Fall Faculty and Staff Meeting Focuses on Change
Dean ad interim Jeffrey Hutter called to order BUGSDM’s Fall Faculty and Staff Meeting December 4, leading a review and approval of the minutes from the June 12 Faculty and Staff Meeting and introducing members who have joined the faculty and staff since the last meeting.
Dr. Hutter presented APEX and Extramural Programs Administrative Coordinator, Sharon Boyle, the 2007 Henry M. Goldman Award for Distinguished Service. Boyle joined BUGSDM in 1994 and her position has grown significantly over the last decade.
"I’ve worked with Sharon as long as she has been at BUGSDM and she has always had a wonderful attitude," says Director of APEX and Extramural Programs, Madalyn Mann. "She is consistently helpful and works hard to make things run smoothly, not only in our office, but also in the whole school. We nominated her for the award because, although we recognize her for her hard work everyday, we felt it was important for the entire BUGSDM community to recognize her as well."
In recognition of her outstanding commitment to the school and community, Dr. Hutter honored Boyle with a commemorative plaque and $1,000 prize.
Dr. Hutter, says of Boyle, "Sharon is a model staff member. Her outstanding service to the APEX and Extramural Programs Office and the dental school as a whole have been invaluable."
Boyle was pleasantly surprised when her name was called to receive the award and said, "I was excited to be recognized by my department and also by the entire school. To have those I work with think so highly of me is an honor."
Following the award presentation, Manager of Emergency Response Planning, Mr. Steven A. Morash, spoke about emergency policies and procedures including the Send Word Now Alert Service. Executive Director of Finance and Operations, Valerie Denomy, talked about administrative updates, including improvements to G-301, G-302, and the first floor of the dental school scheduled to take place during intersession.
Director of Communications, Mary Becotte, spoke about the university branding iniative and the redesign of the BUGSDM website scheduled to begin after intercession. Director of the Dental Health Center, Dr. Margaret Errante, discussed the expansion of the 930 Commonwealth Avenue location of the Dental Health Center, showing plans and detailing the increased patient capacity.
Executive Director of Admissions and Student Services, Catherine Sarkis, spoke about admissions, noting that the use of the Postdoctoral Application Support Service (PASS) system this past year has increased applications to all postgraduate programs. Professor of General Dentistry, Dr. Carl McManama, gave the faculty and staff an update on American Dental Education Association (ADEA) Commission on Change and Innovation (CCI), relaying what he and other liaisons, Assistant Professor of General Dentistry, Dr. Dara Cunnion; Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs, Dr. Cataldo Leone; Associate Professor of Biochemistry, Dr. Barbara Schreiber; and Catherine Sarkis had learned at the most recent ADEA meeting and stressing the need for change at BUGSDM.
Dr. Hutter then spoke about his priorities as Dean ad interim. His vision of a proactive, responsive, and student centered GSDM resonated with the faculty and staff in attendance. Dr. Hutter shared plans to consult with experts in student satisfaction in order to better use the data collected by OERE to develop specific strategies to improve the quality of student experience. He noted the importance of expanding our faculty, and providing innovative improvements to our curriculum, and his total support of the ADEA CCI initiative and the GSDM liaisons to CCI.
Dr. Hutter also emphasized the importance of research. "We must continue our efforts in this important area in order for us to maintain our competitiveness in obtaining grant funding, recruiting the best researchers from within and outside our institution and most important of all, maintain our stature within the university as an integral member of what President Brown describes as a great urban research university."
In order to grow our faculty, broaden our research, and improve the quality of the educational experience for our students and future alumni, Dr. Hutter noted, "We must address our physical plant.” He explained "that reinvestment in the infrastructure the school will increase the quality of our Goldman School of Dental Medicine brand, which in turn will lead to growing recognition of faculty and programs, increased attractiveness to prospective students as well as prospective faculty, and to increased external support."
Dr. Hutter also shared that the University is in the final stages of preparing to launch a one billion dollar fundraising campaign and as an integral member of the University, we will be expected to do our part in raising money and contributing to the overall goal of the campaign. "As I see it, the timing for us could not be better," said Dr. Hutter.
As we face these challenges in the near future Dr. Hutter said he was confident that "we will continue to achieve all of our goals as presented in our mission statement and in so doing, augment the programs that we recognize as being our core strengths and set new goals that we can achieve in the next five to ten years as we ‘Choose to be Great.’"