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UPDATE: College of Medicine hires new associate dean, two others

By Maria Amante on July 12, 2011 6:25 pm in College of Medicine / 7 comments

 

Linda Perkowsi (Photo courtesy of University of Minnesota)

The position of associate dean of medical education has been filled according to internal communications from the University of Minnesota.

University Provost Gary Shapiro has confirmed the appointment.

Dr. Linda C. Perkowski, the subject of an open forum April 21, has been hired to fill the position made available when Dr. Nehad El-Sawi vacated in January, where she serves as associate dean for curriculum and evaluation.

A message from her current employer, the UMN Medical School, was sent July 1, but it is unclear when Perkowski was chosen for the position.

Perkowski will begin in September, but Shapiro did not have a specific start date.

Joining Perkowski from the UMN Medical School is Dr. W. Robert Fleischmann, a professor who will teach biomedical science at CMU. Fleischmann is currently researching a cancer vaccine, which he will continue after the transition.

He will return two weeks each year to the UMN Medical School to teach at its Duluth, Minn. campus.

Perkowski contributed to a report in January with CMED Dean Dr. Ernest Yoder.

Dr. Aaron Friedman, dean of the UMN school, said Perkowski would continue working with his university as they prepare for Liaison Committee on Medical Education reaccreditation in March 2012.

“We are pleased that Linda and Bob have found positions that, for each of them, resonate with their strengths and allow them to continue to contribute to academic medicine,” Friedman said.

The other candidate for the associate dean position, Joel Lanphear, has also been hired by CMU as a consultant, Shapiro said.

He said Lanphear has already started work, but gave no reason why Perkowski was chosen over Lanphear for the associate dean position.

The trio was hired because they were needed, Shapiro said.

El-Sawi left in January for unspecified reasons, receiving nearly a quarter-million dollars in total compensation for her just-over six months work.

Three weeks after El-Sawi’s resignation was announced, the College of Medicine postponed opening for a year, which the university said was unrelated to El-Sawi’s departure and necessary to have sufficient time for LCME accreditation.

The position has been vacant since, but Yoder has said El-Sawi’s responsibilities were absorbed by other staff members.

Shapiro had no further information on the hirings and said to contact Yoder. Shapiro said the university and CMED continue to proceed on submitting the LCME accreditation application.

Early Tuesday, Yoder declined comment and directed CM Life to contact University Communications. Director of Public Relations Steve Smith also refused to comment.

 

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  • What On Earth

    Yeah!  More administrators for the medical school each making six figures while all faculty get salary and benefit cuts.  Amazing institution here at CMU.

  • What On Earth

    Am I the only one mad about this?  An article about faculty demonstrating against salary cuts gets 30 responses and talk of faculty being corporate millionaires, un-American, and well, stupid.  Yet the CMU administration pushes through a medical school with no public comment and essentially lies to the public by saying it can be self-sufficient with no additional money and no one cares.  The public needs to realize that tuition monies are being diverted from programs and CMU employees in order to fund the medical school.  WMU is on record as saying they will need $150-300 million of funding to do a medical school.  CMU is on record as saying they will just need $25 million of funding to do a medical school (just to build the new building).  We need to wake up and see where the real problems of CMU are at.

  • What On Earth

    Am I the only one mad about this?  An article about faculty demonstrating against salary cuts gets 30 responses and talk of faculty being corporate millionaires, un-American, and well, stupid.  Yet the CMU administration pushes through a medical school with no public comment and essentially lies to the public by saying it can be self-sufficient with no additional money and no one cares.  The public needs to realize that tuition monies are being diverted from programs and CMU employees in order to fund the medical school.  WMU is on record as saying they will need $150-300 million of funding to do a medical school.  CMU is on record as saying they will just need $25 million of funding to do a medical school (just to build the new building).  We need to wake up and see where the real problems of CMU are at.

  • chris

    Medical schools are money enhancers for all colleges, and create numerous other jobs (yes, many well paying, and so they should be). As well, Medical Schools add prestige to any institution, even in a hick town like Mt. Pleasant. It’s a win for CMU.

  • What On Earth

    Where is the evidence for this Chris?  In fact, professional schools often cost universities a ton of funding to complete and many of them become boon-doggles.  Don’t believe me?  Just do a google search on “University of California-Riverside” medical school.

    Also, do note that according to CMU documents, the medical school isn’t even going to be in Mount Pleasant.  They are building a temporary two year home for it in Mount Pleasant with the plan that it will eventually move to Saginaw.  So I guess Mount Pleasant remains a hick town…in your words…

  • Behind the NDAs

    “which the university said was unrelated to El-Sawi’s departure”
    No, what was said was that the departure was not the cause of the postponement, which is true, though intentionally misleading.

    What actually happened:
    A bad hire was made, eventually causing the schedule to slip. She was given the choice to resign or be fired; she chose resignation. The payoff was made, contingent on hiding the embarrassing details of the matter behind non-disclosure agreements. In order to obscure the truth, the postponement was announced after a brief delay and misleading statements were made.

    The NDAs will keep anyone from going on the record to confirm, but that’s the story behind the smokescreen.

  • Madelyngaleazzi

    Politics and finances aside, Dr Perkowski is an exceptional educator (not administrator) and has a proven record in the medical educational field.  Her real strength is her vision for a better medical education by utilizing innovative methods.  Her ability to respect and work with a diverse group of people is notable.  This institution is lucky to have this person in a leadership position.