Bloomberg School of Public Health
Advisory Board Meeting Minutes
Thursday, March 21, 2002 | 3 p.m. | 858th Meeting

Members Absent: Drs. William Brody, Steven Knapp, Robert Black, Margaret Ensminger, Edward Miller, and Noel Rose.

Guests: Dr. Joanne Katz; Mr. Robert Hradsky; and Ms Diane Glover.

Meeting Convened: Dean Sommer convened the meeting at 3:00 p.m.

Approval of the Minutes: Minutes of the 857th meeting on February 21, 2002 were approved.

Remarks by the Dean

Dean Sommer updated the Advisory Board on an investigation of a study on vertical transmission of HIV in Africa conducted by a School of Medicine faculty member. Several agencies and organizations were also involved in the completed study. The ancillary effect of the investigation on studies conducted by the BSPH was being evaluated.

Other items

Proposed revisions to Academic Programs PPM on Continuing Education Courses

Ms Fox reviewed the proposed revisions to the PPM on continuing education, which had been reviewed and approved by the Committee of the Whole. To appropriately implement the PPM, information on formal teaching activities of the faculty at non-Hopkins institutions must be provided by the faculty. Several chairs suggested that such information be collected routinely, and indicated that courses involving more than 8 hours of instruction time be identified by the faculty. They further suggested that the annual Conflict of Interest faculty disclosure statement would be the most suitable mechanism to collect this information without much additional effort. Ms Fox will propose a modification of the Conflict of Interest disclosure statement and will bring it with the PPM back to the Advisory Board.

Dr. Steinwachs expressed interest in thinking through issues around conflict of commitment, (e.g., what is it, and when does it happen, how should it be documented, might it vary at different career stages, how does it affect mentoring?) He will organize a small ad hoc committee with at least 2 other faculty members to examine this topic.

Student Grievance Policy

Mr. Hradsky joined the Advisory Board. He commented that the proposed new Student Grievance Policy has been reviewed several times by the Student Assembly, Faculty Senate and Committee of the Whole, and that revisions or clarifications to meet any concerns have been made. The General Counsel's Office also has approved the Policy. The purpose of the Policy is to provide a last resort for grievances by students that do not involve grades, although informal mechanisms to resolve complaints that have been used in the past will continue.

After discussion, the new Student Grievance Policy was approved by the Advisory Board with minor editorial changes.

Draft Revisions of Faculty PPM #1 on Appointments, Promotion and Professional Activities of the Faculty

A revision of Faculty PPM #1 that included comments and suggestions from the February 2002 meeting was circulated. Dr. Sommer reviewed the most recent changes, which included a new "historical rationale" as Appendix 2 of the PPM. The Advisory Board spent considerable time discussing differences between scholarly independence and financial independence of non-tenure-track professorial faculty, and how these faculty can gain professional fulfillment and growth and be properly mentored without unduly affecting the overall resources of and planning for the institution. A few minor changes in the wording around the issue of "independence" were suggested. Dr. Sommer asked that members of the Advisory Board forward other editorial comments to him.

Several members of the Advisory Board suggested that the section on "Faculty Responsibilities" in the proposed revision be shared directly with the faculty, particularly with senior faculty, after approval. The Advisory Board agreed that the requirement for national searches for all professorial faculty (tenure-track and non-tenure track) should be preserved in the PPM.

The Advisory Board briefly discussed the proposed caps on the proportion of non-tenure-track professorial faculty. Dean Sommer asked that the proposed revisions of the PPM on Appointments and Promotions be voted on in its entirety at a future Advisory Board meeting (likely in May or June.)

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 5:25 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Robin Fox

© 2002 The Johns Hopkins University. Baltimore, Maryland. All rights reserved.
Last updated 01May02 by dgips@jhu.edu