Einstein Senate

Senate Meeting: Wednesday, October 4, 2023

• Dr. Ozuah welcomed the new Dean, Dr. Yaron Tomer and thanked Dr. Harris Goldstein, who served as interim Dean over the last two months.

• Dr. Tomer gave his first Dean’s Report, which included eight items. These covered:

  1. Development of a strategic plan;
  2. Ongoing efforts to address LCME requirements related to continuous quality improvement efforts, as well as the establishment of a student health center;
  3. Changes in leadership, among them the replacement of Greg Tarquinio by Jennifer Garner as Senior Associate Dean for Operations and Finance, the appointment of a Dean for Faculty Affairs, and the planned search for a new Executive Dean;
  4. Establishment of Dean’s Office Hours starting October 20th; and
  5. Resumption of the shuttle, which will now include a badge scanner to track ridership.

• Dr. Arnsten gave the Speaker’s Report and provided updates on the most recent Senate Council meeting, which focused on revising promotion criteria, particularly for the clinician educator track. She also reminded attendees about the Seeds for Collaboration event on October 19th.

• Dr. Diaz-Griffero oversaw a report from the Committee on Committees.

  1. First, Dr. Pamela Stanley spoke about the role of the Faculty Review Committee, which helps to resolve disputes that have not been successfully addressed by other channels. It has not had to meet regularly but remains available to faculty if needed.
  2. Second, Shailesh Shenoy talked about issues related to IT, including initiatives to prevent phishing; security implications related to operating systems that are no longer receiving manufacturer support; changes in VPN access to Montefiore and Einstein resources; and licensing for GraphPad Prism. There was also a discussion of concerns about remote management software on Mac computers and the message that users receive, which suggests that the program gives potentially intrusive access to users’ computers.

• Dr. Holden provided a report on the activities of the DEI office. The updates included:

  1. Changes in personnel over the past year and additional hires planned for the future;
  2. The progress of ongoing projects and collaborations with other offices at Einstein;
  3. Two large grants that were received and which help support work with a number of local high schools and community colleges;
  4. Activation of the D&I Council, which attendees were invited to get involved with; and
  5. Creation of a Pathway Program hub to maximize the impact of different programs.

• For old business, Dr. Christina Yang reminded the Senate about the follow up from the recommendations proposed by the Backup Childcare Committee.

• For new business, Dr. Diaz-Griffero raised the need for more postdoctoral housing. A group is being formed under the Quality-of-Life Committee to work on this issue.