Members Absent: Drs. Robert Lawrence, Roger McMacken and Barry Zirkin.

Guests: Drs. Sharon Krag and Charles Rohde; Ms Diane Glover.

Meeting Convened: President William Brody convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 820th meeting on January 19, 1999 were approved.

Remarks by the President: President Brody expressed his pleasure at visiting the School. He noted that Mr. Thomas Etten will become the new director of Governmental and External Affairs for the University, coming from the University of Minnesota with a strong background in federal relations. Dr. Brody commented that the University is doing well fiscally, and that resources for increased faculty support, building and financial aid are the priorities. The fund-raising campaign has now raised over a billion dollars for the University and is expected to end in June 2000 having reached its goal.

He noted that endowment funds are handled conservatively to assure their continued strength. The University has signed a five-year agreement with the federal government for Facility and Administrative cost recovery in line with projections. The State of Maryland has been requested to invest in added facilities for the Schools of Public Health and Medicine. Strong support has been expressed thus far by the State. Dr. Brody commented that the University has committed itself to raise the minimum wage paid to University and Health System employees and subcontractors over the next three years.

Remarks by the Provost: Dr. Knapp reported that JHU Urban Health Initiative met with its steering committee for a progress update. The initiative has been divided into subcommittees studying disease-oriented issues and thematic issues. A final report is expected by May 1999.

Remarks by the Dean: Dean Sommer reported that Dr. Alan Goldberg will step down after 15 years as Associate Dean, most recently as Associate Dean for Corporate Affairs. Alternative structures and arrangements for support of the School's technology transfer and licensing arrangements will be considered by the chairs.

A review of the School-wide MPH program will be undertaken, similar to departmental reviews. Members of the Advisory Board were asked to forward to the Dean's office their thoughts on parameters that should be addressed as part of the review, as well as suggestions for faculty to serve on the review committee.

An oversight committee will be established for the Center for Quantitative Genetics, which was established with resources from the School following School-wide deliberations. Dean Sommer solicited suggestions for the organization of the oversight committee from among the six departments involved in the Center. The Center will also be asked to report to the Advisory Board several times per year on its activities.

Several chairs expressed concern over delays in the processing of applications for admission in 1999- 2000. Dr. Sommer will follow-up with the appropriate Student Academic Support Services staff. The new director of the National Center for Health Statistics visited Dean Sommer to express interest in developing closer partnerships with the School, possibly including joint training programs, summer institutes, and sharing of faculty and staff resources. Drs. Judy Kasper, Philip Leaf and Manning Feinleib will form a working group to follow-up and seek input from the faculty.

Remarks by the Faculty Senate: Dr. Anthony reported that, at the most recent Faculty General Assembly meeting, Dr. Sommer and Ms. Eggleston Wehr provided information on how individual faculty can help build the School's endowment. A faculty committee was formed to help address the role of the faculty in fund-raising. The Senate will come to the Advisory Board with recommendations about titles and responsibilities of non-tenure-track faculty, based on Dr. Krag's report. Dr. Anthony was optimistic that the recommendations will be congruent with the thinking of the chairs about this complex issue.

Other items Changes to PPM on grading to re-institute the grade of "D" The proposed change to the PPM on grading, which had been discussed at a Committee of the Whole meeting, was approved. Review of draft CEPH site visit agenda Dr. MacKenzie reviewed the draft agenda of the CEPH site visit on March 29-31, 1999. A number of changes have been made based on the availability of faculty, alumni and community representatives. Additional suggestions should be forwarded to Dr. MacKenzie. Dean Sommer thanked Dr. MacKenzie and Ms Fox for organizing the self study and site visit, and acknowledged that several sources of stress continue to exist between the accrediting agency and schools of public health.

Findings and recommendations of the Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Retirement. Dr. Rohde, SHPH representative on the Ad Hoc Committee on Faculty Retirement, joined the group. He noted that the SHPH enjoys strong loyalty among its retired faculty, who are both committed to the School and are pleased with compensation and non-compensation components of their retirement. Overall, the University has not experienced a significant expansion in the number of older active faculty who did not choose to retire after mandatory retirement age was abolished, although some small departments and pockets of faculty may have been directly affected by changes in the retirement age cap. The major items to be following-up on include a discussion at the Faculty Senate as to whether retired faculty will continue to be represented on the Senate (or in departmental faculty meetings) and the Ad Hoc Committee's recommendation for increased communication by the JHU Benefits Office regarding the benefits available to retired faculty. Criteria used to confer emeritus status should be discussed broadly and there should be consistency within a division in the conferral of emeritus status. After further discussion, Dr. Brody thanked Dr. Rohde and the Committee for their diligent and thoughtful report.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

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