UTMB Faculty Senate

August 10, 2009

4:30 – 6:00 pm

MINUTES

 

Present:  Drs. T. Albrecht, G. Anderson, N. Cintron, C. Cooper, B. Doucet, R. Fox, C. Holzer, A. Hudson-Jones, D. Munsell, M. O’Keefe, S. Peloquin, K. Sandor, G. Taglialatela, C. Utsey, C. Wigg, N. Wills and C. Wisnewski

 

Absent:  Drs. V. Brooke, N. Garg, D. Heliker, M. Kanuth, R. Leonard and S. Watowich

 

I.        The meeting was called to order at 4:30 pm by Charlotte Wisnewski, Faculty Senate Chair.

 

II.      Approval of Minutes of July 13, 2009.  Minutes of July 13, 2009 were accepted as written at the meeting.

 

III.     Provost’s and Dean Report – Dr. Garland Anderson

·    The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board has approved at the staff level, the request from UTMB to change the Master of Science (MS) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in Preventive Medicine and Community Health to Population Health Sciences (51.2208.00).

·     The University Mission and Vision revision process is moving along.  The blog site is published at http://blog.utmb.edu/missionreview/.  Please review and make any comments.

·     The Emergency Room has been open since August 1 and has been very busy.  UTMB is now operating 370 beds and the occupancy rate is very high with most beds full Monday through Friday.  We have had several helicopter transfers to the Emergency Room.

·     Shriner’s Burns Hospital update.  They are moving along; they will be open in a few months for patient care and we hope that the Galveston hospital will be one of the five hospitals that will be for research.  All of the Shrine’s Burns Hospitals had a 20% decrease in budget.

 

Dean, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences – Dr. Cary Cooper (report provided by Dr. Cooper).

·    On August 4, the GSBS student Committee for Career Development (CCD) and the Organization of Postdoctoral Scientists (OPS) with support from the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs sponsored a workshop on CVs, Resumes, and Job Searches: Insights and Highlights for research postdocs and students.  The workshop presenter was Dara Wilson-Grant, Associate Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at UNC-Chapel Hill, where her office serves over 1100 postdocs.  The evaluations from this workshop, was very positive. (The copy of the agenda and Dr. Wilson-Grant CV was distributed.)

·    The GSBS is busy finalizing plans for its part in Orientation and is looking forward to greeting the new entering class.  (A copy of the GSBS FY10 Academic Calendar was distributed.)

·    The GSBS Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) ends it ten-week program on Friday, August 14, with a traditional final poster session and farewell dinner.  This was the 19th year of the program.  From 1993 to 2008, over 600 undergrads participated with 30% being underrepresented minorities, 59% being female and >60% being from Texas.  Of that total, a significant number have applied annually to UTMB and 15% have enrolled at UTMB.  Until 2007, ~30-35 students participated each summer.  In 2009, we hosted only 13 undergraduates and all were from local residential families.  In part, this small number was due to the financial constraints and in part due to unavailability of housing for them on the Island post-Ike.

 

Dean, School of Health Professions – Dr. Utsey on behalf of Dr. Protas (written report provided by Dr. Protas was provided).

People:    

·    The Department of Respiratory Care has hired 3 new faculty and they are:  Ijaz Ahmed MD, RRT, (previously a UTMB Post Doctoral student), Lindsay Fox, MEd, RRT, and Daneen Nastars, RRT.

·    Congratulations to Dr. Utsey on her election to Chair-elect to the Senate.

·    Sara Wilson, a senior in Clinical Laboratory Sciences, was selected for the John Bruhn Professionalism Award.  Dr. Bruhn was the 2nd Dean of the School.  This is the first time a CLS student has won the award. 

Education:

·    95 students will graduate in the August 14, 2009 Commencement at Moody Gardens.  Distinguished alumna Karen Chapman, UTMB’s Director of Rehabilitation Services, will deliver the commencement address.  The first graduates of the Doctor in Physical Therapy will be hooded during the ceremonies. 

