From Aron’s Desk

Friends, 

Over the last few months, I have made sure that I attend at least a part of the faculty senate council meeting each month. This is not a radical step for a university president, but it is important for me and for our institution. Academic governance in universities is not a fad or a mistake or even a luxury. Universities exist to be independent institutions of education, discovery, and service. Everyone with enough neurons for a synapse recognizes that how we teach the diagnosis and management of acid-base disturbances should be decided by faculty and not politicians. Take that concept and move it farther into your cerebral cortex. See also: measles.

Academic governance at its most basic is how university faculty decide the content and methodology of the curriculum, how we assess students' learning, and when we certify that our learners are ready for real-world performance. These decisions are not simple, and I do not want to suggest we do this perfectly. I come out of the curricular side of health education, and the curricular decisions we have to make are too complex for one person, which is why we have curriculum committees as the educational arm of academic governance. As an example, as president I do not decide the curriculum of a given program, the faculty do. So should it be.

Once established, academic institutions function within a generally stable equilibrium of inputs, outputs, and feedback loops. Universities are some of the longest surviving institutions in society, older than some religions and outliving politicians, political movements, and political parties. Academic governance is a key feedback loop for the faculty of a university. I believe that leadership matters - bad leadership matters in particular - and for whatever leadership does, it is the faculty who have to bring the goods to the classroom, the laboratory, the clinic, and the community each day. Academic governance is the formal feedback path for faculty, who are the strength of a university. Presidents and universities ignore the importance of academic governance at their peril.

For every faculty member in the classroom or the clinic, there are a bunch of us staff and administrators keeping the lights on, managing the finances, and even managing how governance works. Some people do many of these roles at once.

I am happy to announce that we are finally recognizing Lee Concha, MA, as our board professional here at RFU. You may know her more as the executive vice president for university strategies and chief of staff, but one of her major roles is to be an expert helping the board with its governance of the university. Just about every university has someone who helps ensure the board and the institution are working together well. Many of these positions are full-time roles at universities; not so for Lee. She has long been at the mine face in this role, although her work has been hamstrung by not having the official title. So, I have appointed Lee as Secretary to the Board. You might be asking yourself, “Self, what does a board secretary do?” Let me give you a sense: Lee ensures that each board committee has a work plan, works with the nine committee and sub-committee chairs and our executive vice presidents on the details of meeting planning, helps me with our general approach to the board, works on board management with the board chair, and oversees many of the details that make a board meeting come together. Thank you, Lee, for taking this on formally and not just as “other duties as assigned!”

Some of you know that Lee is a runner, and we’ve had a little run of fun news about RFU and high-speed, bipedal, terrestrial locomotion. Just a couple of weeks ago, CMS graduate Stephen Biebelhausen, MD, broke the world record for the stroller mile. The best part is his baby’s enthusiasm. And, you can try to catch up with one of our students from the Dr. William Scholl College of Podiatric Medicine, Kristen Kelman, class of 2029 president and co-founder of the RFU Parent’s Network. She won the 2021 National Championship for the 50-mile distance. Thanks to all of you who go the extra mile for RFU.

Improving the wellness of all people with you,

Aron