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April 2023

UNIVERSITY FACULTY COUNCIL

Hello, NEOMED faculty!

What is University Faculty Council? As described on our NEOMED webpage, we are:

“a faculty body established to promote dialogue, facilitate shared governance, advocate on behalf of faculty, and to assure a faculty voice in academic matters such as appointments, promotions, tenure, the curriculum and to provide a faculty voice in decision-making pertaining to academic matters.”

We encourage you to talk with your University Faculty Council representative about issues that are important to you as a faculty member. You may also reach out to me or Dr. Jeff Mellott, Vice Chair of University Faculty Council, at any time. We are here to represent you and facilitate shared governance at NEOMED.

This month, University Faculty Council is collecting your feedback on the annual faculty performance evaluation process. We plan to summarize the feedback on the process and new tools so that we can communicate a fair and complete assessment of the faculty perspective with NEOMED administrators who are working on this effort.

Are you interested in helping to shape academic policies at NEOMED? If so, we need you! Please consider nominating yourself to serve on the Academic Management Partnership committee. This important committee meets monthly to support the academic management needs of NEOMED. This committee has recently reviewed and revised policies such as the Academic Space Scheduling Policy, the Academic Calendar Policy, Student Conduct Policy, and Final Grades Submission Policy, among others. To self-nominate, please email me(nbonfine@neomed.edu) stating your interest and include a recent CV.

Our next University Faculty Council meeting is scheduled for:

Tuesday, May 2, from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m.

All meetings are hybrid (NEOMED Conference Room G-204, or via Zoom), and all faculty are welcome to attend.

Thank You,

Natalie Bonfine, PhD

Chair, University Faculty Council

Welcome to NEOMED’s first Provost

C. Forrest Faison III, M.D.

C. Forrest Faison III, M.D., joined NEOMED as Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, effective April 1, 2023.

Dr. Faison will serve as the chief academic officer of the University, overseeing all academic affairs and managing the financial resources to carry academic priorities forward. Reporting to the University president, Dr. Faison will provide leadership and strategy in collaboration with the University’s four College deans, who will report to him.

Dr. Faison served as the 38th Surgeon General of the U.S. Navy until 2019.  As Surgeon General—chief executive officer (CEO) and chief medical officer (CMO) — he was responsible for the entire Navy and Marine Corps global health care system and all medical care to the Navy, Marine Corps and eligible beneficiaries. Dr. Faison led a worldwide team of 67,000 health professionals who cared for 2.6 million patients in 128 medical centers located across the world. He oversaw an annual operating budget of $9.6 billion and a global medical research enterprise with annual research expenditures of $3 billion.

He also led a global medical education enterprise of over 140 graduate education programs, training over 1,000 physicians and over 5,000 nurses, paraprofessionals and medical technicians annually.

“Managing growth, leading interdisciplinary teams and promoting innovative approaches, that’s a single day in the work-life of Dr. Faison,” noted President John Langell. “But it is the congeniality, collaborative style and consideration in his DNA that enable him to accelerate such positive change with everything and everyone.” 

With 14 professional and graduate degree programs, NEOMED has been on a steep growth trajectory over the past few years. Along with plans to open the Bitonte College of Dentistry in the next two years, the University is considering the addition of several more allied health degree programs as well as growing its graduate medical education offerings to enhance clinical learning environments across the NEOMED Network. 

“It's a privilege to be the University's first provost and to work with this incredible team on these and other initiatives,” Dr. Faison said. “As the University grows and continues to lead in providing the best education and preparation possible for the next generation of health care leaders, I look forward to collaborating with all.”

“It's also wonderful to be back home in Northeast Ohio.”

NEOMED faculty, staff, and students joined President Langell at a welcome reception for Dr. Faison in the Watanakunakorn Atrium on Tuesday, April, 11.

NEOMED 2022 Faculty Recognition

On Friday, March 10, 2023, employees joined together in the New Center Ballroom to celebrate some of the outstanding accomplishments of our faculty and staff.

