Advisory Council
Member Bio & Information Record (.doc)
In 1981, Dr. John G. Bruhn, Dean
at the time, proposed the formation of
an external Advisory Council for the School of Allied Health Sciences. The proposed Council would be composed of outstanding
and concerned citizens who would meet approximately twice each year for the
following purposes:
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To provide ideas and suggestions to
help the School better meet the educational and service needs in Texas,
especially in our geographical area.
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To help disseminate information about
the School and its programs to heighten its visibility in Texas.
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To offer advice about prospects for
funding for new programs in the School.
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To help evaluate the effectiveness of
current programs in the School.
Dr. William C. Levin, UTMB President, concurred with Dr.
Bruhn’s suggestion and submitted the proposal, with a list of ten prospective
members, to the Chancellor and Board of Regents of the University of Texas
System. Both received approval at the
December 1981 meeting of the Board of Regents.
Early History
The Council met, for the first time, on February 20,
1982. Among the areas of concern
addressed at the first meeting were the overshadowing of allied health
interests by those of the medical school and the resulting difficulties of the
SAHS in obtaining its fair share of resources; the isolation from one another
of students in the four schools on the UTMB campus, resulting in a lack of
understanding of one another’s chosen professions; a severe lack of affordable
student housing; and a need to use alumni more effectively to increase the
school’s visibility.
Initially, Council meetings were chaired by Dr. Bruhn and
staffed by the UTMB Development Office.
Typically, they were held on Saturday, at the SAHS, from 9 AM to
approximately 1 PM. The Council heard
reports about school programs from the department chairs, engaged in open
dialogue, and then, usually, met with the President of UTMB over lunch.
At first, the Council was slow to obtain donations for the
School, although gifts from Marie Hall, a charter member of the Council, made
it possible to establish the School’s first computer lab and fund two special
workshops. However, the Council’s
public relations efforts were successful, helping to attract and recruit some
outstanding students.
Highlights of Council Development
The Board of Regents authorized an increase in Advisory
Council membership from 10 to 12 in 1983, and a second increase, to 18, in
1986. In September, 1985, the Council
participated in a joint retreat with the SAHS Faculty Council to explore key
issues in planning the future of the SAHS.
At this meeting the Advisory Council was assigned an expanded role that
included the following activities: (1)
gauge community needs and interests; (2) help market non-traditional
educational programs; (3) challenge traditional thinking regarding educational
programs on the part of the faculty and administration; (4) increase funding
for academic skills enhancement, tutors, and especially, scholarships through
benefits, planned giving campaigns and similar activities; and (5) serve as a
resource in generating ideas, acquiring funding, obtaining mailing lists,
coordinating programs, and providing feedback on the effectiveness of
continuing education offerings. The
expanded role of the Council, to assist the School with long-range planning,
was delineated in the Council Bylaws, adopted in 1989.
The new bylaws designated three types of Council
members—regular, emeritus, and ex officio.
They called for the election of officers from among the members, and
established standing Executive and Fund-Raising Committees.
Recent Growth and Development
Nineteen ninety-four heralded a time of positive change for
the SAHS Advisory Council. Late that
year, the Board of Regents approved an increase in the regular membership to
25, the Council Bylaws were revised, and changes in the structure of the
organization implemented. A spirit of
cooperation among the medical, allied health sciences, and nursing schools
prevailed, and a new tradition came into being. In January, 1995, for the first time, the advisory councils of
the School of Allied Health Sciences and of the School of Nursing met on the
same day, in conjunction with the meeting of the UTMB Development Board, which
took place the following day. The
members of the two councils lunched together, and all three groups participated
in joint activities. In that same year,
the UTMB Development Board bylaws were amended to include as members, those
persons holding the office of chair in the School of Allied Health Sciences and
School of Nursing Advisory Councils.
In 1997, the Advisory Council added a third annual meeting to
its schedule. No bylaws change was
necessary, and the third meeting, held in October or November, is called at the
discretion of the chair. At its June
1998 meeting, the Council voted unanimously to take the lead in a campaign for
the school’s first endowed chair---a Distinguished Chair in Cognitive
Rehabilitation.
The addition of a third annual meeting focused on financial campaigns proved beneficial and rewarding to council members and SAHS faculty alike. Not only was the Advisory Council successful and raising enough money to fund the school’s first endowed chair---The Shern Russell Moody Distinguished Chair in Cognitive Rehabilitation, but enough was raised to create a distinguished professorship as well! Dr. Kenneth J. Ottenbacher, Senior Associate Dean of Graduate Education and the Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Sciences (our Ph.D. program) is the first holder of that professorship: The Fannie Kempner Adoue Distinguished Professor.
