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Allegro e Appassionato


Next, vans whisk the Overseers to DHMC. William Hickey, M.D., senior associate dean for academic affairs, leads a tour of the new Cancer Center labs as well as of the 10-year-old labs in the Borwell Research Building. Spielberg notes that the Cancer Center's open-lab concept and central atriums foster collaboration among the researchers.

"This is the type of architecture that we're talking about relative to the new building," Hickey explains, "not exactly laid out like this, but the open laboratory model, no walls, accessible offices, and having natural light as much as possible."

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Deans go to lots and lots of meetings, Spielberg often notes wryly. The one pictured above is his "kitchen cabinet"—the senior associate deans—which convenes weekly, usually at this meeting table in the dean's own office but once a month in a bigger conference room.

In the student lounge, Spielberg stops to admire a piano. "This is actually my favorite item," he says with a smile. "This was Rad Tanzer's piano." Tanzer "was a plastic surgeon who invented many of the procedures that are used for children with birth defects." His widow donated the piano to DMS after his death in 2003, Spielberg explains.

Tuesday, October 12, 5:30 p.m.
Kellogg Auditorium at DMS

Today, Spielberg is addressing a faculty meeting. In his typical, upbeat fashion, he brings the group up to date on various issues, including plans for the new buildings. "We're going to try to increase the level of communication around the School," he tells them.

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Between meetings, Spielberg fits in—clockwise from above—arranging his schedule with his assistant, Didit Martinez; signing lots of letters (he hand-signs every single offer of admission to applicants); and checking e-mail.

He brags that nearly 100 percent of Dartmouth's medical students are involved in community service and that DMS was one of three finalists for a national community service award from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). He crows about the fact that DMS was one of only eight schools worldwide invited to contribute articles on medical education research to a special issue of the AAMC journal Academic Medicine. He reports on several collaborations with Dartmouth's undergraduate and professional schools. He notes the steady increase in funding for research and a couple of recent fund-raising successes. He reminds the faculty that DMS is the right size and in the right setting to effect real change in medicine.

Then the dean fields questions: about timelines, the reliability of funding for the building projects, and assorted other issues. Someone asks what avenues will be used to communicate about the building projects. Spielberg responds that information is being disseminated continuously to faculty and staff—via meetings as well as through print and electronic communications. But, he admits, "in any organization rumors start. Urban myths are destructive." With effective communication, he adds, he hopes to keep rumors and myths at bay.

Wednesday, October 13, 8:00 a.m.
Faculty Conference Room at DMS

The first item on this morning's schedule is a meeting of the senior associate deans. The group meets weekly and once a month is joined by the rest of the deanery. Present today are Nierenberg, Hickey, Mannix, Alvord, and Constance Brinckerhoff, Ph.D., who oversees the graduate programs. Gerald O'Connor, Sc.D., Ph.D., who oversees the CECS educational programs, weighs in by speakerphone. Spielberg and his closest advisors talk frankly about a variety of issues, including the feasibility of the Student Government's request to have a student sit on the student disciplinary committee. "This has come up in the context of trying to have students understand what we understand—that the CSPC processes are fair, for the good of the institution, not mysterious, not draconian," says Spielberg.

Spielberg and his closest advisors talk frankly about a variety of issues, including the feasibility of a request from the DMS Student Government to have a student sit on the Medical School's Committee on Student Performance and Conduct.

After discussing the pros and cons of the proposal—including confidentiality concerns—the deans decide to appoint two fourth-year students as voting members of the committee, with one of them to attend any given meeting. "The ultimate message is students are partners in the process," concludes Spielberg.

The deans move on to discuss diversity in the admissions process and committee assignments; nominations for the Dartmouth-wide Martin Luther King Social Justice Awards; improvements to the quarters for Student Affairs; and plans for handling flu shots for students, given the nationwide shortage of flu vaccine.

Thursday, October 14, 12:00 noon
Fuller Board Room at DHMC

About a dozen community leaders and key donors have been invited to have lunch at DHMC. Spielberg works the room, chatting animatedly with people before the luncheon begins. As the dean


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