Standing Committees

Standing Committees & Charges

Members of COMLS Standing Committees, 2022-2023 (PDF)

Academic Progress Committee

The purpose of the academic progress committee is to provide a forum to review student academic and professional progress through the preclinical and clinical portions of the curriculum through integrating the efforts of faculty members, course directors, and the offices of Student Affairs and Medical Education, with its counseling and tutorial services that work together to ensure-the academic success of its students. Academic success encompasses all aspects of medical student professional activities including but not limited to professionalism, performance in the classroom and the clinical environment, as well as during all formative and summative experiences.

Admissions Committee

The COMLS MD Program Admissions Committee at The University of Toledo, in accordance with Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) accreditation standards, has the final responsibility for accepting students to the medical school in a manner that is not influenced by any political or financial factors. The Admissions Committee is charged with promoting fair, effective, and efficient practices for the holistic review of applicants and for the acceptance of students who will best meet the mission of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences.

Responsibilities of the Committee include: (a) reviewing (by a subgroup of the Committee) the American Medical College Application Service (AMCAS) application of each applicant; (b) interviewing, along with ad-hoc interviewers from COMLS and the Greater Toledo community, selected applicants on-site using the Multiple Mini Interview (MMI) format; and (c) evaluating the complete file of each interviewed applicant and voting based on the quality of the application and the applicants' overall MMI score.

Appointments, Promotions and Tenure Committee

The charge of the University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences (UT COM&LS) Appointment Promotion and Tenure (APT) Committee is to oversee the appointment, promotion and tenure process for basic science and clinical faculty at UT COM&LS. The committee provides recommendations to the COM&LS Dean for core faculty appointments and promotions at the ranks of Associate Professor and Professor, as well as adjunct faculty appointments at the rank of Professor. The APT committee also provides recommendations to the COM&LS Dean for tenure of core and adjunct faculty at ranks of Associate Professor and Professor. The Dean then forwards a final recommendation for appointment and promotion, as well as tenure to the UT Provost and President for action by the UT Board of Trustees.

Clinical Curriculum Committee (CCC)

It is the responsibility of the CCC to ensure all clinical rotations have learning objectives with specific educational program objectives of the medical school. It is the responsibility of the CCC to review the stated objectives of the individual educational experiences in each clinical rotations, as well as methods of pedagogy and student evaluation, to assure congruence with educational program objectives and core competencies of this institution. The CCC will develop, implement and monitor policies related to the amount of time students spend in required activities including the total required hours spent in clinical and education activities during clinical clerkships. The CCC will review guidelines regarding the requirements for adequacy of clinical experience in each required clerkship. The CCC will monitor student performance in years 3 and 4 related to the UTCOMLS core competencies and will be responsible for ensuring that clinical educational content, instructional methods and assessment methods align with the UTCOMLS EPOs.

College of Medicine and Life Sciences Assessment Committee

The COMLS Assessment Committee (AC) monitors assessment activity at the program level, reviews and provides feedback on annual reports, and provides guidance on preparation for program accreditation and reaccreditation for all programs within the COMLS. The COMLS AC collaborates with the appropriate internal and external resources to provide leadership for the professional development of faculty, administration, and staff on assessment and accreditation processes. Specifically, the COMLS AC will:

Communicate with COMLS senior leadership regarding program preparedness for accreditation and reaccreditation, review of annual assessment report summaries, and COMLS AC recommendations.
Provide assistance to COMLS programs in preparing for visits from outside accreditors and in formulating action plans to address deficiencies or concerns raised by accrediting bodies.
Review aggregated assessment information and make recommendations that inform COMLS’s decision-making, strategic planning, and budgeting processes.
Collaborate with the University Assessment Committee of The University of Toledo (UAC) to provide leadership for training faculty in the use of assessment tools such as portfolios, surveys, formative and summative instruments, capstone experiences, applied experiences, course embedded assessment and use of multiple measures in student outcomes assessment.
Identify external professional development opportunities to help faculty understand the complexities of assessment and to help articulate learning outcomes.
Provide resources for self-studies, Higher Learning Commission reports and other entities as requested.

COMLS Executive Committee

The charge of the COMLS Executive Committee is to discuss, make recommendations and approve (if necessary) business items that pertain to the clinical, research and educational missions of the COMLS. The Executive Committee is the senior advisory group to the Dean on COMLS policies and procedures and any other matters pertinent to the function and welfare of the college.

COMLS Dean’s Advisory Council on Professionalism and Mistreatment

The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences (UTCOMLS) is committed to providing a learning environment that facilitates a professional culture and prevents learner mistreatment.

