Jeffrey Segall asked for a vote to approve an amendment to the minutes of the November 4th Senate meeting to correct a misunderstanding regarding the PI funding criteria to have graduate students in the lab. The amended minutes were approved.

Allen Spiegel provided a brief update about the LCME process indicating that the next step is a meeting of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) in February of 2016, when it will be determined whether the action plan submitted in November is acceptable. With regard to the Legionnaires' disease outbreak that occurred in the Morris Park area, Dean Spiegel mentioned that the source of contamination was the Bronx Psychiatric Institution.

Jeffrey Segall during his Speaker’s report mentioned that Anne Bresnick is the new head of the Belfer Institute. He also pointed out that some communication problems identified during the recent fire in the housing were noted and taken care of. Segall reported that the new Einstein Board, now termed the Einstein Board of Trustees, has a clear fiduciary responsibility for Einstein.

Maureen Charron, Chair of the Committee on Committees, asked for a vote to approve the appointment of members composing the new Tenure and Compensation Policy Review Committee that will re-evaluate the Tenure Policy with particular attention to section 2.2. The Senate approved the committee consisting of Roy Chuck, Jack Lenz, Steven Porcelli, Pamela Stanley, and Steven Walkley.

Zal Sarkari, representative of the Chartis Group, reported on the results of a survey that was designed to identify mechanisms to increase the collaboration among the Basic Science, Translational and Clinical Research arenas. The top three for all choices were symposium on the research topics, joint grand rounds, and grant application mentorship.