Specials awards were presented to the following faculty members:

Honoring a junior faculty member who has demonstrated exemplary performance and made noteworthy contributions to the NEOMED community

From the College of Medicine

College of Medicine Call for Standing Committee Nominations

Faculty are invited to apply for any of these openings. All candidates must have a current and primary NEOMED faculty appointment.

Guiding Principles for Faculty Nominations:

• Membership terms are three years unless otherwise specified.

• All COM faculty members with a current faculty appointment may put forth a nomination.

• All nominations are self-nominations. This includes faculty who wish to continue their service on a committee for an additional term.

Applications:

To be considered for a committee opening, we ask that the nominee fill out the web version of the form using the link below. 

Web nomination form:

Openings are available on the following committees designated by either clinical, non-Rootstown based faculty openings or Basic Science/Rootstown faculty openings:

• Admissions: 2 Clinical/non-Rootstown and 3 Basic Science/Rootstown

• CAPP: 1 Clinical/non-Rootstown and 1 Basic Science/Rootstown

• Executive CAPP: 1 Basic Science/Rootstown

• Curriculum: 1 position, non-specified

• Non-Tenure Faculty Appointment and Promotion:  4 Clinical/non-Rootstown and 1 Basic Science/Rootstown; Must be Associate Professor rank or higher

• Nominating and Membership- 1 Clinical/non-Rootstown and 3 Basic Science/Rootstown

The due date for nominations is May 19, 2023.   Submissions received after this deadline will not be considered.

Brief description of committees and expectations:

Admissions:

Typically meets the third Wednesday of the month from 1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. with remote attendance as an option. The purpose of the committee is to oversee the admissions process by setting policies and guidelines for the selection of the College's students and to ensure that the faculty have final responsibility for recommending student candidates to the Dean. In addition to committee meetings, members are expected to participate in the admissions process, i.e., candidate file reviews/scoring and/or interviews.  From time to time the committee will call upon focused task forces to meet outside to the larger committee meetings.

Committee on Academic Progress and Professionalism(CAPP)- formerly CAPP 2:

Typically meets for four hours at least once a month. Usually, meetings are held Wednesday afternoons. Meeting schedules are prepared in July for the entire upcoming academic year. Prioritizing meeting attendance is vital due to the sensitive nature of committee decisions. The COM CAPP Committee is responsible for tracking the academic progress of all students enrolled in the M.D. programs at NEOMED.  

College of Medicine Curriculum Committee:

The committee will meet on the 4th Tuesday of the month from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m. (remote attendance available) and will have a half day retreat in April and full day retreat in August. It is the expectation that committee members attend at least 50% of the meetings - if scheduling issues occur, members can reach out to the chair. The Curriculum Committee has ultimate decision making and policy making authority for the design, content, administration, and evaluation of the curriculum, including its individual modules and segments.  This purview includes oversight of integration and continuous quality improvement.

Non-Tenure Faculty Appointments and Promotions:

Appointment reviews are done via electronic mail each quarter. Zoom meetings are held as needed. The committee evaluates credentials, education, and research portfolio of applicants for appointment and promotion without tenure. Applicants for this committee must be an associate professor rank or higher.

Nominating and Membership:

Meets 1-3 times in person or via Zoom per year, plus multiple email/online meetings, with the highest volume being in May-June. This committee evaluates and proposes members for the other standing committees in the College of Medicine. Following the nomination process, members are elected by ballot through NEOMED’s Department of Institutional Research.

Please direct any questions to Jennifer Lint, Director, Administration & Communications, College of Medicine at: jlint@neomed.edu.   

From the Strategy Office

Lean Six Sigma (LSS) is a data-driven approach to improving processes, a program that empowers you and your colleagues to maximize value to students and colleagues and to eliminate process waste and inefficiencies. For the first time, NEOMED is offering a Yellow Belt faculty only training option. Program content will be specifically tailored and applied to faculty life and responsibilities. This training will take place all day on June 2 and 30. CME credit available. To sign up, please click here. Email Jordan Cinderich, Process Engineer, Strategy Office, at jcinderich@neomed.edu with questions.

From the College of Pharmacy