Dear Colleague,

I need to start with some sad news.  I got a call last week that Chancellor Emeritus Vincent Fulginiti, MD, passed away.  Vince had a terrific career here as faculty in Pediatric Infectious Diseases in the 1960s with C. Henry Kempe, MD. He was my attending physician when I was an intern before he left to be the first Chair of Pediatrics at the then-new University of Arizona College of Medicine.  His career is summarized in this obituaryin the Arizona Daily Star. Vince was here this past summer following the dedication of the Fulginiti Pavilion for Bioethics and Humanities, which is the family’s choice for gifts of remembrance.   We will discuss with the family the timing of a potential memorial service here in the future.  Our condolences go to Shirley, John, Laura and Paul and all their family. He was the driving force behind getting us this campus and planning for the move here.

The third Tuesday of the month is when the School has its governance meetings. Some call it “Super Tuesday;” others have a different term for it.  This past week’s meetings were marked by a lot of interesting discussion.  At the Executive Committee, we discussed the funding of the Graduate School and the various options for assuring that, in the coming difficult years of NIH funding, there is a revenue stream to match the numbers of students accepted and enrolled into the graduate programs.  We formed an ad hoc committee to make some recommendations at a future meeting.  Another discussion related to what our position should be as a school regarding the other schools of medicine that exist or are being planned in our state.  And, related to that issue, there was a lively discussion on the plans to increase our class size by 24 medical students this coming year for the Colorado Springs Branch. The Faculty Senate had previously unanimously approved the expansion, but the Executive Committee expressed concerns about the budgetary impact of the expansion on our existing programs.  We will address those concerns in the coming weeks.  The UPI Board also has an ad hoc committee looking into the appropriate uses of the meaningful use dollars that the Practice Plan will be receiving, and the Board voted to wait for that committee’s report before releasing any of them. 

The Linda Crnic Institute for Down Syndrome last Thursday awarded $1.3 million to 14 inaugural recipients of the Crnic Grand Challenge Grants. The program was established this year by Tom Blumenthal, PhD, Director of the Crnic Institute, to award grants to scientists in the University of Colorado system.  Grants totaling $1 million will be awarded annually. The grant program is underwritten by the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation, the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, the Chancellors of the Boulder and the Denver campuses and by the School of Medicine’s Dean’s office. Congratulations to all of the grant recipients.  Personally, I like this approach that Tom is taking with the resources the Center has amassed.

Graduation will be here before you know it and, as always, School of Medicine faculty members are invited to participate. The campus commencement ceremony will take place Friday, May 24, at 8 a.m. in Boettcher Commons. That’s followed at 10:15 a.m., same location, by the Hooding and Oath Ceremony for MD students. Faculty members should register and, in that process, can request regalia. Faculty regalia should be ordered no later than April 15. School of Medicine faculty members with questions regarding their regalia order should contact Janina Stewart by email or at 303-724-6407.

Our Education team has a job opening. Celia Kaye, MD, PhD, has decided to simplify her life a bit and will be reducing her responsibilities by stepping down as Associate Dean for Integrated Curriculum. She will remain as Senior Associate Dean for Education.  The open 0.50 FTE position of Associate Dean for Integrated Curriculumwill be responsible for all curricular aspects of the MD Degree program. He/she will be a leader and collaborator with the Assistant Deans and Directors of the Curriculum Office.

I want to encourage you to participate in the Be Colorado SUCCEED Health Assessment. At 6 percent, the Anschutz Medical Campus is tied for last place with the Boulder campus for the percentage of employees participating in the assessment. The Anschutz Medical Campus had 16 percent participation last year. Here’s a little extra motivation: If you complete the health assessment by Monday, April 1, (I did) you’ll automatically be entered into a drawing to win one of 12 $300 airfare vouchers. The assessment is also a required component of the Be Colorado Move initiative, which awards $25 per month to those who meet baseline movement goals. Let’s get moving. Go to Be Colorado to learn more.

Have a good week,

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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