A. The Dean
The Provost and the President of Dartmouth review and confirm the appointment of the Dean of the Geisel, pursuant to authority delegated by the Dartmouth Board of Trustees. The term of appointment for the Dean shall typically be 4 years and may be renewed.
B. Statutes of the Geisel School of Medicine
The Dartmouth Board of Trustees has ultimate oversight over the financial, administrative, and academic affairs of Geisel. The Provost, as the chief academic and budget officer of Dartmouth, has authority over academic programs, inclusive of faculty appointments and advancement, and budgets as set by the Dean and their[1] officers.
The missions, goals and operating budget of Geisel shall be promoted by the Dean subsequent to regular strategic planning that engages input from faculty, staff, students and alumni of Geisel, as well as from the broader constituencies of Dartmouth, D-H, and their surrounding communities, and pursuant to approved mandates from the financial officers of Geisel, Dartmouth College, the Dartmouth Board of Trustees, and, where relevant with respect to the clinical departments, the leadership of Dartmouth-Hitchcock (D-H).
C. Administrative Leadership of Geisel
The Dean retains the authority to designate the officers of the medical school that will comprise the senior leadership. The Senior Administrative Leadership (SAL) roles for the Geisel administration are enumerated in Appendix 1 and their responsibilities defined in Article III. All senior officers of Geisel will have a position description that defines their expectations and responsibilities. These descriptions may be updated by the Dean in consultation with the senior leadership as needed. Positions may also be added, amended or eliminated by the Dean following consultation of the senior leadership.
Associate Deans: associate deans for the Geisel administration are enumerated in Appendix 1. At the request of the Dean, associate deans may serve in the SAL. Associate deans may report directly to the Dean or to other officers of the SAL. Their roles and responsibilities are set by the Dean and by the appropriate members of the SAL of the medical school. All associate deans of Geisel will have a position description that defines their expectations and responsibilities. These descriptions may be updated by the Dean in consultation with their senior leadership as needed. Positions may also be added, amended or eliminated by the Dean following consultation of the broader senior leadership of Geisel.
D. The Geisel Board of Advisors (BoA)
The BoA is advisory to the Dean. Appointments to the BoA are made by the Dean, subject to approval by Dartmouth College’s Provost, President, and Board of Trustees (BoT). The Dean appoints the Board Chair. A member of the Dartmouth BoT, as appointed yearly by the Board Chair, serves on the Geisel BoA. Members of the BoA normally serve three (3)-year terms, which may be renewed subject to approval as described.
Board membership is constituted by the Dean from accomplished individuals who will be best able to advise the Dean on the range of critical issues relevant of the Medical School. The Board’s composition is subject to review and approval by the BoT of Dartmouth. Members of the senior leadership of Dartmouth College and D-H serve ex officio on the Board.
E. Dean’s Academic Board (DAB)[2]
The DAB shall be advisory to the Dean and will act on all medical school appointments. In addition to the Dean, the DAB will include the President and CEO of D-H, the Director of the White River Junction VAMC, the Dean of Faculty Affairs, the Executive Dean of Administration and Finance, the Senior Associate Deans of the Medical School of Medicine, the Chief Development Officer of the Medical School, the Department Chairs, Institute and Center Directors of the Medical School, representatives of the Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) and Masters of Public Health (MPH) programs, and others who may be invited by the Dean. The Dean presides at meetings of the DAB.
The DAB shall advise the Dean of Geisel concerning all matters that relate to the internal academic affairs of Geisel. These matters shall include faculty appointments, dismissals, and advancements in rank; student admission policies and procedures; administrative policies concerning the academic missions of the medical school; and major curricular matters affecting the school of medicine.
Votes of the DAB may be solicited by the Dean for matters that require input across the community (i.e., faculty, staff and/or students). Members of the DAB may also be called upon to serve pursuant to other policies of Geisel/Dartmouth (e.g., but not limited to the “Organization of the Faculty of Dartmouth College” (OFDC), the Professionalism Policy for Geisel)
The Dean’s Academic Board shall meet at least nine times annually, generally on a monthly basis. Unattributed notes (Chatham House Rules) shall be maintained for all meetings of the DAB.
F. Faculty Council[2]
The Faculty Council is a body elected by Geisel departmental faculty, including faculty within clinical departments sited at D-H, to provide a direct avenue of communication and to advise the Dean. The Faculty Council shall be the principal source of faculty input to the administration of Geisel and have regular meetings in between those of the entire faculty which should occur at least twice yearly. The Faculty Council will directly report to the faculty and to the Dean of Geisel and will serve as a means of communication from the Dean’s office to the faculty. The roles, responsibilities, policies and procedures and membership of the committee are set forth in the Bylaws of the Faculty Council.
