CALL TO ORDER:

The meeting was called to order by Dr. Adrian Reuben, on Tuesday, March 6, 2001, at 7:55 am in Room 107 Admin./Library Building.

SENATORS PRESENT:

Basic Sciences: Kathryn Meier, Philip Privitera

Clinical Sciences: Timothy Carter, Leonie Gordon, Maria Lopes-Virella, Mark Lyles, Subbi Mathur, Adrian Reuben

Dental Medicine: Jon Rampton

Health Professions: Richard Hernandez

Library Science & Informatics: Nancy McKeehan, Peggy Schachte

Nursing: Elaine Amella, Tara Hulsey, Francine Margolius, Sally Stroud

Pharmacy: John Bosso, Kurt Lorenz, Anne Spencer

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The February minutes were posted in the unapproved form on the Web site and were available for review prior to meeting. The minutes for February were approved and passed once a quorum was present.

BUSINESS

Dr. Reuben introduced the three guests who would be addressing the Senate: Marion Woodbury, CEO of UMA; John Sutusky, Vice President for Finance & Administration; and John Runyon, Director of Business Services. The chairman congratulated John Sutusky on his recent appointment as Vice President for Finance & Administration.

University Affairs Committee -- Anne Spencer

Anne Spencer reported on the progress in getting Legal Counsel to review documents of importance for the Senate. Paul Taylor, Internal Auditor, and Joe Good, University Counsel, have worked with the committee to draw up the guidelines which have been reviewed by the Senate and are ready for presentation to the faculty. The Senate must still vote on the final version of the guidelines.

The University Affairs Committee has outlined a system to manage the funds to support this program once they are collected. Two lawyers have expressed interest in the position. Both appear capable, well qualified, and experienced. The next major step will be soliciting donations from the faculty. Senators will serve as ambassadors to their units, distributing information, answering questions, and soliciting donations. The committee will outline a plan for solicitation for discussion at the April Senate meeting.

Dr. Reuben stated he would send out a newsletter explaining the legal counsel program. This will also be a major item on the agenda for the General Faculty Meeting planned for later in March.

Faculty Affairs -- Phil Privitera

Phil Privitera reported that he had received no additional change suggestions for the Post-Tenure Review document. Dr. Rebuen will send out the revised Post-tenure Review document prior to the General Faculty meeting, at which it can be debated. Following this discussion, the Senate will vote on the document in April.

Report on UMA Finances -- Marion Woodbury, CEO UMA

Marion Woodbury gave a thorough overview of the state of the UMA. He began with a brief history of the clinical practice plan at MUSC, which was established in 1965. The organization has moved from a loosely organized, largely departmentally-based structure to central university control. The focus of his presentation was the current financial status of the UMA and how recent problems are being addressed. He outlined the cash flow problems, discussed the expensive strategy of investing in the primary care network, and noted the loss of revenue due to the loss of faculty in certain practice areas. Mr. Woodbury distributed two handouts: the mission statement of the UMA and copies of his slides. Senators who missed the meeting may request copies of these informative documents from Melissa Foster (fosterm@musc.edu).

Closure of Jordan Medical Bookstore — John Sutusky, VP for Finance & Administration

Dr. Reuben asked John Sutusky if he would comment on the House Ways & Means Committee’s budget reduction decision before addressing the bookstore problem. Noting that nothing was yet final, Dr. Sutusky explained briefly how budget decisions are made on the state level and noted that the initial news looks good for MUSC. Of all agencies which are targeted for cuts, MUSC will suffer the lowest, a 2% reduction. He gave credit to the message Dr. Greenberg carried to the Legislature.

Dr. Sutusky's main topic was the closure of Jordan Medical Bookstore, which has served as the MUSC bookstore for a number of years. Last fall, the bookstore owners advised the university that they had been suffering serious losses for awhile and unless that could be turned around, they would have to close. Pressures exacerbating the problem include the rise of e-commerce, the consolidation of the book distribution and sales industry, and problems with accuracy in the faculty book orders. The latter resulted in surplus inventory which required returns at a cost of a 25% re-stocking fee. MUSC was unable to demand that all faculty and students buy exclusively at Jordan Bookstore, as requested by the owners; nor can the university afford to subsidize the bookstore. In January, the owners announced plans to close the store in March.

Dr. Crouch and Dr. Sutusky appointed a university-wide committee to look at options and make recommendations for both short-term and long-range solutions. The committee, headed by John Runyon, is academically-based and has the following members: Tom Basler, Amy Blue, David Whittaker, Christie Beaks, Steve Brown, Jim Menzel, and Scott Phillips.

John Runyon discussed the work of the committee and agreed to forward the minutes to the Faculty Senate Chairman. Of immediate concern is that there is no obvious supply of books for summer term. Three solutions are being considered: an agreement with another local college bookstore, establishing a virtual bookstore, and having a physical location on campus for a bookstore. Work is also being done on an automated system for the identification and publication of booklists. John Runyon is very interested in hearing suggestions from faculty and welcomes their input. His e-mail is runyonj@musc.edu.

Governance Committee -- Francine Margolius

Francine noted that the committee would be dividing the Facu.lty Handbook into sections to distribute the work of review. Each person will list issues of concern. Additional help, outside the committee, will be sought for re-writing the sections that need to be addressed.

Dr. Reuben noted that the most significant sections for review and consideration are those that deal with faculty rights and responsibilities. Senators who know of problems which faculty have experienced because something was not covered in the Faculty Handbook should send a description of the issue to Francine.

Subbi Mathur noted that there are discrepancies between some of the APT guidelines of individual colleges and the university APT guidelines in the Handbook.

General Faculty Meeting

A General Faculty Meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, 2001, at 4:30 p.m., at the Institute of Psychiatry Auditorium.

April Speaker: Dr. Rosalie Crouch, Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs

Dr. Crouch will address the Senate in April. She will give an update on the search for a Dean for the College of Medicine and discuss how various recent department chair appointments have been made. Senators may contact Dr. Reuben (reubena@musc.edu) if they have other issues for Dr. Crouch.

Adjournment

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 9:00 a.m.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 3, 2001 at 7:45 a.m., Administration/Library, Room 107.