The professional culture created at the UTCOMLS will foster the following:

acquisition of knowledge
professional and collegial behaviors that allow provision of outstanding comprehensive clinical care and the educational training of medical students, graduate students, residents, and other learners across the educational spectrum (ie, the UTCOMLS community of scholars)

The Dean’s Advisory Council on Professionalism will provide guidance to the UTCOMLS Dean on issues related to professional behavior and mistreatment of faculty, learners, staff and students. This council will serve as a guiding resource on professionalism issues, address gaps in the evaluation process and approaches to matters of professionalism not addressed by existing mechanisms, and advance coordinated best practices regarding professionalism. The Dean’s Advisory Council on Professionalism does not replace any existing policy or resource such as hospital medical staff bylaws or peer review processes or serve as an independent investigatory office for professionalism issues.

COMLS Dean’s Faculty and Staff Awards Committee

The charge of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences Faculty and Staff Awards Committee is to recognize outstanding service to the College and the University. The Awards Committee shall publicize award opportunities and coordinate the presentation of awards to recipients for the awards established by the College. The committee members will review award nominations. They will facilitate the selection of awardees who have made significant contributions to the campus community and who demonstrate commitment to the University and the College’s mission and core values. The committee will be responsible for planning the annual awards event. All members of the committee are voting members.

COMLS Translation: The University of Toledo Journal of Medical Science Committee

This committee's purpose is to provide a forum to apply, evaluate and provide ongoing editorial support for PubMed indexing of the COMLS journal. This committee will also be responsible for the technical evaluation of the journal contents.

Continuing Medical Education Committee

The Continuing Medical Education Advisory Committee and its members representing key organizational functions/roles serve in an advisory capacity regarding CME program proposals, planning, delivery and outcomes. The Committee provides important input to the institution's designated accreditation overseer, the final authority role for CME program and accreditation determinations as required by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, the national external CME accreditation body. Specific responsibilities of this committee include the reviewing the quality of institutional CME activities, needs assessment data, policy and procedure improvements, review of evaluation and attendance data from CME activities, and advisory participation in the approval process for CME activities. The Committee reviews and updates, when necessary, the CME Mission Statement and determines if the CME activities are meeting this Mission. Since members represent a diverse background, they make recommendations for CME activities or program improvements from an institution-wide perspective. CME staff and other Committee members who also participate in planning or delivering CME activities provide valuable input regarding implementation of the ACCME standards into CME activities, including suggestions for improvement in the credit application process.

Criminal History Review Committee

The Committee reviews applicants with conditional acceptances when there is a negative finding on criminal background checks. The purposes is to identify accepted applicants who have a criminal history that may preclude them from participating in the clinical training programs, including but not limited to, care of patients in vulnerable populations, to assure compliance with various regulatory or accrediting agencies that require or recommend such checks, and to put applicants with a criminal history on notice that there may be an issue with respective licensing boards regarding the impact of the criminal history on their ability to obtain professional licensure.

Curriculum Evaluation Committee

It is the responsibility of the curriculum evaluation committee (CEC) to periodically at regular intervals of not more than a year evaluate the curriculum and recommend changes to the executive curriculum committee based on these evaluations. The CEC must evaluate effectiveness of programs by outcome analysis, using national norms as a frame of reference, supplemented by other objective and subjective methods of evaluation. The responsibility of this committee is to annually evaluate systems and clerkships, measured against (as applicable):

student feedback
student performance, and
corresponding subject tests in licensure exams (Step 1, Step 2 CS, and Step 2 CK)

The CEC will review each system and clerkship for assessment of course and educator quality. The CEC must monitor the performance and content of the curriculum by reviewing an annual action plan submitted by each system and clerkship following the CEC annual review. Recommendations based on evaluation of these annual action plans should be submitted to the relevant curriculum committee within 90 days of the system/course or clerkship review.

Dean’s Advisory Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

The COMLS Dean's Advisory Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is responsible for advancing the College mission relating to diversity, equity and inclusion. The Committee advises the Dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences on matters related to recruitment and retention of students, faculty, staff, and senior administrators in COMLS programs (MD and graduate) as well as initiatives to create and nurture an inclusive learning environment in the College. The full committee meets twice per quarter, with additional sub-committee meetings occurring as needed.

Dean’s Committee on Libraries

To serve as a communication vehicle between students/residents/faculty and the Libraries at UT, helping the Dean to learn of needs and issues in a timely manner.

