CALL TO ORDER:

The meeting was called to order by Dr. Adrian Reuben, on Tuesday, April 3, 2001, at 7:55 am in Room 107 Admin./Library Building.

SENATORS PRESENT:

Basic Sciences: Ed Krug, Janice Lage, Michael Schmidt, Sally Self

Clinical Sciences: Linda Austin, James Carter, Timothy Carter, Leonie

Gordon, Maria Lopes-Virella, Mark Lyles, Timothy Lyons, Subbi Mathur,

Terry O’Brien, Adrian Reuben

Dental Medicine: Peter Kobes, Luis Leite, Jon Rampton

Health Professions: Richard Hernandez

Library Science & Informatics: Jennie Ariail, Nancy McKeehan

Nursing: Tara Hulsey, Sally Stroud

Pharmacy: John Bosso, Kurt Lorenz, Kit Simpson, Anne Spencer, Donald Wiest

APPROVAL OF MINUTES

The March minutes were posted in the unapproved form on the Web site and were available for review prior to meeting. The minutes for March were approved and passed.

The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 1, 2001 at 7:45 a.m., Admin/Library, Room 100.

BUSINESS

Dr. Reuben welcomed Dr. Rosalie Crouch, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs. Dr. Crouch came to discuss issues and give senators an opportunity to raise any questions about the university.

Review of Draft University Computer Use Policy

Mike Schmidt gave an update on his group's review of the proposed changes to the University Computer Use Policy. Most of the 4-member group had no problem with the changes. There was a proposal to include a statement about copyright, but Dr. Starmer felt copyright issues should be addressed in a separate policy. Dr. Starmer hopes to present the revised policy to the Board of Trustees at the April meeting, so the Senate must respond quickly to the request for feedback. Dr. Reuben will send Senators the urls of the web sites for the two policies so they can review them and send comments to Mike.

Report on General Faculty Meeting of March 21

Dr. Reuben noted that a "small, interactive" audience attended the meeting. Although the turnout was disappointing in terms of numbers, the participation was enthusiastic. Agenda items included the Legal Counsel initiative, the recently-revised Post-Tenure Review document, and the need for revisions to the Faculty Handbook. The latter topic drew the most discussion. Dr. Baggett remarked that the Faculty Senate should oppose legislative attempts to dictate behavior to the university. Dr. Reuben responded with his opinion that the role of the Faculty Senate was to represent the faculty and work with the university administration and not bypass it by going directly to the legislature. If the university administration accepts legislative proposals that are not in the best interest of the faculty, the Senate should negotiate a solution with the administration. There was discussion about the high levels of dissatisfaction within the Institute of Psychiatry and the Department of Psychiatry.

Dr. Higerd reported on the Chair Evaluation Process for 2000 and distributed a copy of a letter he had written to Dr. Crouch reporting on the process. Senators may request a copy of this letter from Dr. Reuben if they did not get one at the faculty meeting. Participation in the survey was over 50%. It was very successful and well-received by deans and chairmen alike. Faculty are encouraged to participate in the 2001 evaluation process, which will begin in May.

Dr. Reuben reminded faculty in attendance of the importance of the spring Commencement and the Fall Convocation, and encouraged all faculty to attend these important academic events.

Publication of Senate Minutes in Catalyst

Faculty Senate Minutes are once again appearing in the Catalyst. An abbreviated version of the unapproved minutes will appear after they have been posted to the Faculty Senate web site. In adition, Dick Peterson, with the advice of the Senate chair, will select topical issues from the Minutes for treatment in separate articles. He will interview appropriate Senators to construct the article. The first of these articles will focus on the Legal Counsel. Dr. Reuben will be interviewed for that article.

Dr. Rosalie Crouch, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs.

Dr. Crouch began her remarks to the Senate by announcing the appointment of Dr. Jerry Reves, M.D., as Dean of the College of Medicine. Noting the significance of this appointment, Dr. Crouch outlined the search process. This was a national search with heavy response. Eleven candidates were interviewed and 5 were brought back for a second interview. The Provost and the President then visited the institutions of the three external candidates, interviewing staff and colleagues at those sites. Dr. Reves is Chairman of the Anesthesiology Department at Duke. Under his leadership, the department has achieved national prominence. He will be on campus at MUSC often in the next few months before he begins his tenure on July 1. Major issues that he will need to address include responding to various constituents; garnering the respect of faculty, chairs, residents, and clinicians; searching for and appointing departmental chairs for Psychiatry, Anesthesiology, and Medicine; and bringing the finances of the college back into balance. He is very interested in education and was a leader in educational reform at Duke, introducing technology into the curriculum. He also knows MUSC, Charleston, and South Carolina. His appointment will go to the Board of Trustees in April.

Dr. Reuben proposed to Dr. Crouch that the Faculty Senate should be involved in interviewing candidates for important administrative positions. Dr. Crouch agreed, and noted that the Senate did have a representative on the search committee.

A search is underway for an Associate Provost for Research. This is the person who guides the research policy at the university and Dr. Crouch encouraged all faculty to attend the lectures of the candidates and take an interest in the search.

In regard to the appointment of department chairs, Dr. Crouch remarked that the Faculty Handbook states that all chairs must be (1) the product of a search and (2) approved by the Board of Trustees. Her research showed that some appointments had not gone to the Board. With one exception, all chair appointments were the product of either an internal or an external search. Internal searches are legal, according to EEOC guidelines. She has asked all deans to compile information for the Provost regarding their search policies and procedures. In response to a question about a special evaluation for chairs who were appointed without a search process, Dr. Crouch responded that all chairs would go through the regular evaluation process and that Dr. Reves will be looking at all chairs. She announced that there is currently an internal search underway for a chairman in Pediatrics. Dr. Crouch affirmed that in the future all departmental chair appointments would come after a search and would be submitted to the Board of Trustees for approval, as required by the MUSC Faculty Handbook.

Finally, Dr. Crouch observed that the budget is looking better. The hospital will finish in the black. However, we will undoubtedly lose more clinicians as things stabilize, so the financial picture won't turn around immediately.

She thanked the Senate for inviting her and offered to come at any time to discuss issues and answer questions.

Dr. Reuben promised to discuss the Institute of Psychiatry and Department of Psychiatry faculty problems with Dr. Crouch in the near future.

Faculty Affairs Committee: Vote on Post-tenure Review Document

John Bosso noted that no substantive changes to the revised document had been raised at the faculty meeting and moved that the document be approved. His motion was seconded, brought to a vote, and the document was approved.

University Affairs Committee: Legal Counsel for Faculty Senate

Anne Spencer presented the following proposed changes to the Draft Resolution for Legal Counsel to the Senate.

Item 1: Within the first year of inception, should the Senate determine that cumulative and anticipated contributions be insufficient to serve the purpose of employing legal counsel, then and in that event, the Senate may elect to disband the financial account and return all unused contributions to donors on a pro rata basis.

After that time, should the Senate determine that cumulative and anticipated contributions be insufficient to serve the purpose of employing legal counsel, then and in that event, the Senate may elect to disband the financial account and donate all unused contributions to the unrestricted expendable fund in the Health Sciences Foundation.

Item 2: An appropriate checking account shall be established at a local financial institution with signatory authority residing in the Chair and two executive committee members. Two authorized signatures will be required to authorize each transaction.

These proposal items were presented and approved.

The Draft Resolution of the Medical University of South Carolina Faculty Senate was submitted and approved.

Adjournment

There being no further business the meeting was adjourned at 8:50 a.m. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 1, 2001 at 7:45 a.m., Administration/Library, Room 100. (Location change for the May meeting is due to preparation for Graduation)