Faculty and Staff Get the Latest Updates at Meeting
On December 20, GSDM held a faculty and staff meeting which provided many important updates on things happening at the Dental School. Dean Jeffrey W. Hutter started the afternoon meeting off by welcoming the audience and presenting Dental Radiology Technologist Mary Ellen Sholes with the Boston University Henry M. Goldman Award for Distinguished Service.
“Mary Ellen truly embodies the ideal of excellence that is fundamental to our Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine and she is most deserving of the Boston University Henry M. Goldman Award for Distinguished Service,” said Dean Hutter. “Her career at GSDM has spanned decades and we are truly fortunate to have benefitted from her expertise for so long. Mary Ellen supports and advances the mission of our School every day by ensuring that excellent patient care and dental education are delivered.”
Attendees also heard from Dr. Chris Shanahan, BUSM Department of Internal Medicine and Faculty Lead on the BU Profiles Initiative, on the new social networking tool led by CTSI called BU Profiles which will enable researchers to work together across disciplines with the goal being to take research from the bench to the bed (or bench to chair-side) quicker.
Next up were BUMC Director of Public Safety Constance Packard and Sargent Daniel Healy who spoke about public safety, reminded attendees about the alert system, and talked about when to call Public Safety at 414-4444—which is pretty much any time there is an emergency. “Ask a lot and expect a lot from BU police and Public Safety,” said Packard.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs Dr. Cataldo Leone shared some very positive statistics on retention and graduation rates, mean GPA, National Board Part 1 results, post-doctoral placements, and clinical instruction and course evaluation results among the pre-doctoral students. He said that many of these positive trends “speak volumes on the high quality of instruction in the pre-doctoral program.”
Clinical Administrative Manager for the AEGD Program and the Dental Health Center at 100 E. Newton Street Joann Beer gave a nice presentation, complete with a fashion show, on the new look that Patient Coordinators will be sporting early this year.
Executive Director of Finance and Operations Tim McDonough and Associate Director for Facilities & Operations Andy Burke gave an overview of upcoming projects. The most noteworthy of which was access to the clinical areas of the Dental School, which beginning February 1, will be restricted to students, faculty, and staff with authorized BU “proxy” ID cards. If you currently have an older ID that requires you to “swipe” the card through a card reader device versus “touching” the card to the card reader then you will need to have your ID replaced. Please visit the Dental School Cafeteria either Thursday, January 12, or Friday, January 13, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. to receive your new “proxy” card.
Dean Hutter wrapped things up with updates on the Applied Strategic Plan implementation process, accreditation, and facility master plan. He then wished everyone a happy holiday season and restful Intersession break and adjourned the meeting.