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November 2, 2009
University Governance Roundup

By leslie king

Employee Council
Following its introductory meeting and the president’s State of the University speech in September, Employee Council members in October took a tour of the Emory Inn and Emory Conference Center Hotel, which has had some additions and updates over the last year. Director of Sales & Marketing John Hill gave a presentation on the facilities.

This year’s theme is “Diversity Is.” During the September meeting, Flavia Mercado, assistant professor of pediatrics in the School of Medicine, presented her “Thoughts from a Bilingual Bicultural Pediatrician.” Using PowerPoint, she showed the disparities between health care in the minority populations and how the ethnic make-up of the state is changing. She also noted how the national Commission to End Health Disparities plans to address the discrepancies. The role of Grady Health Systems and the International Medical Center, of which Emory is an integral part, in this effort was explained; an eye-opening 24 languages are spoken in these health care system facilities.

The next meeting will be Wednesday, Nov. 18 in the Jones Room of the Woodruff Library.

University Senate
The University Senate got a preview of events for Unity Month, which is in November, from Donna Wong, director of the Office of Multicultural Programming and Services. Jocelyn Shieh from housing and resident life and others discussed Volunteer Emory’s available opportunities through the end of the semester. University Senate president Ken Carter said members also heard presentations on health issues affecting students, faculty and staff including mental health and counseling services and H1N1 preparations.

Carter gave the Senate and the Faculty Council, which he also chairs, “homework” around issues the two groups share: Identifying areas of excellence in which the University is a leader, in terms of departments, programs and other aspects. The charge stems from talks to the Senate and Council from Provost Earl Lewis and President Wagner.

The next meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 24, in the Jones Room.

Faculty Council
From November through March, the Council will move the meetings to the Jones Room of the Woodruff Library, returning to Room 400 Administration Building for the April 20 meeting. Carter says the Council will no longer distribute hard copies of documents at meetings, and will rely on electronic distribution instead in order to save resources.

The Council provided feedback on the updates to the faculty handbook, which is now solely electronic. Carter says this “electronic version of a living document” would make the handbook much easier for faculty to locate and access University policies and procedures. He also noted that the Council’s and Senate’s participation in the investigation of and conversation about the University’s areas of excellence will “likely be the theme for the entire year.”

The next meeting is Tuesday, Nov. 17.