VCOM Administrative and Classified Staff Handbook

Chair is by the Dean but includes consideration input provided by the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs and the Associate Dean for Medical Education. Department Chair for Biomedical Sciences The primary role of the Biomedical Sciences Department Chair is to promote and advance the mentorship and development of the Biomedical faculty for teaching, scholarship, and service. The appointment of the Biomedical Sciences Chair is by the Dean but includes consideration input provided by the Associate Dean for Biomedical Affairs and the Associate Dean for Medical Education. Clinical Discipline Chairs Clinical Discipline Chairs oversee the clinical faculty within their discipline and provide education within the clinical hospital and regional sites. The Clinical Discipline Chairs assure the clinical curriculum is a continuum across all four years. On campus, they assure the curriculum is deemed appropriate through the campus wide chairs meeting and is sent to and approved by the Curriculum Oversight Committee. The Clinical Discipline Chairs also determine the curriculum for the third and fourth years within their discipline. These Chairs prepare all syllabi for the courses for which they serve as Course Director and are responsible to the Associate Dean for Medical Education for this content. The Clinical Chairs determine the rotation curriculum and provide and annually update all syllabi and rotation information to the Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs for posting. The Clinical Discipline Chairs serve in overseeing courses. The Discipline Chairs across campuses meet on all content and testing modes and assure consistency across campuses. The Clinical Discipline Chairs review student success in the courses they direct and on the rotations they direct, provide feedback to any students experiencing difficulty, and arrange all remediation. Clinical Discipline Chairs must be board-certified and must be involved in some clinical practice to retain medical knowledge and assure an evidence-based approach to medicine. Only those Clinical Discipline Chairs with research duties outlined in their contract will be held to research performance standards. The Clinical Discipline Chairs are held to the role of teaching, college service, and clinical patient service. This statement is not meant to discount the importance of clinical faculty in research. In fact, some of the most successful VCOM research programs are by clinical faculty. The exact role of each Clinical Chair is determined by contract. Biomedical Discipline Chairs The Biomedical Discipline Chairs serve as course directors for the OMS 1 and 2 curriculum. They are responsible to the Associate Deans of Biomedical affairs in assuring the curriculum is delivered on time, is presented in a consistent and sequential order, and that materials are of the highest quality. Through integrated and ongoing course planning, Block Sub-committees assure accurate curricular content and alignment. The Curriculum and Assessment Oversight Committee approves the direction of the curriculum and any major content changes. The Discipline Chairs meet from across campuses each spring to review and update the syllabi, course content, questions, and the delivery methods of the curriculum specific to their discipline. The Discipline Chairs across campuses must agree on all content, educational objectives, and testing. The Biomedical Discipline Chairs oversee faculty only as it pertains to their responsibilities to support the curriculum within the courses. As many faculty teach across disciplines, a faculty member may have responsibilities to more than one Biomedical Discipline Chair. The Biomedical Discipline Chairs do not evaluate faculty except to provide feedback to the faculty member and to the Associate Dean on academic performance within the course. The Biomedical Discipline Chairs are expected to perform service including college committees, interviews, and other service as assigned by the Campus Dean. The Biomedical Discipline Chairs report to the Associate Dean for Biomedical Affairs and VP for Research for their research duties. A list of the VCOM Board of Directors and Advisory Board Members, college-wide administrators, and campus specific administrators and supervisors has been provided below to outline the governance structure of the college.

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