Research:

·    Dr. Mossberg received approval for a year’s storm-related extension on his R01 grant to study exercise interventions in individuals with traumatic brain injury from the National Center on Medical Rehabilitation Research, NICHD. 

Practice:

·    The first annual meeting of our Faculty Service, Research, and Development Plan (FSRDP) will be chaired by Dr. Callender.  This meeting will establish the plan’s Board of Directors and committees. 

Community:

·    The Department of Physical Therapy is collaborating with Memorial-Hermann Hospital Systems and Texas Woman’s University to offer a specialty residency in neurologic physical therapy.  The first 2 residents began this summer.  The experience will lead to specialty board certification for the residents.

Initiatives:

·    Faculty, faculty, faculty; Building restoration and Goals and strategic plans.

 

Dean, School of Nursing - Dr. O’Keefe on behalf of Dr. Watson (written report provided by Dr. Watson).

             The following SON faculty have been promoted or awarded tenure effective September 1, 2009:

                   Dr. Mary Ann Best, Associate Professor, non-tenure track; Dr. Yolanda Davila, Associate Professor, with tenure; Dr. Linda Rath, Associate Professor, non-tenure track and Dr. Kay Sandor, Professor, with tenure.      

 

We are pleased to have several new faculty joining the School of Nursing this month:

                   Debra Armentrout, RNC, NNP, PhD; Valerie Andrews, RN, MS; Ellen Boyd, RN, MSN, FNP-C; Juan Feng, RN, MA, MSN;        Rachel Daugherty, RN, MSN; Bruce Leonard, PhD, RN, FNP-BC; Thomas Mendez, RN, MSN; Tammy Young, RN, MSN

 

SON faculty members Drs. Elizabeth Reifsnider, Yolanda Davila, Kyungeh An, and Elnora “Nonie” Mendias were selected to serve as grant reviewers for the recent American Recovery and Reinvestment Act Research Challenge grant awards from the National Institutes of Health.

 

Dr. Susan Mathew, assistant professor in the UTMB SON, has been invited to become a reviewer for the Southern Online Journal of Nursing Research.

 

Recent Publications:

Ware, K. [SON student]. (2009, July 23). Increasing influenza immunizations rates for healthcare workers. Infection Control Today [Online]. Retrieved from http://www.infectioncontroltoday. com/articles/influenza-immunization-rates.html

 

Crane, P. (2009, March/April). Model SART (Sexual Assault Response Team). The Crime Victims Report, pp. 5-6, 10-13.

 

Gallagher, M. R., Reifsnider, E., & Gill, S. (2009). Home-based injury prevention practices, used by mothers of Mexican descent living in San Antonio. TX. Public Health Nursing, 26, 114-123.

 

IV.     Old Business
Dr. Wisnewski announced that Dr. Carolyn Utsey is the new Chair-Elect. 

          Subcommittee Reports:  Dr. Sandor, Faculty Quality Committee Chair, stated that they are working on the Post Tenure Review of schools to comply with Regents Rules.  Dr. Munsell, IHOP Committee Chair, stated they have reviewed the IHOP rules pertaining to faculty and are working with Ruth Finkelstein.

 

V.        New Business

   Chair Comments – Dr. Wisnewski

          We are having our Annual September Luncheon on Monday, September 14th.  The Faculty Senators coming off will receive their certificates and Dr. Albrecht, after six years will be stepping down.

 

   Census of Faculty – Dr. Anderson will send this to Dr. Wisnewski; for Dr. Garg’s Academic and Administrative Affairs Committee.

 

Professionalism Charter – Dr. O’Donnell removed this item from the agenda.  This business item will be returned to the Senate at a later date.

 

   Goals for Faculty Senate – Senator suggested having index cards sitting on the tables at the Annual Luncheon on September 14, for faculty to write down goals, their thoughts, needs, etc.., or do we want to send out an email to all faculty asking what do you want your Senate to do?  This email could have the list of all the Senators if they want to get in touch with one.

 

A motion for adjournment was made and seconded.  Meeting adjourned at 5:12 pm.