Role of the University President in Governance of the Medical School

Abstract

Undoubtedly, there are moments when any one of us would like to deny that a university president has any role whatsoever in the governance of a medical school. This feeling could prevail whether we are functioning as faculty, administrators, trustees, or public-at-large, although such doubting is of course, by tradition, the special prerogative of faculty members. On the other hand, we must assume the antithetical premise, and then try to determine how the president's role can be defined, limited, or even maximized. As a guide to reaching whatever consensus there may be on this subject, I will first ask and then propose answers to six questions. If you agree with my formulation of the questions and my tentative answers to them, at least we will be in tune with each other on some of the basic propositions related to present-day governance of medical schools and, therefore, in a better position