Einstein Senate

Senate Meeting: Wednesday, August 2, 2023

  • Dr. Arnsten welcomed Dr. Goldstein, who is serving as interim Dean and asked for approval of the minutes and summary from July. Dr. Gennerich offered a correction to the information on remote management software being required by NIH leadership. It was agreed that a note would be added to the July materials indicating that this issue will be further discussed in future meetings.
  • Dr. Goldstein gave the Dean’s Report. He discussed the incoming medical and graduate students who are starting this month. He reported that Einstein has decided to accept the LCME decision of accreditation with promotion and has begun making changes to address the issues that were raised in their report. This has been communicated to both current students and applicants. There were several questions, particularly about the potential impact of the LCME determination on applications.
  • Dr. Arnsten gave the Speaker’s Report and provided updates on the recent Senate Council meetings and the vote to approve the updates to the promotions criteria. She then presented the findings of the Backup Childcare Task Force, which explained the current Einstein benefits and outlined the rationale for extending them to Montefiore employees, including the results of the childcare surveys carried at Montefiore and among colleagues at similar institutions in April and May.
  • Dr. Holden spoke about the latest initiatives related to DEI. She discussed the success of the summer program, the latest from the Diversity and Inclusion Council, and the upcoming Office of Diversity and Inclusion retreat for first-year students. She also reminded attendees involved with pathway programs to fill out the short survey that was created in order to organize these efforts into a consortium.
  • Dr. Diaz-Griffero presented the results of a survey by the Einstein Postdoctoral Association related to the recently discontinued 180th Street Shuttle, as well as related data that was collected on the timeliness, reliability, and safety of the Bx21 bus that is the main alternative to the shuttle. Gregg Tarquinio and Neil Kaplan also offered their perspective on the decision to end the shuttle. There was a lively discussion of this topic, with questions and input from a number of Senate members.
  • There was no additional new or old business at this meeting.