Dear Colleague, 

The internet and cell phones were humming last Friday after the announcement was made regarding the transition in leadership for University of Colorado Health.  Bruce Schroffel, who is CEO, and Rulon Stacey, who is president, announced that they would be stepping down from their positions effective Jan. 31, 2014. Bill Neff, MD, currently chief medical officer, will become interim president and CEO and the positions will be combined into one. The Board of UC Health will meet tomorrow to begin planning for a national search (among its other business).  Rulon and Bruce will be around for a while, so there will be time in the coming months for us to thank them for their vision and work in putting the system together. Suffice it to say they are remarkable individuals. 

The School of Medicine’s Executive Committee last Tuesday spent a lot of time reviewing the mechanics of what was happening to the indirect cost reimbursement for facilities and administration coming back to the campus, as well as the data behind the recent change in the metrics for productivity in the allocation of research space.  These data should be available in all department offices should faculty be interested. 

At the UPI board meeting Tuesday, the board unanimously approved the allocation of funds to work collaboratively with Children’s Hospital Colorado on its 10-week strategic-planning project to better define the hospital’s response to addressing the health of the pediatric population it serves (and will want to serve) in the future. 

Also on Tuesday, a large group of faculty traveled to Fort Collins to meet with the faculty at Colorado State University who will be involved in the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) program (once we get our notice of grant award).  Ron Sokol, MD, professor of pediatrics and director of the CCTSI, gave an overview of the program and there was a great deal of interest in collaboration from faculty in several schools at CSU. 

The Health Sciences Library is holding two events this week to introduce the Digital Collections of Colorado(DCC), a partnership between four institutions of higher education to provide broader access to significant scholarly works created on their campuses. The goal of the DCC is to promote scholarship by removing the pay-wall barrier for readers that is typically found with traditional scholarly communications. CU’s partners in the DCC are Colorado State University, Colorado School of Mines and Colorado Mesa University. You can learn more about DCC on Wednesday, Aug. 28, on the 2nd floor passageway in Research 1 North (above Udi’s) or Thursday, Aug. 29, at Boettcher Commons on the Education Quad. Both events run from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Friday afternoon, I went downtown to the CU system office for a celebration of the CU Shared Practices award-winning teams that were recognized by CU President Bruce Benson. The School and Anschutz Medical Campus had three award-winning teams that created and implemented tools that save time and money for the School and serve as models for the entire University. The SOM Dean’s office team created the Tools for Success program that helps administrators on campus “do it right the first time” with monthly training sessions on a range of topics like hiring, procurement and fiscal reporting. The Department of Neurology team established “process maps” that diagram essential administrative tasks so new employees don’t have to recreate the wheel when they start on the job. And a team from the vivarium was honored for a mopping routine that saved time and cut chemical and water usage while meeting cleanliness standards. 

Looks as though the last week of August will be a hot one; maybe things will cool down by the time this email comes out again Sept. 9.  Have a safe Labor Day weekend. And remember that nearly all schools will be open again, so watch your speed in the ever-darker mornings we will be having between now and November. 

Have a good two weeks,

Richard D. Krugman, MD Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean, School of Medicine

"What’s Going On Here" is an email news bulletin from Richard Krugman, MD, Dean of the CU School of Medicine, that is distributed to inform University of Colorado School of Medicine faculty members about issues pertaining to the School’s mission of education, research, clinical care and community service. See the UCH-Insider →

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