UPDATE: College of Medicine hires fifth associate dean
College of Medicine consultant Joel Lanphear will begin work as CMED's fifth associate dean after Labor Day.
Ernest Yoder, CMED dean, told CMU Board of Trustees members during the CMED committee meeting Wednesday Lanphear is critical to operations due to his previous experience and familiarity with developing and implementing medical curriculum "similar to ours."
Lanphear will be senior associate dean for educational programs. Yoder said the position was created for him, though Lanphear was unavailable until after Labor Day to begin full-time work.
He will work on a two-year contract to see the university through Liason Committee on Medical Education accreditation.
University President George Ross said it is his understanding that Lanphear's role will "sunset" after the program is accredited and his contract expires.
Yoder said Lanphear's qualifications and those of newly hired Associate Dean of Medical Education Dr. Linda Perkowski's are complementary, which is why the college created the position for him.
"What Joel brings to the table is an architected curriculum model virtually identical to ours," Yoder said.
Previous plans for the College of Medicine called for the employment of at least four associate deans, though there were no plans to hire more at the time.
Perkowski will assume all responsibilities for which former Associate Dean of Medical Education Dr. Nehad El-Sawi was responsible. She will also begin after Labor Day, and her husband, Dr. W. Robert Fleischmann, began work July 1 as a professor teaching biomedical science.
Steve Smith, director of public relations, said the university does not typically announce faculty or temporary hires like that of Lanphear's, who is considered a consultant. The University of Minnesota Medical College announced Perkowski and Fleischmann's departure from its program July 1.
Fleischmann was hired after an open and ongoing search, Yoder said. Both his and Perkowski's applications were received around the time El-Sawi resigned.
Fundraising
Kathy Wilbur, vice president of Development and External Relations, said the College of Medicine is near the halfway point to its $25 million fundraising objective, but did not give specific numbers on what she called significant additional gifts.
"We're inching toward (the goal)," she said. "They're anonymous gifts."
Renee Walker, associate vice president of University Communications, said CMU would not state the dollar amount raised to date.
At the previous board of trustees meeting in April, Wilbur also said the college was "just shy" of the halfway point to the goal.