G. Departments, Centers, and Institutes at Geisel
The core organizational structure of the medical school is built upon academic departments, as well as recognized institutes and centers. Oversight of the foundational science departments, as well as any Geisel Centers or Institutes operating under the aegis of Dartmouth College, flows to the Dean; oversight of the academic endeavors of the clinical departments, as well as any D-H Centers or Institutes, flows to the President/CEO of D-H and the Dean.
1. Departmental Governance:
All members of the voting faculty within each department shall participate in all academic and policy matters of the department, exclusive of individual faculty salaries and other issues excluded by these Protocols and Policies or other approved policies as found on the Geisel Office of Faculty Affairs site or other relevant policies of Dartmouth College. Individual departments may also include secondary and/or tertiary department members or non-voting (e.g., adjunct or clinical faculty lines) in such discussions upon the approval by the primary faculty.
Departmental staff with authority over administration of the department should be included in departmental meetings for discussions of those issues that affect operations outside of pedagogical or research goals and missions or issues in which confidentiality with respect to faculty matters would preclude their participation.
2. Departmental Meetings:
Departmental meetings may be requested by the Dean, Chair or the departmental faculty as stipulated below. It is the expectation that departmental meetings will be held at least twice annually, and shall be open to all primary members of the department and others as agreed upon by each department (vide supra). Any department faculty member, may place an item on the agenda of any regularly scheduled meeting. Other meetings may be called by the Chair or by fifty percent of the department faculty. If requested by the departmental faculty, minutes shall be maintained and distributed to all department faculty, as well as all staff present. At any meeting, the majority of voting members present may vote to conduct the meeting in closed session, except that voting members of the department may not be excluded.
For departments holding meetings of the entire department faculty, a quorum shall be twenty-five percent (25%) of the voting faculty. As with meetings of the general faculty of Geisel, votes may be taken electronically and may be by positive assent or, on initiatives where it is explicitly stated that the measure shall carry in the absence of dissent (e.g., approval of the graduating class), none is given.
3. Formation of New Departments at Geisel
The proposal for the creation of a new department (which includes merging of existing departments) must be presented first to the Dean of Geisel and (if a clinical department) to the President/CEO of D-H before beginning any formal approval process.
a. Organizational plan:
The plan should include a summary of the proposal, vision, alliances, consistency with Geisel and (if clinical) D-H strategic direction, history, current services, future objectives, description of the requesting units of academic contributions, including teaching and/or research, if applicable, and financial considerations. The plan should include
• A list of all employees who will be affected by the proposed change. The list should include all faculty, administrative professionals, support staff, post docs, graduate students, etc.
• Resources. All resource needs, including need for program faculty, must be identified and fully committed. Memoranda of support acknowledging commitments for new resources should be included.
• Financial Accounting. If existing accounts are moving to the new department, list all the accounts and the department to which they currently report.
b. Approval:
Foundational Departments: Presentations and approval shall be obtained to/by the DAB, the full Geisel faculty or its representative body, the Faculty Council, the Dartmouth College Academic Planning
Foundational Departments: Presentations and approval shall be obtained to/by the DAB, the full Geisel faculty or its representative body, the Faculty Council (FC), the Dartmouth College Academic Planning Committee (APC); the Academic Affairs Committee (AAC); and the Dartmouth College BoT. If possible plans and presentations should also be made to the Geisel BoA.
Clinical Departments: Presentations and approvals shall be obtained according to the above for foundational departments and also by the D H Boards of Trustees.
4. Renaming of Existing Departments at Geisel
Departments may solicit approval from the Dean (and for clinical departments, the President/CEO of D-H), to revise their name to better reflect the current missions of the department. Such renaming does not involve any changes in the underlying structure or leadership of the department. In such cases, approval follows the process outlined in (2) above.
5. Formation of Institutes and Centers at Geisel
Creation and approval of Centers/Institutes requires approval by the DAB and follows policy and procedure for formation and naming of such organizations at Dartmouth.
[1]Throughout this document, “their” connotes her, his or their; “they” connotes she/he/they
[2]Initiatives requiring a vote of Geisel Faculty by either Dartmouth or Geisel may occur through representational votes provided by the DAB and the Faculty Council following upon discussion and input from their constituencies, or through a vote of the General Faculty.