussion, the Advisory Board thanked Dr. Brookmeyer for providing a very positive status report.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:30 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

© 2003 The Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, Maryland. All rights reserved.
Last updated 25Nov03 by dgips@jhu.edu