Minutes of the Department of Psychiatry Meeting
Feb. 21, 2008

Present: Ellen Astrachan-Fletcher, Ph.D; Marc Atkins, Ph.D; Edie Bamberger; Michael Bennett; Teresa Boguta, B.A; Saundra Brady; Cheryl Carmin, Ph.D.; Rebecca Christophersen, RN; Erminio Costa, M.D.; Henry Dove, MD; Yogesh Dwivedi, Ph.D.; Peter Fore, M.D; Nafisa Ghadiali, M.D.; Jennifer Gorski; Linda Grossman, Ph.D; Alessandro Guidotti, M.D; Ingeborg Hanbauer, Ph.D; Martin Harrow, Ph.D.; David Henry, Ph.D.; Elizabeth Jones; Kal Kaplan, Ph.D; Lloyd Keith; Eileen Martin, PhD; Rob Marvin, M.D; Margo McClelland, M.S; Laura Miller, MD; Brian Mustanski, Ph.D; Sunita Prahbakar; Eric Prensky, Ph.D; Andrea Rahlf, MA, CMPE; Judith Richman, Ph.D; Cherise Rosen, Ph.D; Carla Ross; Sabine Schmid, PhD; Lisa Stanford, Ph.D; Lisa Suarez, Ph.D; Karen Taylor-Crawford, M.D; Pyrai Vaughn; Harvey Whitfield, MD; Pamela Wiegartz, Ph.D.

Dr. Dove called the meeting to order at 9:02 a.m.

Department Head Search
Dr. Dove said Dr. Kumar recently sent Dean Flaherty a ‘wish list,’ and negotiations are underway. Both Dr. Kumar and Dean Flaherty are optimistic. It is likely Dr. Kumar will be on board by Sept. 1.

Volunteers
Ms. Rahlf reviewed new policies and procedures for bringing on board and tracking volunteers – unpaid staff working in clinical &/or research settings. She outlined three categories:

• Externs – Students enrolled in a master’s or doctoral level clinical program, placed in our department to complete some portion of their training. These include UIC Social Work students from Jane Addams, or the College of Nursing, but most are from another institution.
• Post Doc – They have completed a doctoral program, but are not yet licensed. They are generally working in a specialized clinical or research program as an unpaid worker.
• Research Assistant – They can be pursuing a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree from UIC or another institution. They are generally working with a PI on a research project.

A better process is needed for tracking volunteers; ensuring that the department, faculty and volunteers are protected against liability; ensuring that limited department resources are used appropriately, and for protecting confidentiality of patients and human research subjects. Ms. Rahlf will email to all faculty copies of the revised procedural guidelines, the planning form for faculty seeking volunteer workers, and a flow chart and decision tree that illustrates the new process.

As part of the new procedures, administration will develop a new in-house training module that all clinical volunteers will be required to complete. Modules will be offered quarterly. More information will be distributed on this in coming weeks.

Consulting Audit
Ms. Rahlf said that in preparation for a formal audit in June, MSP has hired SMART and Associates to effectively audit all aspects of clinical documentation, money streams, and IT security in all clinical departments. She explained that a new law sets higher, more stringent standards, which the consulting firm will apply in its review. The review will yield a report, as well as much better preparedness for the June audit.

New Course in Biblical Theology and Psychotherapy
Dr. Kal Kaplan and Elizabeth Jones announced that the Templeton Foundation has funded a grant that will be used to establish a new course on Biblical theology and psychotherapy. It is hoped that the course will be accredited by the Association of Chicago Theological Schools (ACTS), which has expressed great interest in the program. Garrett Evangelical School has expressed interest in partnering with UIC to have seminarians complete the course. Dr. Kaplan said the first trainees are expected in April.

Clinical Faculty Bonuses
Dr. Dove said a future faculty meeting will address the incentive plan for clinical faculty. He said that although the subject has been addressed at Program Directors’ and Clinical Services meetings, and in numerous emails to faculty, it appears that some confusion remains. To clarify briefly, he said that clinical faculty are hired to perform specific services, and are assigned specific targets. The incentive program aims to reward clinicians who exceed contractually agreed upon targets. He said some clinicians cover the cost of their salaries, but do not meet target productivity levels; and some of these feel entitled to a bonus. The incentive plan does not apply in such cases. Dr. Stanford asked how administration will reconcile the discrepancy that arises for clinicians who cover more than their salary and technically exceed their targets, but don’t officially meet targets because of gaps in the RVU system. Dr. Dove said administration is working to address those gaps by assigning RVUs to activities not covered by the national system, and fully intends to award fair compensation, including earned bonuses.