One-hundred and Twenty-eighth Meeting Minutes
January 3rd, 2010 5:00 P.M. (Stellar-Chance 104)
Attendance:
BPC: Angela Brown, Prema Sundaram, Beth Feeser, Rohinton Tarapore, Weiwei Dang,
Michele Wozniak, Kathleen Haines, Arindam Basu, Jasmine McDonald, Elaine Wencil, Trafina
Jadhav, Viginie Adam.
BPP: Susan Weiss, Mary Anne Timmins, Kathleen Tencer
Updates from BPP:
Tax Withholding. Penn will no longer be withholding taxes from postdocs’ salaries, but we are
still responsible for paying taxes. Angela will draft an email to send to the postdocs reminding
them that they must still pay their taxes, and possibly providing some options without giving
advice.
Writing Course. There are still spots available for the writing course. The application deadline
is this week.
RCR. BPP is working on improving the RCR program and adding more sessions. There are
three components required by the NIH: 1. Online course, 2. 8 contact hours, and 3. Involvement
with other faculty in lab meetings, etc. BPP will provide information on their website for faculty
to use. A Bioethics faculty member will be “on-call” to answer any questions that may arise
from these sessions. Soon, they will publish official language to be used in NIH grant
applications. The next session will be held on 1/11.
Updates from Co-Chairs:
Dec. Happy Hour. The happy hour was a success, and we hope to continue to host
approximately monthly happy hours.
Co-Chair. We need a new co-chair to replace Arindam. Anyone who is interested in the
position should contact Angela and Arindam ASAP.
Updates from Subcommittees:
a) PEC. There was a large manuscript that is currently being edited.
b) Community Service. The Belmont Charter mentoring project, with iPraxis, will begin
on 1/24. This year, we will work only with 8th grade students, on Tues and Thurs.
c) Diversity. The newsletter will be sent out this month. The committee is participating in
the MLK Jr. celebration, “Race and Health Disparities,” on 1/24 from 2:30-5:00 along
with the SOM Diversity Office. A request for volunteers to help with this event will be
sent out soon. The Science Now series talk on 12/5 was rescheduled for February.
Future Diversity Committee meetings will be reorganized to focus on a specific topic of
discussion.
d) Social.
e) Environmental.
f) Foreign National Committee. A new FNC chair is needed. Elaine and Caleph have
agreed to lead the mini-orientations in Jan and Feb. The Business Administrators have
told Mary Anne that they appreciate that we host these orientations.
g) Website. The website is up-to-date. Any changes should be sent to Prema.
h) Treasurer. Arindam will find out from Regina exactly how much money we have left.
Anyone who wants to attend the NPA meeting is strongly encouraged to apply for a
travel award.
i) Seminars.
j) Fundraising. A draft letter of invitation to the vendor fair is ready. Weiwei asked if an
agreement is required. Kathleen said that with the Symposium, we don’t guarantee a
vendor’s place until we receive his/her check. We will implement the same policy with
the vendor fair. Kathleen will send the Symposium information relating to vendors to
Weiwei. We finalized the price list: a table will be $400, and a talk will be an extra $200
($600 total).
Other Discussions:
The BPP website is up-to-date. Registration for courses has been simplified, so you can click on
the link, which will take you directly to the Knowledge Link registration page.
Next Meeting February 7th, 2011