The official minutes of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees are maintained by the Secretary of the Board. Certified copies of minutes may be requested by contacting the Board of Trustees’ Office. Electronic or other copies of original minutes are not official Board of Trustees' documents.

The Health Affairs Committee of the University of South Carolina Board of Trustees met on Thursday, March 20, 2003, at 2:30 p.m. in the Carolina Plaza Board Room.

Members present were: Mr. John C. von Lehe, Jr., Chairman; Mr. Arthur S. Bahnmuller; Mrs. Helen C. Harvey; Mr. Toney J. Lister; Mr. John S. Long; Mr. M. Wayne Staton; Mr. Mack I. Whittle, Jr., Board Chairman; and Mr. Herbert C. Adams, Board Vice Chairman. Mr. James A. Shuford, III was absent. Other Trustees present were Mr. Samuel R. Foster, II and Mr. Miles Loadholt.

Others present were: President Andrew A. Sorensen; Secretary Thomas L. Stepp; Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Jerome D. Odom; Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Richard W. Kelly; Vice President for Human Resources Jane M. Jameson; General Counsel Walter (Terry) H. Parham; Interim Vice President for Research and Dean of The Norman J. Arnold School of Public Health Harris Pastides; Dean of the College of Nursing Mary Ann Parsons; Vice President of Medical Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine Larry R. Faulkner; Associate Professor in the Department of Neuropsychiatry and Behavioral Science, School of Medicine, Kennerly M. McLendon; and Director of the Office of Public Affairs Russell McKinney.

Chairman von Lehe called the meeting to order, welcomed those present, and asked Board members and others to introduce themselves. Mr. McKinney stated there were no members of the media in attendance.

Chairman von Lehe stated that the agenda had been posted and the press had been notified as required by the Freedom of Information Act; the agenda had been circulated to the Committee members; and a quorum was present to conduct business.

1. Structure for Health Affairs Units: Chairman von Lehe stated that the structure for Health Affairs Units had been established to embrace SDI (Strategic Directions and Initiatives) recommendations and to create a vice presidency that would unify the five health sciences units.
   Chairman von Lehe called on Dr. Sorensen who reported that the SDI Committee had recommended the creation of a College of Health Sciences which would consist of five divisions: Nursing, Pharmacy, Public Health, Medicine and Social Work. Dr. Sorensen modified this recommendation by proposing that each of the colleges retain their individual identities but report to the Vice President for Health and Research Affairs. He briefly discussed the advantages for creating a College of Health Sciences:
   • Increase research potential especially in large interdisciplinary NIH (National Institutes of Health) proposals
   • Bring efficiency to the sharing of facilities, large complex instrumentation, joint hiring, and use of indirect cost recoveries
   • Provide better administrative services through research activities by consolidating personnel and programs
   • Provide an administrative home for the University Biomedical Research Initiative
   • Become a stronger and more unified interface for collaborating with the Medical University of South Carolina

   It had been proposed to create a Vice President for Health and Research Affairs by combining the Vice President of Research and the Vice President for Medical Affairs positions. This individual would have reporting authority for the Health Sciences Colleges; supervise the Biomedical Research Initiative; oversee clinical relations among the hospitals (i.e., internships, fellowships, residencies, medicaid and medicare reimbursement rates); and other kinds of activities.

   Dr. Sorensen believed that this organizational plan would provide an excellent opportunity for the University to become a more competitive research institution nationally and to improve its ability to educate and provide outreach to South Carolina.

   Chairman von Lehe stated that this report was received for information.

2. Update from the Biomedical Research Initiative "Action Plan": Dr. Pastides briefly reported on the Action Plan for implementing the Biomedical Research Initiative. The purpose of the initiative was to focus on strategies which would build a nationally recognized program in biomedical research at the University of South Carolina; biomedical research was broadly defined as basic and applied research on any aspect of human health.

   Dr. Pastides stated that there were six thematic areas of targeted growth:

   • Basic Biomedical Science referred to faculty in biology and basic science departments of the medical school who would use laboratory techniques and shared instrumentation to research the cellular and histologic processes which were important to disease and prevention

   • Population-based Prevention Research embraced the faculty in the School of Medicine and College of Nursing which would bring together people who were studying the etiology of diseases.

   • Clinical Research had yet been realized and there was much potential for this activity in the midlands. There were aspiring faculty researchers at the Medical School and in the College of Nursing. Plans included the recruitment of pharmaceutical companies which would be housed next to the University; their experience would help University researchers become more adept and skilled at clinical trials and related research.

   • Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology were an important area for South Carolina. The State Department of Commerce had prioritized biotechnology and planned to recruit industries from other parts of the country which may be attracted to South Carolina resources. In the area of biomedical engineering, faculty from the Schools of Engineering and Medicine had been collaborating to discover new ways of healing bones.

   • Public Health Preparedness and Bioterrioism in today's world were major growth areas. Dr. Pastides planned to appear on South Carolina Educational Television with other individuals to discuss South Carolina's bio terrorism readiness and the new Public Health Preparedness Center (one of only nineteen in the country). In addition, research opportunities were available in other areas so the Center had been working with faculty from Geography, Psychology, and the School of Business. Currently, the School of Public Health had been working with department chairs and senior faculty to develop a plan to put this initiative in place (i.e., administrative support needs, infrastructures as it related to building and major equipment needs).

