Health and Human Services Task Force
Minutes
February 16, 2000

Vida Huber called the meeting to order at 4:00 p.m. in Moody Lounge.
The members present were Herb Amato, Jean Dalton, Bill Walker, Craig Abrahamson, Janet Gloeckner, Cheryl Beverly, Brenda Ryals, and Lennie Echterling. Student Paula Neher was present as a participant observer.

The minutes of the February 9 meeting were reviewed and approved.

The members of the task force thanked Janet for providing refreshments. Vida distributed drafts of recommendations developed by subgroups.

Outreach Programs

The draft from this subgroup included a rationale and a description of the anticipated functions of outreach programs, including a training philosophy, guiding principles, coordination process, and a program development/evaluation model.

During the discussion, it was proposed that the task force not recommend creating any specific new outreach programs. Instead, it was suggested that we identify current programs that could be enhanced by coordinating our health and human services at JMU.

Another suggestion was to refer to these programs as university-community "partnerships," rather than "outreach," to emphasize the collaborative spirit of these endeavors.

A third theme of the discussion concerned the possibility of arranging fees, at a reduced level or on a sliding scale, for some services provided by these programs. Some faculty may be practitioners providing professional services.

Administrative Particulars

The task force offered a number of suggestions for revising these recommendations. For example, it was proposed that the web site recommendation add that there should be continued support for maintaining the web site.

Courses

The discussion of this draft returned to issues that were raised in the discussion of the outreach programs. For example, it was suggested that, instead of recommending specific courses, the task force should develop a rationale and propose generic strategies that would support interdisciplinary courses. Some specific suggestions included using the term "common courses" instead of "core courses," providing mechanisms for promoting team teaching, using contact hours to allocate teaching credits, developing modules for specific competencies, such as medical terminology, CPR, and standard precautions.

Focus of Recommendations

The task force engaged in a discussion regarding the general approach we should take in developing our recommendations. We decided that our recommendations should focus on identifying, coordinating, promoting, and enhancing the current programs and resources in health and human services. We should take advantage of the expertise and interests of our faculty, the talent and energies of our students, the competencies that our programs develop, and the opportunities that our geographic setting and social context offer.

Our fundamental goal should be to recommend new policies that would support interdisciplinary efforts and bring people together. Such an approach would create a vital system in which new programs will naturally develop. In other words, we should have "pilot policies" instead of "pilot programs."

Next Meeting

Vida will not be in town next week. She invited the task force to meet without her to review the work of the practicum/clinical education group and to discuss the following areas: SWOT Analysis, recruitment and advisement of students, professional development of practitioners, and defining terms, such as "health and human services." Janet volunteered to facilitate the meeting. The next meeting of the Health and Human Services Task Force will be Wednesday, February 23, at 4:30 p.m. in Moody Lounge.

Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at 5:20 p.m.

Respectfully Submitted,
Lennie Echterling