Dear Colleagues,
This morning, President Wilson announced that the Chair of the Department of Pathology, Wael Sakr, will step in as Interim Dean of the School of Medicine and Chair of the board of directors of Wayne Health. Dr. Mark Schweitzer will continue as VP of Health Affairs and conduct work with external stakeholders, such as fundraising and building new hospital partnerships.
The administration has taken some other important steps to address SoM faculty and academic staff concerns since the union held a Town Hall in January. First, they paused discussion of tenured research faculty salary cuts for a year. Second, they have begun sharing more detailed financial information with relevant faculty and academic staff governance committees.
Announcements regarding the latest reorganization have been coming out over the last week, since we received results of the morale survey of the School of Medicine. We conducted the survey because of mounting concerns in the School, including: restructuring of clinical faculty salaries, threats to tenured research faculty salaries, new policies regarding research funding on grants, departures of mid- and upper-level administrators from the School, the move of the Emergency Medicine faculty practice plan to Central Michigan, and perceptions from faculty and academic staff in the School that the Dean was failing to build consensus, articulate a vision, be transparent with the budget, or even listen and consult with others.
The survey was sent to all School of Medicine faculty and academic staff in the bargaining unit. The response was overwhelming - nearly 50% responded, indicating an unusually high level of engagement for an online survey. The results demonstrated exceedingly low confidence in the Dean, Mark Schweitzer. Three quarters of respondents supported replacing him. More than 70% found that consultation with faculty and academic staff on matters related to the school have gotten worse since his arrival in 2020.
The move to bring Dr. Sakr in as Interim Dean will be welcome news in the School of Medicine. But there are still questions about whether Dr. Schweitzer is the right person to represent the Wayne State SoM in building external relationships and partnerships, especially given the news that he recently applied for a position at the University of South Florida.
These serious issues and developments affecting the School of Medicine need our continued collective attention and engagement from across campus. If you are in the School of Medicine, please continue to communicate with your union Council Representative or the union office as these changes go into effect.
In solidarity,
Danielle Aubert
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Danielle Aubert
President, AAUP-AFT Local 6075
Wayne State University Chapter
Danielle Aubert
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Danielle Aubert
President, AAUP-AFT Local 6075
Wayne State University Chapter