   Dr. Pastides stated that the five health sciences units had been on board for quite sometime. An enhancement plan for the Health Sciences colleges had been presented during the February Joint Boards Retreat. Senior faculty representing units in the Colleges of Science and Mathematics, Engineering and the Departments of Psychology and Geography in the College of Liberal Arts were involved in this process.

   And, finally, a plan for an Executive Committee had been developed. The Committee would consist of two co-chairs, Russell Pate and John Baynes, two of the University's most successful NIH researchers and six other members. In addition a larger Steering Committee would report directly to the Executive Committee and would be comprised of faculty from the five Health Sciences units, as well as other relevant groups including the Dorn Veterans Administration Hospital and Palmetto Health.

   Working groups of faculty within the six thematic areas would present reports to the steering committee which, in turn, would consult the Executive Committee. Based on this information, the council of the five health sciences deans and the new vice president would determine whether all of these thematic areas will receive resource investments. It wash hoped to complete the first phase of this process by the end of the semester.

   Chairman von Lehe stated that this report was received for information.

3. Progress Report - College of Nursing: Chairman von Lehe called on Dean Parsons who reported that South Carolina, as well as the entire nation, was facing severe shortages of nurses and nursing faculty. The College of Nursing had made efforts to increase the number of BSN prepared nurses and to increase the number of Nursing faculty members.

   In 1991, the University had expanded its baccalaureate program without additional resources; more part-time faculty had been utilized. As a result of this expansion, the number of nursing graduates had increased from 96 to 112. Dean Parsons explained that the University had one of the largest BSN programs in South Carolina. Twenty-five percent of the students in the upper division were African Americans and more than 90 percent of the BSN graduates were employed in South Carolina.

   The University had received funding from the Nurse Faculty Workforce Initiative supported by the South Carolina Employment Security Commission. Five scholarships were awarded to University BSN graduates who agreed to teach in South Carolina Nursing Associate and Baccalaureate degree programs as clinical faculty members; five scholarships were also given to Clemson University, and five to MUSC. This scholarship funded 50 percent of the tuition. A new Master's degree program in Nursing had been designed to focus on Nursing Education and would provide nurse educators for Associate and BS degree programs.

   Dean Parsons reported on the status of the College of Nursing in terms of recent and anticipated budget cuts. Three staff positions had been eliminated and clinical faculty positions would be cut. As a result, the number of upper division BSN students would be substantially reduced from 112.

   Dean Parsons also discussed the Partnership for Education and Clinical Excellence (PEACE) Initiative. She credited Dr. Sorensen for bringing together the University, Palmetto Health Alliance, Midlands Technical College, Midlands area hospitals, and others in an effort to increase the number of nursing students and faculty; hospitals could use their Masters prepared clinical nurses to serve as faculty or supervisors of clinical groups of nursing students.

   The South Carolina Nursing Association had stipulated that each faculty member could not have more than eight clinical students; neighboring states, however, were allowed to have 10 students. The University will request the Board of Nursing to make an exception and increase the current student-teacher ratio of 1-8 to 1-10.

   In addition, the College of Nursing will continue to seek creative ways to increase funding, students and faculty through the South Carolina Employment Security Commission initiatives, foundation opportunities, and federal grants.

   Dr. Sorenson commended Dean Parsons on the aggressive manner in which she had sought to increase funding for the College of the Nursing. He also referenced the severe nursing shortage in the state and nation. In an effort to address this problem, Dr. Sorensen had made several proposals. He had personally asked Mr. Kester (?) Freeman, CEO of Palmetto Health Alliance, and other hospitals to consider the possibility of paying 100 percent of the salary and benefits for additional nursing faculty and to establish a multimillion dollar endowment for these faculty members which would allow the University to increase the size of its nursing classes; Mr. Freeman was open and receptive to those ideas and suggestions.

   Chairman von Lehe stated that the report was received for information.

4. School of Medicine Practice Plan Bylaws Amendments: Chairman von Lehe called on Dr. Faulkner who indicated that materials had been mailed to the Board regarding recommended modifications to the Educational Trust Bylaws. He explained that the School of Medicine had a 501c3 organization known as the "Educational Trust" which operated the Clinical Faculty Practice Plan under the control of the Dean of the Medical School, University President and the Board of Trustees; therefore, any modifications to the Bylaws were subject to the approval of the Board of Trustees. The organization had proposed nine modifications to the Educational Trust Bylaws.

   Dr. Faulkner stated that the following two proposed modifications were significant:

   • To change the fiscal year of the Educational Trust from a calendar year to an academic year to conform to the University's fiscal year
   • To formalize certain practices

   Dr. Faulkner and other officers of the Educational Trust were empowered to sign contracts and checks pertaining to the operation of the Clinical Faculty Practice Plan. For the past several years, the Colleges of Nursing and Social Work and the School of Pharmacy had functioned as departments in the Plan, as well as other clinical departments in the School of Medicine. These schools were being formally specified as part of the Educational Trust Bylaws.

   Dr. Faulkner responded to questions from the Board regarding faculty membership in the Clinical Faculty Practice Plan and discussed the manner in which revenues were generated and distributed.

   Mrs. Harvey moved approval of the modifications to the Educational Trust Bylaws described in the materials distributed for this meeting. Mr. Bahnmuller seconded the motion. A vote was taken, and the motion carried.

   Since there were no other matters to come before the Committee, Chairman von Lehe declared the meeting adjourned at 3:15 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Thomas L. Stepp
Secretary