Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud and Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Liz Liddy announced the creation of a faculty advisory committee in mid-September, tasking the 21 members with exploring the feasibility of creating a veteran-focused college of medicine at the university.

The committee was chaired by University Professor Sean O’Keefe and on Oct. 23, it submitted its report to Syverud. The Daily Orange obtained a copy of the 107-page report and in its contents was a rare look at what was discussed at the meetings.

Here’s what happened at each committee meeting, according to the report:

Sept. 4

The first meeting of the committee was mostly organizational in that its purpose was to focus on how to move forward and the organization of the committee’s report on its findings. The meeting was attended by 15 members, according to the report.

At the meeting, the committee determined that detailed recommendations were not within the committee’s role, but rather it was charged with seeking faculty input and producing a report summarizing its findings.

Sept. 11

At the second committee meeting, attended by 10 members in person and three others via teleconference, the committee approved a draft survey that was aimed at getting feedback from SU faculty members about the idea of a veteran-focused medical school.

Vice Chancellor for Veteran and Military Affairs Mike Haynie spoke at the meeting and gave an overview of the efforts to move forward with the idea. Haynie and committee members discussed different issues relating to the idea of the medical school, including the potential for the creation of new degree opportunities, the Veterans Administration healthcare structure and engagement with stakeholders at the local, state and national levels, according to the report.

Sept. 21

In its first meeting since the faculty survey was sent out, the committee discussed the survey as well as issues relating to potential infrastructure that would be needed to support a college of medicine. Over the course of the first 72 hours since the survey had been sent out, it had gotten about 50 faculty responses, according to the report.

In what was discussed more in-depth at future meetings, according to the executive summaries, the committee also talked about the long-term sustainability of a college of medicine and its external financial support, which had been deemed a necessity.

Sept. 25

At its fifth meeting, committee members discussed the updated responses to the faculty survey and determined that a one-week extension was needed to get more survey submissions, according to the report.

Also at the meeting, the committee deliberated nine findings to incorporate into the report. In the final report sent to Syverud, 12 findings were included.

Oct. 2

In what was scheduled to be the final formal meeting for the committee, members reviewed the draft findings for the report. The committee also deemed it necessary to seek an extension from its original Oct. 5 deadline because of the complexity of the task and the increased number of faculty responses, according to the report.

Members decided that there were 11 key findings that represented the committee’s work and there was significant discussion about the faculty survey comments section, which totaled about 50 pages in the final report. In the final report there were 12 findings presented.

The need for the proposed medical school to be self-sustaining was also a common topic of discussion as committee members emphasized the need for faculty to understand that the proposed school’s economic model wouldn’t detract from ongoing university programs.

Oct. 12

In its sixth and final meeting, the committee reviewed the draft report it was submitting to the chancellor and discussed its findings. At the beginning of discussion, Interim Vice Chancellor and Provost Liz Liddy, who attended all six meetings, told the committee that the Institutional Review Board had expressed no concerns regarding the publication of the faculty survey responses. The committee decided to redact personal information from the publication of the responses according to the report.

Issues with the finances of the proposed college of medicine were “rigorously” discussed and committee members unanimously agreed that if the idea of a veteran-focused medical school were to be pursued, it should be fully supported from resources that aren’t designated in SU’s normal operating budget.

The final report was transmitted to Syverud on Oct. 23.

Faculty Advisory Committee Final Report

Published on November 2, 2015 at 10:00 am

Contact Justin: jmatting@syr.edu | @jmattingly306