April 11, 2006 Minutes

MINUTES
University of Minnesota
Academic Health Center
Deans Council
April 11, 2006

The regular meeting of the Deans of the Academic Health Center was held on Tuesday, April 11 at 2:00 p.m. in 488 ChRC.

Members present:
Frank Cerra, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences
Connie Delaney, Dean, School of Nursing
John Finnegan, Dean, School of Public Health
Jeff Klausner, Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine
Patrick Lloyd, Dean, School of Dentistry
Deborah Powell, Dean, Medical School
Marilyn Speedie, Dean, College of Pharmacy
Linda Watson, Director, Health Sciences Libraries

Staff present:
Terry Bock, Chief of Staff
Jennifer Cieslak, Special Assistant to the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences
Beth Nunnally, Chief Financial Officer
Mark Paller, Assistant Vice President for Research

Guests Present
Yvonne Cheek, President, Millenium Consulting Group.
Bobbi Daniels, Chief Medical Officer, University of Minnesota Physicians
Ed Deegan, Director, AHC Information Services
Chamika Hawkins-Taylor, Director, Urban Health Initiatives
Ross Janssen, University Privacy and Security Officer
Kathie Krichbaum, Chair, Academic Health Center Faculty Consultative Committee
Erik Moore, AHC Archivist
Fred Owusu, Director, AHC Human Resources

Review and Approval of Minutes – February 14, 2006

The council approved the minutes of February 14, 2006.

Executive Steering Council for Education

AHC Diversity Action Plan
At the last Deans Council meeting, the Diversity Council recommended linking the diversity effort in the schools to the compact and budget allocations; developing an AHC-wide diversity definition to help guide the schools; developing a policy statement that would help address deficiencies in mission statements; and preparing a strategic communications plan.  Frank Cerra asked for an action plan to address implementation of these recommendations.  Chamika Hawkins-Taylor discussed the Academic Health Center Diversity Plan.  The plan addresses internal diversity from four perspectives: student/faculty staff recruitment and retention, programs/activities, communication, and assessment.  The goals are 1) for AHC leadership to demonstrate a commitment to diversity and inclusion, 2) establish incentives for faculty and staff to be proactive in institutionalizing diversity, 3) strengthen recruitment efforts to attract underrepresented faculty, staff and students, 4) provide mutual learning opportunities between the AHC students faculty and staff with nonprofits and education entities in the community.  Deborah Powell commented that Chamika should review the materials and modules available on diversity from the health professional associations.  They may have materials the AHC can adopt.  John Finnegan stated that the AHC Diversity Plan should be part of the responsibility of a designated leader in each school.  Yvonne Cheek stated that the Deans need to decide what roles they will play in promoting the Diversity Plan, and how the work will actually be accomplished.  She commented that resistance to diversity comes in many creative ways, both covert and overt.  Barriers can be embedded in the institution.  Deborah Powell thought there should be someone in each school/college holding the title of “assistant dean for minority affairs”, who would be responsible for the diversity plan and faculty issues.  Frank Cerra asked Chamika to present the communication and personnel plans at a future Deans Council; she will meet with each dean in preparation for the presentation to the Deans Council.

AHC-IS Plan

Terry Bock, Ross Janssen, and Ed Deegan gave an update on implementation of the AHC Information Technology Plan approved by the Deans Council in October, 2005.  Terry Bock, Ross Janssen, Ed Deegan, and Steve Cawley have been working on AHC policies for servers, workstations, laptops and other mobile devices.  Terry commented that there have been five major privacy breeches involving computer workstations and laptops.  The policy implementation will allow the AHC to review high risk areas.  At this point, the focus is on servers and workstations, but the next phase of implementation will be laptop and electronic devices.  Frank Cerra commented that this plan is necessary so the risk to the entire AHC system can be managed. 

Terry also reviewed plans for an AHC-OIT Data Services Center.  The goal is to consolidate and move all AHC servers into the data center.  Terry stated that the consolidation and management of the data center should be viewed like any other utility service at the University, such as steam, water, etc.  In the interim, they plan to identify and move the servers that are at highest risk first in order to lower the risk to the AHC systems.

Frank Cerra asked the deans to review the draft policies, consult with faculty and staff, and provide feedback on the policies and implementation plans.

Introductions

Fred Owusu
Terry introduced the new AHC-HR Director, Fred Owusu.  Fred was previously at University of Minnesota Physicians as Director of Staffing, Employee Relations and Credentialing.  He has also served as City Clerk for the City of St. Paul, a position where he served as citizen ombudsman and advocate.  Fred was trained as a lawyer, obtaining his J.D. degree from William Mitchell College of Law.  Fred stated that he will be making appointments with the deans, having already met with their HR directors.  He is developing a strategic plan for AHC-HR by early fall.

Erik Moore
Frank Cerra introduced Erik Moore who has accepted the position of AHC Archivist.  He will be responsible for leading the AHC’s effort to capture its history by ensuring that its essential documentation is preserved and made accessible for scholarly and administrative uses.  This position is funded jointly by the University Libraries and the McKnight Presidential Leadership Chair award that Dr. Cerra received.  Erik had been working at the University as the Assistant Curator at the Immigration History Research Center since 2002.

AHC Office of Emergency Response

Frank Cerra discussed next years plans for the AHC Office of Emergency Response, which reflect the growing University-wide planning and response responsibilities of the office.  The Office of Emergency Response will move from CIDRAP to the Office of the Senior Vice President.  Jill DeBoer, the Director, will remain as the Associate Director of CIDRAP.  The Medical Reserve Corp now has over 750 volunteers, each trained in FEMA response and linked to each of the AHC schools/colleges.

University Strategic Positioning

Jennifer Cieslak reminded the deans that the 30 day public comment period for preliminary recommendations will remain open until April 30, 2006.  Frank Cerra said that the Strategic Positioning Task Force preliminary reports grew out of the AHC Strategic Plan.  The AHC reports are related, and are the next steps in the Strategic Plan to complete.  He asked the deans to look at the strategic plan and their collegiate plans as he plans to link them during the compact process next year.  He would like to have a future discussion about the six key issues coming out of the University’s Strategic Positioning and their impact on the AHC. 

Other Items

Linda Watson stated that the University Libraries will be recruiting three research liaison librarians.

The meeting adjourned at 4:20 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathryn P. Anderson
Staff to the Academic Health Center Deans Council