|
June 20, 2003
| To: |
IC Directors |
| From: |
Acting Director, Executive Secretariat |
| Subject: |
IC Directors' Meeting Highlights
— June 12, 2003 |
Decision Item:
l. NIH Governance Next Steps
Dr. Katz reported that in the poll of IC directors regarding NIH governance
models for
corporate management decisions, the majority of respondents supported
option 1, a
Steering Committee with standing Working Groups. He summarized the comments
accompanying the poll as focusing on the following issues -
- composition of Steering Committee
- time commitment
- purview of the Committee, e.g., establishing which issues and resources
are corporate and which issues should go to all Directors and deciding
the roles of currently existing committees
- communication between the Committee and all IC Directors
- approval by all IC Directors of Committee recommendations on establishing
Working Group substructure
- that the current Agenda Setting Committee responsibilities would be
subsumed by the new Steering Committee
After a discussion of how the work of the ARAC will help inform the structure
of the
Working Groups and how staff support will be critical to the effort, Dr.
Zerhouni thanked
Dr. Katz and Mr. Mahoney for their work and reiterated that the Steering
Committee will
be a proactive and coherent way for NIH to address corporate management
decisions and
that communication with all IC Directors will be its driving force. He
added that he saw
merit in establishing linkage between membership on the Steering Committee
and the co-
chairs of the Working Groups, and that he envisioned several Steering
Committee
members also serving as co-chairs.
Dr. Zerhouni noted that there will be an initial strategic period for
the Steering Committee
while it fine tunes the logistics of Committee support, its purview, and
its substructure. He
will be calling on IC Directors as to how they will contribute, and he
is committed to
making this as least taxing on time as possible. He said that his goal
is to have the process
operational by the end of the summer. Because of the critical role of
this Committee in
NIH corporate governance, Dr. Zerhouni noted that Committee meetings would
be
principals only.
Discussion Items
ll. Budget Retreat
Dr. Zerhouni announced that the upcoming IC Directors Budget Retreat
is to discuss the
proposed Roadmap initiative. He encouraged everyone to review preliminary
materials
and to come prepared and ready to champion initiatives that they are convinced
are
compelling. Dr. Kington will facilitate the Retreat discussion.
lll. Town Hall Meeting
Dr. Zerhouni encouraged everyone to attend if possible the Town Hall
Meeting on June
18. Stressing his commitment to full communication, he asked that IC Directors
continue
to make themselves available to their employees who have concerns and
questions.
lV. Information Items
Dr. Kington noted that on October 27 and 28, NIH will host Canada in
a joint HIRO
meeting. On the first day there will be panel discussions and other events;
and on the
second day, IC Scientific Directors will meet with their Canadian counterparts.
Next year,
Canada will host the meeting.
Dr. Gallin invited everyone to attend the upcoming events related to
the Clinical Center's
50th anniversary, including the celebration ceremony and picnic on July
9 and the October
14 scientific symposium highlighting the Clinical Center's accomplishments
over the past
half century.
V. Laura Lawlor's Visit
Dr. Zerhouni introduced the group to Laura Lawlor, the new Deputy Chief
of Staff to the
Secretary, whose portfolio of activities includes the NIH. Ms. Lawlor
said that she looks
forward to getting to know the NIH better, and she asked Directors to
help her stay up to
date on issues of concern to the ICs and NIH. Several members of the group
brought their
respective IC's activities to her attention.
Dale Johnson
cc: OD Staff
|