Executive Curriculum Committee

The charge of the Executive Curriculum Committee (ECC) is multifold that includes the monitoring, review and evaluation of the undergraduate medical education (UME) curriculum to ensure continuous quality improvement towards meeting the core competences of the University of Toledo College of Medicine & Life Sciences (COMLS). The committee provides oversight to the foundational sciences (FSCC), clinical curriculum (CCC) and curriculum evaluation (CEC) committee's which serve as sub-committees to the ECC. The MD curriculum must foster excellence in undergraduate medical education by monitoring educational requirements, approve curriculum content and objectives, monitor/review horizontal and vertical integration, monitor coordination and coherence of curriculum organization and teaching pedagogy. This committee must monitor the content and allocation of curriculum time/workload in each discipline including the identification of omissions and redundancies. The committee is to evaluate educational outcomes and make appropriate recommendations to the curriculum subcommittees for continuous quality improvement. These standards should address the depth and breadth of knowledge required for a contemporary physician regardless of subsequent career specialty. The committee is responsible to advise the Dean of COMLS on resources required and support the curriculum.

Faculty Appeals Committee

This committee is appointed by the Dean and convenes on an ad hoc basis to review the results and findings of the faculty member's completed independent investigation related to reports of unprofessional or disruptive behavior. The committee will allow the faculty member to submit a written statement or meet with the committee if desired. The committee will forward their findings and written recommendations to the Dean.

Foundational Sciences Curriculum Committee

The charge of the Foundational Science Curriculum Committee is to work collaboratively to align and integrate the basic and clinical science disciplines across the continuum of the foundational science (preclinical) curriculum. Furthermore, the committee has a vital role in leading, directing, coordinating and reporting all facets of a well-orchestrated curricular design to promote a culture of life-long learning and educational excellence. The committee is expected to review the core educational objectives outlined for each of the systems that constitutes a thread/course. The committee has an important responsibility to review current pedagogical practices and provide ongoing direction on effective methods to influence student learning, retention and retrieval. The committee must review student and system evaluations to assure congruence with educational program objectives of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences. The Committee is to facilitate collaboration to motivate and facilitate needed change to grow our educational program, student learning experience and preparation for success on the National Boards.

The Foundational Science Curriculum Committee must constructively review curricular content of the preclinical phase and its associated alignment/organization and integration across the basic and clinical sciences on an annual basis. A regular review of the educational course objectives must be completed to ensure the proper organization, clarity and intentional planning. The changes to curricular content, structure and organization must be a reflection of this review along with the ongoing feedback provided by both faculty and students.

The committee has responsibility to oversee all aspects of the foundational science curriculum (M1 & M2 academic years) and to work collaboratively with faculty that oversee the clinical curriculum (M3 & M4 academic years) to ensure and reinforce intentional integration of the basic and clinical sciences.

Global Health Committee

The purpose of The University of Toledo College of Medicine & Life Sciences' (UTCOMLS) Global Health Committee is to approve or veto proposed international educational experiences for UT learners on the basis of site safety and supervision.

Graduate Medical Education (GME) Committee

The ACGME has required that each institution establish a GME Committee that is responsible for monitoring and advising the training programs on all aspects of resident education. GMEC that includes at least the following voting members: the DIO; a representative sample of program directors (minimum of two) from its ACGME-accredited programs; a minimum of two peer-selected residents/fellows from among its ACGME-accredited programs; and, a quality improvement or patient safety officer or designee. Additional GMEC members and subcommittees: In order to carry out portions of the GMEC’s responsibilities, additional GMEC membership may include others as determined by the GMEC. Subcommittees that address required GMEC responsibilities must include a peer-selected resident/fellow. Subcommittee actions that address required GMEC responsibilities must be reviewed and approved by the GMEC.

The responsibilities of the committee include:

Oversight of:
1. The ACGME accreditation status of the Sponsoring Institution and each of its ACGME-accredited programs;
2. The quality of the GME learning and working environment within the Sponsoring Institution, each of its ACGME accredited programs, and its participating sites;
3. The quality of educational experiences in each ACGME accredited program that lead to measurable achievement of educational outcomes as identified in the ACGME Common and specialty/subspecialty-specific Program Requirements;
4. The ACGME-accredited program(s)’ annual evaluation and improvement activities; and,
5. All processes related to reductions and closures of individual ACGME-accredited programs, major participating sites, and the Sponsoring Institution.
Review and approval of:
1. Institutional GME policies and procedures;
2. Annual recommendations to the Sponsoring Institution’s administration regarding resident/fellow stipends and benefits;
3. Applications for ACGME accreditation of new programs;
4. Requests for permanent changes in resident/fellow complement;
5. Major changes in each of its ACGME-accredited programs’ structure or duration of education;
6. Additions and deletions of each of its ACGME-accredited programs’ participating sites;
7. Appointment of new program directors;
8. Progress reports requested by a Review Committee;
9. Responses to Clinical Learning Environment Review (CLER) reports;
10. Requests for exceptions to duty hour requirements;
11. Voluntary withdrawal of ACGME program accreditation;
12. Requests for appeal of an adverse action by a Review Committee; and,
13. Appeal presentations to an ACGME Appeals Panel.

