Operations Update - January 2014
Chief Operating Officer
- Thank you all for attending the Town Hall in January. Join us for Part Two, on February 13, from 12:00 - 1:00 p.m. in MSB 146. This Town Hall will be videoconferenced to MEB 1115 in Windsor, and will be available via livestream on the School's home page.
- I would encourage everyone in a management position at the School to take advantage of the excellent courses being delivered via our PMO office. Of specific interest is the course on Standard Operating Procedures, an ongoing focus for our organization.
- Information regarding the spring budget process will be rolling out in the next couple of weeks. Please watch for more information.
Basic Medical Sciences
Basic Medical Sciences Undergraduate Education (BMSUE)
Dr. Candace Gibson
- Dr. Sarah McLean has received a teaching fellow with the Teaching Support Centre. In this role, she is developing blended laboratory courses including simulation as part of the laboratory experience. She will also be holding teaching events for Schulich Medicine & Dentistry faculty, including a "Lunch and Learn" to be held in April or May.
- BMSUE is coordinating a series of workshops, through the Teaching and Learning Services, for the undergraduate chairs in the basic medical science departments to assist in their preparation of course and program outcomes, and creation of curricular maps.
- Several information sessions are planned in February for Year 1 Medical Sciences students to provide information about progression, Intent to Register, modules offered, and eligibility for the BMSc and Neuroscience programs. Resources (podcasts and videos) will be readily available to students through newly developed OWL sites. Also, over the next several weeks, BMSUE counseling hours will steadily increase.
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Dr. Andy Watson
- Dr. Alison Allan led the team from the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology in planning and holding a very successful workshop entitled: “Anatomy & Cell Biology @ Western Career Workshop 2014: Successes and Challenges of Non-Academic Careers in Science” at the Spencer Leadership Centre. This very successful event was attended by approximately 75 masters, doctorate and post-doctoral fellows faculty-wide. Special thanks to the organizing committee for the fabulous day: Dr. Alison Allan, Stefanie Attardi, Sara Caughlin, Kelly Gutpell, Leah Labranche, and Marei Typlt.
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics put on a panel for Career Week on January 29. The workshop, attended by more than 40 students, introduced career options for undergraduate and graduate students who complete or are interested in a graduate degree in Epidemiology & Biostatistics. Special thanks to the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department Students Council.
- London Health Research Day will be held on March 18 at the London Convention Centre. We have received over 380 abstracts submissions for the event. We are still in need of judges for this event if you are interested, click here to find out more. New this year are workshop opportunities for all participants offering panel discussions with industry, government and commercial experts.
- The inaugural issue of Current Affairs, the new graduate studies newsletter received more than 1,200 views prompting more than 1,100 visits to our website.
- Effective February 1 our office no longer administers the official appointment of Postdoctoral Scholars. Appointment confirmation and supporting documents must now be sent to Support Services Building, room 4180 to Dr. Mihaela Harmos.
Communications
- The website redevelopment project has moved into an exciting stage. All phase one departments, programs and teams have been trained in our new content management system - CASCADE. All phase one websites have been built in CASCADE and all members are currently adding content and imagery to their new websites, with a March 1 deadline for completion. After March 1, the Communications Team will review all the new websites for consistency and quality assurance.
- Discovery, a newsletter for Robarts Research Institute, and Current Affairs, a newsletter for graduate students and postdocotral scholars both had their inaugural issues distributed in January. Both these newsletters will continue monthly and will feature news, updates and events.
- Three unique videos were produced to support the opening of the GA Suite, the MedLINCS program, and a media conference for Robarts.
- London Health Research Day is fast approaching on March 18. If you are interested in volunteering for the day please contact Jasmin Neil via email at jasmin.neil@schulich.uwo.ca
- The team welcomed 2 interns from the Communications and Public Relations Program at Fanshawe College. The students will be working with the team two days per week until mid April. Welcome Kori and Jessica.
- A new "Congratulations To..." section was introduced to The Pulse. Please send your team's successes and awards to comms@schulich.uwo.ca before the third Friday of each month so we can publish new of the many accomplishments of our colleagues across the School.
- This month's edition of the Dean's Video Newsletter has Dr. Michael Strong discussing the importance of the School's conflict of interest policy, why you need to be aware of it and how it helps guide faculty, clinicians and learners in medicine, dentistry and the basic sciences through interactions with industry and pharmaceutical companies. Help us get the word out, please share the video with all those in your departments to whom this applies. Click here to watch.
Dentistry
- Schulich Dentistry held the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new General Anesthetic (GA) Suite on Tuesday, January 14. As speakers for the occasion, Dr. Harinder Sandhu, Vice Dean and Director, Schulich Dentistry and Dr. Michael Strong, Dean, Schulich Medicine & Dentistry were joined by The Honourable Deb Matthews, Ontario Minister of Health and Long-Term Care, and Dr. Christopher Mackie, Medical Officer of Health, Middlesex-London Health Unit. The GA Suite will provide the opportunity for our dental clinic program to expand its scope of services for patients, especially those with special needs. The unique operating suite is located near the main adult dental clinic. Check out our website for the official news and a virtual tour.
