University of Oregon Medical School Executive Committee minutes

The University of Oregon Medical School Executive Committee was formed on May 11, 1917. A committee had been appointed in 1916, made up of Edmonde J. Labbe, Albert E. Mackay, Robert C. Yenney, R. B. Dillehunt and S. L. Meyer, “ to recommend to the faculty what shall constitute the administrative power of the Medical School” (University of Oregon Medical School. Faculty Minutes, Accession No. 1999 - 003, Vol. I., p148-149). Questionnaires were sent to several universities, and from the results the committee made recommendations for an executive committee consisting of six persons - two from the laboratory departments, two from the clinics, and the dean and assistant dean as ex-officio members. They would be responsible for all scholastic matters and educational policies.

In 1917 a committee report advised that there be five committees appointed, the Executive Committee, the Committee on Curriculum and Advanced Standards, the Committee on Legislation, the Committee on Admission, Promotion and Preparatory School, and the Committee on Grounds, Building and Improvement. Each committee was to have five members appointed by the dean, and the dean himself would be chairman ex-officio of the Executive Committee. The members of the committees were to be appointed each year so that the senior member would leave and a new member would fill the vacancy. The Executive Committee was to have charge of all the affairs of the school and hold regular monthly meetings. No expenditure over $100.00 for any specific purpose could be made without the Executive Committee’s recommendation (ibid., p170). During a meeting of the faculty, there was much discussion, and the report was not accepted as first proposed. The faculty finally decided that the Executive Committee would have six members appointed by the dean, consisting of the dean, assistant dean, the heads of two clinical departments and the heads of two laboratory departments; this “committee shall have charge of all the affairs of the school, subject to the approval of the faculty” (ibid., p170).

Though the Executive Committee met and reported to the faculty in previous meetings, it is not clear from the minutes who the members were. On October 5, 1917, the minutes report the appointments to the executive committee of Doctors Ernest F. Tucker, Edmond J. Labbe, William F. Allen, S. L. Meyer and James F. Bell, who replaced Dean R. B. Dillehunt during his military service.

The Executive Committee is still in existence in 1999 and evaluates major policies primarily related to research and education (Oregon Health Sciences University Faculty Senate, retrieved June 17, 1999, www.ohsu.edu/faculty_senate).