The GMEC must demonstrate effective oversight of the Sponsoring Institution’s accreditation through an Annual Institutional Review (AIR).

The GMEC must identify institutional performance indicators for the AIR, which include:

1. Results of the most recent institutional self-study visit;
2. Results of ACGME surveys of residents/fellows and core faculty members; and,
3. Notification of each of its ACGME-accredited programs’ accreditation statuses and self-study visits.

The AIR must include monitoring procedures for action plans resulting from the review.
The DIO must submit a written annual executive summary of the AIR to the Governing Body.

The GMEC must demonstrate effective oversight of underperforming program(s) through a Special Review process.

The Special Review process must include a protocol that:

1. Establishes criteria for identifying underperformance; and,
2. Results in a report that describes the quality improvement goals, the corrective actions, and the process for GMEC monitoring of outcomes.

Graduation Committee

The Committee works with the Dean's office to plan and implement activities for COM graduation, including the graduation ceremony, the awards ceremony held the day before, the graduation booklet, student photographs, student volunteers, and other things needed (hoods/gowns; invitations to invited guests; email and other announcements. Graduation is a multi-step event and faculty, staff and student involvement is crucial.

Individual Conflict of Interest in Educational and Clinical Care Committee

The purpose of this policy to set forth the requirements for the COMLS Faculty and Educational Administrators related to COI disclosures and the process to identify, manage and provide appropriate oversight or elimination of situations that pose an actual or perceived COI. The purpose of these requirements is to avoid the impact of actual or perceived COI in the operation of the medical education program, its associated clinical facilities and any related enterprises.

M.D./Ph.D. Committee

The M.D./Ph.D. committee is the oversight committee for the COMLS M.D./Ph.D. dual degree program. The committee evaluates applicants, makes recommendations for tuition scholarships, tracks and reviews student progress, and reviews and modifies program structure and delivery.

Student Appeals Committee

This committee is appointed by the Dean and convenes on an ad hoc basis to hear the student's appeal related to conduct and ethics, promotion and/or academic progress. The committee will meet with the student and review all documentation provided. The committee will provide the Dean with a written recommendation.

Medical Student Conduct and Ethics Committee

The committee handles complaints associated with medical student and physician assistant conduct, ethics and professionalism. The students are typically brought to the attention of the committee through the Office of Student Affairs and/or the Senior Associate Dean for Academic Affairs, Professionalism and Diversity. When a student has not responded to efforts to remedy a lapse in professional/ethical behavior or after a particularly egregious behavior, the Committee determines whether more serious steps, up to and including suspension or dismissal from the College of Medicine and Life Sciences might be necessary.

Medical Student Research Committee

The Medical Student Summer Research Committee reviews project descriptions submitted by faculty to ensure that students will have a meaningful role in hypothesis driven research over the 10-week period.

Medical Student Scholarship and Awards Committee

This committee is charged with the task of identifying medical students who are eligible to receive scholarships and then choosing the recipients from the eligible students. The committee works with the office of Medical School Admissions, UT Foundation, Student Affairs, Medical Education, and Financial Aid to maintain an ongoing database of available scholarships. Awardees are voted upon by the scholarship committee in a timely manner at either in-person or virtual meetings.

Promotion Mentoring Committee Charge

The purpose of the promotion mentoring committee is to assess and review the processes and procedures for early career faculty mentoring and provide advice to the Dean of the COMLS to allow successful implementation of this process.

Research Advisory Council

The purpose of the Research Advisory Council (RAC) is to advise the Dean of the College of Medicine and Life Sciences on matters related to the research mission. Some of the responsibilities of the RAC include; making recommendations for investments in capital equipment and research infrastructure (e.g., core facilities), evaluation of proposals for bridge funding, evaluation of applications for Medical Research Society awards, review of policies that impact the research enterprise (e.g., research incentive plans, space allocation), and discussion of strategic directions for operation and/or expansion of research programs and centers.

Student Promotions Committee

The Medical Student Promotions committee evaluates all aspects of student academic performance. If students are not achieving satisfactory academic progress, the promotions committee will review the total student performance record, interview the student (if required and the student chooses) and determine if further intervention is needed. The committee may determine that remedial work or repetition of one or more curriculum components is needed, or that the student should be dismissed. The decision may be appealed to the Dean of the College of Medicine. The committee is guided by the "Medical student academic promotion, remediation and dismissal/due process/appeals" policy (3364-81-04-013-02).

College of Medicine and Life Sciences