Faculty Forum Ready for Action

The Boston University Goldman School of Dental Medicine (BUGSDM) Faculty Forum have established bylaws that were approved by legal council on the Charles River Campus and are now ready for action. They will take the first step toward making the voices and concerns of the faculty heard by hosting a meeting on April 9 from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in room G-301.

The current elected representatives of the Forum are predoctoral representative Dr. Karl Flanzer, postdoctoral representative Dr. Serge Dibart, research representative Dr. Thomas Van Dyke, predoctoral alternate representative Dr. Douglas Riis, and research alternate Dr. Laisheng Chou. Each of the three elected representatives will serve as Chair of the Forum for an eight month term, with Dr. Flanzer serving as the current Chair. His responsibilities as Chair include meeting with Dean Jeffrey Hutter and attending Executive Committee meetings where he will have the ability to vote.

The leaders of the Faculty Forum encourage the entire faculty of BUGSDM to attend the April 9 meeting and hope to create an atmosphere where faculty members are able to raise any issues they may know of that affect other faculty, the students, and/or the School as a whole. If any member of the faculty is not able to attend the April 9 meeting they should be on the lookout for email correspondence from Trip Barnes, who with the consent and generosity of Dean Hutter, will be providing administrative support to the forum. These emails will detail other ways that faculty may voice their issues to the elected leadership of the Forum.

The structure of the Forum is such that issues raised by the faculty will be reviewed by the representatives and then taken to the level necessary to achieve a solution. That level may be a chair of a department, it may be Dean Hutter, or with approval of Dean Hutter the issue may be brought to the Executive Committee.

"The establishment of the Faculty Forum is precedent setting," said Dr. Flanzer. "Every member of the faculty is a member of the Faculty Forum and we hope to get everyone involved so we can serve as a legitimate voice for faculty."

Dr. Flanzer also added, "Every issue that’s raised by faculty has the potential to be brought to the Executive Committee if it can’t be solved at a lower level. Our participation on the Executive Committee will also allow us to share appropriate information from the meetings with the faculty."

"I am pleased that the faculty now have a unified voice through the establishment of the Faculty Forum," said Dean Hutter. "Faculty members are an integral part of the School, who through their daily interaction with students, patients, and staff are able to really understand what issues are affecting the BUGSDM community." Dean Hutter continued, "I am excited to hear what they come up with and also to work with them to find solutions to these issues for the betterment of the entire School. The faculty will now truly play a role in the governance of our School."