Last associate dean candidate to hold forum says College of Medicine project lacks vision
The College of Medicine project lacks vision and clarification, said the final candidate for associate dean of student affairs this week.
Mala Chinoy, the last of three candidates to hold a forum for an associate dean position, spoke at Central Michigan University on Monday.
Among her top concerns was the lack of clarification with how the College of Medicine will coexist with others on campus.
“Overall vision has to be very clear as to how it is going to be implemented and who is going to do what,” said Chinoy, a professor of biochemistry and molecular biology and professor of pediatrics at Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa. “The big picture is not yet communicated. Other faculty have to be informed.”
She said the university lacks a vision for the College of Medicine because a dean is not yet in place — a position Interim Dean Cam Enarson turned down last month for personal reasons.
Discussion at Chinoy’s forum included topics such as incentives future medical students would have to stay in northern Michigan, residency programs and scholarships. But Chinoy did not want to get into specifics.
“It depends on what the university wants and what the College of Medicine wants,” she said. “I do have thoughts, but all of these need to be communicated by the dean first.”
Robert Satonik, associate director of residency at Synergy Medical Education Alliance in Saginaw and temporary faculty for the Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow College of Health Professions, and Stephen Peterson, associate professor of Community Health and assistant dean of student affairs for the medical school at Wright State University, also held forums over the last two weeks.
Unified working
Peterson said for the new College of Medicine to succeed, all programs must work for a common goal.
“We all need to succeed together,” he said at a forum Feb. 16.
Peterson said one focus is attracting students to the school from more ignored, rural areas. He said the College of Medicine can do this by giving more “points” to these students in the application process.
“If you have two equally qualified applicants, one from an under-served area and one from an area that has many doctors, we should probably admit the (applicant from the under-served area),” Peterson said.
First of the forums
Satonik said he sees the position of associate dean of student affairs as a good fit for him.
He answered questions from a group of 14 people during the first open forum on Feb. 10.
During the forum, Satonik explained why he choose the student affairs position to apply for over the other dean positions.
“In my brain, I saw student affairs as my ideal place,” Satonik said, “I want to help mold students and bring them forward.”
Satonik said he is not uncomfortable going through the process without knowing who the founding dean of the college will be.
“When Dr. Enarson declined, I was in a little bit of a quandary,” Satonik said. “I am already knee-deep in this process. What does this mean for me?”
