College of Medicine forms new administrative structure

John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D.

In an effort to better align the functions of the dean’s office in the UNMC College of Medicine, Dean John Gollan, M.D., Ph.D., announced today a new administrative structure for the college.

The new structure features five senior associate deans, who will make up an Executive Council reporting to the dean.

The five senior associate deans and their areas of responsibility are:

• Glenn Fosdick, the health system;
  
• Ira Fox, M.D., research;
  
• Rod Markin, M.D., Ph.D., clinical affairs;
  
• Gerald Moore, M.D., academic affairs;
  
• and Del Lee, administration and director of finance.

“I am really pleased with this new administrative structure,” Dr. Gollan said. “The College of Medicine administrative structure hasn’t changed for probably the last 30 years. I think the time is right for a change.

“This is an exciting time for the College of Medicine. The Executive Council is an extraordinarily qualified group. They will ramp us up another notch in getting us ready for the Center for Health Science Education, which will be our new home in a couple years.”

Dr. Gollan worked with one of the top business organization experts at the University of Nebraska at Omaha to help determine the most efficient way to realign the college.

Robert Ottemann, Ph.D., associate professor, marketing and management, at UNO was “extremely helpful,” Dr. Gollan said, in developing the new plan.

“The creation of the Executive Council will allow team members to work together so that all their respective skills will be well utilized,” Dr. Ottemann said. “This teamwork among the Executive Council is the foundation of a high performance team.”

He said some of the strengths of the realignment include:

• Creation of a succession plan within the college to foster management development among the senior administrators;
  
• Grouping related functions to allow administrators to better focus on organizational purpose and strategy;
  
• Reducing the span of control of the dean and delegating key operational responsibilities to senior administrators, allowing the dean to focus more on strategic and long term issues;
  
• Centralizing important administrative and financial functions to allow for a stronger interface with the business and finance functions on the UNMC campus.

Robert Ottemann, Ph.D.

Dr. Ottemann was especially pleased with the high level of participation by College of Medicine faculty in the restructuring process. “We conducted more than 50 interviews with department chairs, associate deans, faculty, and administrators including the chancellor,” he said. “To the person, the interviews were conducted at the original time scheduled and each provided significant input.”

Dr. Gollan said each of the department chairs in the College of Medicine would still report directly to the dean. “I will meet with the department chairs on a regular basis,” he said. “I think it’s important that we keep communication lines open, and these meetings should be quite beneficial – both for me and hopefully for the department chairs.”

The new administrative structure will be initiated immediately, Dr. Gollan said. A complete organizational chart for the college is being developed, as seven positions are still yet to be filled. He anticipates these positions will be filled during the course of the coming year.