SACS
SACS Meeting Minutes

March 23, 2005

Members Present:
Stephen Tomasovic, Ph.D., Committee Chair
Michael Ahearn, Pd.D.
Shaun Caldwell
Toya Candelari, Dr. P.H.
Weldon Gage
Marilyn Greer, Ph.D.
Donna Hemphill
Kathy Hoffman
Robert Jenkins
Marvin Meistrich, Ph.D.
Jon Wiener, Ph.D.

Members Absent:
Justin Faye
Shreya Kant
Victoria Knutson, Ph.D.
George Stancel, Ph.D.

I. Review of March 9, 2005 Minutes - Ms. Stephanie Fulton should replace Kathy Hoffman as attendee. The minutes were accepted with that change.

II. Follow-Up from Previous Meeting

a. Student Services at Smithville and Bastrop

Dr. Greer obtained the contract for student services from Ms. Charles Figari of the UTHSC-H Auxiliary Enterprises.

b. Dr. Greer showed a PowerPoint presentation on her visit to Crowne Plaza Hotel. At the hotel on the executive tenth floor they have down comforters, coffee and amenities but thin, low quality towels. There are office areas in the rooms with internet access; eventually they will have wireless access. On the tenth floor there are three adjoining rooms with parlors between them. There is space for a small but crowded meeting for about 10 people. The hotel has conference rooms and reception areas.

The Austin Conference Room can hold 50-60 people and may be suitable for our Tuesday reception. We would have access to a key to lock the conference room with the equipment in it. According to Dr. Greer they have a good exercise room and there are washers and dryers. The Crowne Plaza Hotel also has a 15 passenger van available for use to transport the SACS committee. The hotel is close to both MDACC and the HSC-H. The HSC-H support staff includes Gilbert Velazquez; Heather Gillentine and Ken Huste from Crowne Plaza Hotel. Dr. Greer asked if some of the committee could come over to taste the food and hotel said that would be fine. The idea of having welcome baskets was mentioned at the meeting.

Dr. Tomasovic was concerned about the availability of fast access for the SACS site visi. Dr. Greer will check specifically on that. In addition, Dr. Greer said that the garage was very small. It was asked if maybe we could arrange for valet help at the garage. Dr. Tomasovic and Dr. Ahearn asked if The Warwick Hotel was available and to see if that might be better with its amenities. It's not much different from Crowne Plaza but it seems nicer although it's not as close as Crowne Plaza. Airport shuttle service is available for both Crowne Plaza and The Warwick.

c. The first set of faculty credentials was sent to SpanTran Educational Services for evaluation. It will take about a month to complete. Dr. Greer is waiting on information from HSC-H concerning transcripts. Dr. Greer's goal was to complete the faculty credentials by June 1. Maxine gets back; there's not much time since we have to have it done by June 1. Dr. Tomasovic said to let the committee members know what they need to do to help!

d. Ms Hoffman, Director of Research Medical Library, encountered someone who knew Dr. Peppler. Ms. Hoffman explained that her friend described Dr. Peppler as a "straight shooter, ex-military man and he's fair. He is an ex-colonel."

III. Trip to Smithville and Bastrop

Dr. Peppler told Dr. Greer that he definitely wants to visit Smithville and Bastrop. Dr. Tomasovic said that the Smithville-Bastrop trip is important for respective areas to know what percentage they are putting into comprehensive standards and clear out any problems we can do something about ahead of time. Dr. Tomasovic said to make sure the students and faculty don't have any misconceptions about what is available to them that they do have. He added that he wanted a realistic picture as we are not trying to hide anything.

Dr. Candelari asked if the Student Affairs Office, Training and Alumni Affairs could be added to that list to attend the Smithville/Bastrop meeting. Dr. Greer said that she's been talking with the Smithville/ Bastrop people and will put together the agenda for that.

IV. Review of Format for Executive Summary by Dr. Sullivan

Dr. Greer spoke with Margaret Sullivan about the format for the Executive Summary. Dr. Sullivan wants the information to cover the overall office . Dr. Greer listed the mission, goals, and objectives along with what assessments have been done to meet the objectives, what is being done differently, and what has been changed to meet the objectives for improvement. Dr. Sullivan wants this format for each office plus survey results on services offered by the offices. The outcomes should be consistent with the department's strategic plan. Office staff and their degrees should be listed. Dr. Greer will put together another version of the document. Dr. Sullivan needs these summaries for the committee as well as the executives, (i.e. for Dr. Kripke).

V. Process for Review of Compliance Report by Scientific Publications

After the Compliance meeting, Dr. Greer and Dr. Tomasovic were meeting with Mr. Walter Pagel concerning developing a process and procedure concerning the editing of the SACS documentation prior to uploading the files.

VI. Review of SACS Documentation

Dr. Tomasovic reviewed the status of Core Requirement 2.11. The section is very important as Dr. Sullivan perceived that a question may be brought forward about the clinical income. We should document what it costs to run the programs to show that our state appropriations are a small part of the budget and that we can protect our educational programs.

Dr. Tomasovic said about federal requirements and asked Dr. Greer if she received information about Title IV funding. She is waiting on Carl Gordon to review the prepared documentation concerning that federal requirement.

Dr. Tomasovic and Ms. Hemphill will work on Core Requirement 11. He thinks that they are close to completing the Federal Requirements documentation except for some information that needs to be found. Dr. Tomasovic assumes that everyone is working on the comprehensive standards that are due on April 9.

The meeting was adjourned at 3:03 p.m.

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