- The latest edition of our annual Dentistry Alumni newsletter, “The Bridge”, has been printed and will be distributed shortly. Click here to check out the PDF version.
- On January 30 the Continuing Dental Education (CDE) office moved to the Mogenson Building in Research Park. All of the telephone numbers remain the same. However, be sure to note their new address - 100 Collip Circle, Suite 230-B, London, ON N6G 4X8.
Education
- The Committee on Accreditation of Continuing Medical Education (CACME) confirmed full accreditation status for Schulich Medicine & Dentistry's Continuing Medical Education Program - all areas of partial compliance are satisfactorily resolved. The next full CME Accreditation Survey will be during 2014-2015 academic year.
- Admissions interviews for applicants to the Schulich Medicine will be held March 1 and 2, and March 29 and 30. Interviews for applicants to the Schulich Dentistry will be held April 12 and 13. If you are interested in participating as an interviewer in this important process, please contact the Admissions Office at 519-661-3744.
- The inaugural Schulich Medicine & Dentistry - Windsor Program and University of Windsor "Opportunities for Research Excellence Program" was successfully launched. Windsor's Faculty of Science, Engineering and Human Kinetics, along with the Windsor Program, are offering 10 research opportunities for Year 1 and 2 UME students. In preparation for the launch, a series of collaborative research events were held involving faculty from the aforementioned departments at the University of Windsor. Review of proposals from students is pending.
Facilities
- The annual joint occupational health and safety inspections will begin soon.
- Fire drills will be happening in all the School's buildings throughout the month of February. Please check the schedule that was sent out to find out when your building will be tested. Just a reminder, full evacuations are required by provincial law for all drills.
Finance
- Budget files should be available shortly for the spring budget submission. The anticipated deadline for submission is February 21.
- Some of you may be aware of the new procurement solution that Western will be rolling out this summer that will provide a positive and simple online shopping experience referred to as eProcurement. For more information on this new procurement system please visit the Financial Services web site.
Human Resources
- The University of Western Ontario Faculty Associations (UWOFA) Faculty Collective Agreement is ending June 30, 2014. Preparations for negotiations for a new Faculty Collective Agreement have begun.
- The Annual Performance Evaluation UWOFA Members' assessments are due to the Members and to the Dean no later than February 15.
Information Services
- Roll-out of Family Medicine's Vidyo service has begun. The Vidyo service enables "untethered" desktop and mobile video conferencing and is the first of its kind to be deployed at the School. The first training session will be held on February 10 for a limited user-group. Plans are being formulated by Family Medicine and IS for the wider deployment.
- The implementation of eight new hospital online training modules for staff, faculty, residents and undergraduate medical students is in progress and should be completed soon.
- Working with the PMO, IS developers have made programming and report updates for Phase 2 of OneForm. Testing is in progress and plans are being finalized for Phase 2 release into production.
- GroupWise 2012 is coming. Beginning in early February, IS will be, in phases, rolling out the latest version of GroupWise. The new version has many exciting new features. Targeted communications will be forthcoming from our support team in the upcoming weeks.
Media Relations
- Our data base has been updated so department chairs and the decanal group will receive Schulich Medicine & Dentistry news releases. If you would like your name added to the list, please drop me an email at kathy.wallis@schulich.uwo.ca.
- The official opening of Schulich Dentistry’s GA Suite had good turnout from London media including CTVtwo, London Community News, Metro, London Free Press, and Rogers Cable 13
- Provided media training to the Master of Public Health class on Friday, January 17. They are an engaging group and I was left with a very good impression of the program’s inaugural class
- A news release on Dan Hardy’s research on nicotine and pregnancy and long-term risks for offspring received extensive coverage. Here’s a sampling: CTVtwo, Science World Report, Blackburn Radio, Medical News Today, CBC Radio
Project Management Office/Strategic Technology Commons
- Registration is now open for the two-day 'Focus' - Process Improvement & Management Methodology & Tools workshop, being held April 23 and 24. To register, email pmo.inquiry@schulich.uwo.ca.
- To assist units in documenting standard operating procedures (SOP), a two-part SOP workshop has been developed, along with a standardized template. Additional Session 1 training dates are: February 6 and 11, and March 3 and 4. Click here to register. Additional information is also available by contacting STC at stc@schulich.uwo.ca
- Congratulations to Jay Loftus, Brad Urquhart and Tom Stavraky on the publication of their manuscript 'Design it Yourself', accepted for publication in AHSE.
- STC continues to have several small and larger projects on the go to enhance the teaching tools and delivery methods to our learners. STC is always available for consultation. Contact them at stc@schulich.uwo.ca.
Research
- We are working with researchers who are preparing proposals for the March 2014 CIHR Open Operating Grant competition.
- In collaboration with Research Western, two workshops were held to provide information on the CIHR Open Suite reforms and upcoming transition period.
- We are assisting faculty who are developing proposals for upcoming Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) and Ontario Research Fund (ORF) deadlines.
