ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE 
MINUTES OF SENATE COUNCIL MEETING 

WED AUG 19, 2020 

FINAL

PRESENT: Drs. Gordon Tomaselli, Edward Burns; Ms. Shelly Motzkin.

VIA ZOOM: Drs. Julia Arnsten, Jonathan Lai, Myles Akabas, Anita Autry-Dixon, Anne Bresnick, Jill Crandall, Matthew Gamble, Chandan Guha, Elizabeth Kitsis, Susan Klugman, Victor Schuster, Pamela Stanley, Allison Ludwig.

ABSENT: Drs., Jonathan Alpert, Robbie Burk, Johanna Daily, Tanya Johns, Courtney Niland. 

1. Meeting minutes from the Jul 15, 2020 Senate Council were discussed and revised.
2. Dean Tomaselli updated the council on Orientation week (virtual) for incoming students, and thanked all those involved in organization. Depending on the state from which students arrive, some have had to quarantine – about 45 students in the medical school and 15 in the graduate school.
3. Dean Tomaselli discussed the appointment of Dr. Ed Chu from the University of Pittsburgh as the new Director of the Einstein Cancer Center. Dr. Chu is an expert in gastrointestinal cancers and experimental therapeutics, and has also served previously on the Einstein Cancer Center Advisory Board and thus has some knowledge of the Center. Dr. Chu will also be appointed as Vice President of Cancer Medicine at Montefiore. Following on the appointment of a new director, the NCI has indicated that the 4th year of the Cancer Center grant would be reinstated.
4. Strategies to promote the continued wearing of masks on campus were discussed.
5. The Council discussed mitigation strategies to avoid COVID-19 clusters among students in the fall, given recent reports of such clusters at other major universities throughout the country. These strategies include encouragement of professional and responsible behavior among medical and graduate students, wearing of masks, frequent hand washing. In addition, gatherings in apartments are strongly discouraged. Students who travel to affected states will be expected to quarantine upon their return. In the event that a student tests positive, they will be quarantined.
6. Dr. Josh Nosanchuk updated the Council on teaching procedures at the medical school. Some small in-person classroom discussions will take place, with appropriate precautions for COVID - 19. These discussions are critical for the curriculum. 

The meeting adjourned at 4:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted, 
Jonathan Lai, Ph.D. 
Vice Speaker, Einstein Senate