School of Public Health Self-Study Report > 1.0 The School of Public Health > 1.3 Institutional Environment

1.3 Institutional Environment

• 1.3.a. The School's institutional home.
• 1.3.b Organizational Charts.
• 1.3.c. Brief description of University practices (accountability, academic unit prerogatives, budgeting, recruitment, selection and advancement, academic standards).
• 1.3.d. Identification of processes that are different for the School than for other professional schools.
• 1.3.e. If a collaborative program, a copy of the formal written agreement.
• 1.3.f. This criterion is met.

1.3.a. The School’s institutional home

The University of Minnesota, founded in 1851, is one of the most comprehensive public universities in the United States and ranks among the most prestigious. It is both the state land-grant university, with a strong tradition of education and public service, and the state’s primary research university, with faculty of national and international reputation. Through world-class research, scholarship and public engagement, the University aims to solve challenges facing the state, nation and world and provide broad access to programs and resources.

The University offers myriad educational opportunities for its 60,000 students in more than 370 fields of study. The Twin Cities campus is the flagship campus of the University and home to 20 colleges, including the School. It has one of the most comprehensive academic programs in the world and its enrollment is the nation’s second largest. The University also includes three coordinate campuses (Crookston, Duluth and Morris), UMN Rochester campus, a statewide Extension Service and research and outreach centers.

In 1851, the seeds of the Academic Health Center were planted with territorial legislation that created the University of Minnesota and named medicine and science among five original academic disciplines. The AHC now comprises the six schools and colleges of medicine, public health, nursing, dentistry, pharmacy, and veterinary medicine as well as allied health programs.

Founded in 1944, the School is one of the six health sciences schools that form the University’s Academic Health Center (AHC) (http://www.ahc.umn.edu/img/assets/7617/AHC_ORG_Chart-013106.pdf). Fifteen research and education centers help define the AHC’s interdisciplinary nature. The School is actively engaged in more than half of the centers, including: the Cancer Center; Obesity Prevention Center; Center for Infectious Disease, Research and Policy; Bio-Medical Genomics Center; Center for Computational Genomics and Bioinformatics; National Center for Food Protection and Defense; Center for Bioethics; and the Center for Spirituality and Healing.

Several AHC-wide ancillary units provide administrative enhancements to the School, including Financial Affairs, Legal Affairs, Human Resources, Facilities Management, Communications and Legislative Relations, as well as the Allied Health Professions. The School is actively involved in AHC committees and advisory boards.

Accrediting bodies to which the institution responds include:

• The North Central Association of Colleges and Schools recently reviewed and fully accredited the University, Twin Cities Campus. Next review: 2015.
• The Master’s in Healthcare Administration Program was accredited by the Commission on Accreditation in Healthcare Management Education in 2001 for seven years. Next review is 2008.
• All Schools and Colleges within the AHC are fully accredited and current through their individual accrediting organizations.
• The Association for the Accreditation of Human Research Protection Programs awarded accreditation to the University in the spring of 2004.
• The Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology awarded the Industrial Hygiene program accreditation for six years in 2002.
  

1.3.b   Organizational Charts

Figure 1: University Organizational Chart

View the chart

The Twin Cities campus is composed of 17 academic colleges and professional schools (listed below).

• Biological Sciences, College of
• Continuing Education, College of
• Dentistry, School of
• Design, College of
• Education and Human Development, College of
• Graduate School
• Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences, College of
• Law School
• Liberal Arts, College of
• Management, Carlson School of
• Medical School
• Nursing, School of
• Pharmacy, College of
• Public Affairs, Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of
• Public Health, School of
• Technology, Institute of
• Veterinary Medicine, College of
       

1.3.c.   Brief description of University practices (accountability, academic unit prerogatives, budgeting, recruitment, selection and advancement, academic standards)

Accountability and Academic Unit
The President of the University reports to the University Board of Regents. The University’s senior administration consists of the president and an executive team of three senior vice presidents, an executive associate vice president, the chancellors of the three coordinate campuses and the provost of the Rochester campus, seven vice presidents, two associate vice presidents, the general counsel, and the director of intercollegiate athletics.

The president and most of his executive team have Twin Cities campus responsibilities as well as University-wide responsibilities. The University does not have a separate system-wide office. Two of the three senior vice presidents and the 21 deans who report to them provide the central academic leadership on the Twin Cities campus. Fifteen deans report to Senior Vice President and Provost Sullivan, while six deans in the Academic Health Center on the Twin Cities campus report to Senior Vice President Frank Cerra. The provost is supported by five vice provosts. In addition, a number of key Twin Cities campus administrative functions and centers report to Senior Vice President Robert Jones.

The Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, who oversees the Academic Health Center (AHC), is directly accountable to the President. Revenues generated by the AHC represent about 40 percent of the total revenue at the University. About 38 percent of AHC funding comes from sponsored projects and research, primarily federal grants, which support the work of more than 1,400 faculty researchers.

The Dean of the School and all other deans in the AHC report to the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences. All AHC Deans and Directors meet twice monthly with the Senior Vice President to discuss administrative, funding and policy issues. The Dean and AHC Senior Vice President meet monthly to discuss School-specific opportunities and concerns.

The Dean is a member of the Twin Cities Deans’ Council, which meets monthly with the President and other Central Officers on the Twin Cities campus to address issues of concern. In addition, the School’s Associate Deans participate equally in several AHC and University-wide committees and form an AHC Education Associate Deans Council, providing leadership and operations oversight for inter-professional education.

The University has an active Faculty Senate and the School elects five faculty members as senators. Numerous Senate committees deal with resource allocation, academic standards, tenure and other issues.

The Graduate School functions as an administrative and support unit for all academic graduate degree (M.S., Ph.D.) programs. Its governance structure includes six Policy and Review Councils consisting of graduate faculty and student representatives. These councils, together with an Executive Committee that includes the Chairs of the policy and review councils, are responsible for making general policy for the Graduate School and programs it administers. Each Graduate School program in the School has a representative on the Health Sciences Policy and Review Council and each elects a Director of Graduate Studies (DGS). The DGS serves as the liaison between the graduate faculty of the degree program and the Graduate School and is responsible for reviewing individual student programs of study, among other responsibilities.

The School operates under the same administrative framework as other AHC and University colleges. Specific administrative procedures will be discussed in subsequent sections.

Prerogative

Within the framework of the broader University, the School has wide latitude in organizing its operations, assigning titles and developing programs or units. The School Dean and faculty have the same rights, responsibilities and privileges afforded to other University deans and faculty.

Budget

The School handles annual budgeting and resource requests through the “Compact Process,” the University’s resource allocation process. School requests are submitted to the Senior Vice President for Health Sciences and reviewed with all other AHC requests to fund strategic investments. See 1.6 for details on budget process.

Selection and Advancement

School Division Heads handle recruitment and hiring decisions with final approval by the Dean. The University supports a centralized online system for posting of job opportunities. See 1.5 for more specific information on faculty selection and advancement.

Academic Standards

Development of School-specific policies and procedures is the prerogative of the School, under the broader policy guidelines of the University and AHC. The University sets minimum standards and units are free to extend the standards to meet organizational needs.

1.3.d.   Identification of processes that are different for the School than for other professional schools.

No processes are different.

1.3.e.   If a collaborative program, a copy of the formal written agreement.

Not applicable.

1.3.f.   This criterion is met.

Strengths

The School has organizational status equal to that of other schools and colleges in the University.