Hiatt to Report On SPH Strife

Faculty and administrators at the School of Public Health (SPH) will tell the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) by Feb. 28 whether the conflict between Dr. Howard S. Hiatt, dean of SPH, and some members of his faculty has "constrained the educational objectives of the school, Dr. Elkan Blout, dean of Academic Affairs at the school, said yesterday.

Blout said Hiatt will submit a report--prepared in conjunction with the school's faculty--to the CEPH, a national accrediting body, to address the issues of "administration, organization, and governance."

The report is being issued in response to a CEPH letter to Hiatt on Sept. 27, which requested a second interim report from Hiatt on the progress of the school since it was accredited by the CEPH last spring.

"We noted the progress described in your first interim report," the letter said. "We feel that your next report should describe how (the issues of administration, governance and organization) have facilitated or constrained progress of educational objectives."

One faculty member who wished to remain anonymous said that the CEPH inquiry will probably elicit many criticisms from the faculty of Hiatt's administration and governance.

"The issue we have been disputing with Hiatt is his governance, the administrative methods, not his educational objectives," he added.

Last August, 17 tenured faculty members and a majority of junior faculty members signed a petition to President Bok asking for Hiatt's resignation. The petition cited Hiatt's alleged "neglect of the collegial process," and disregard of faculty opinion in Hiatt's administration of the School of Public Health.

Blout said that the CEPH inquiry is "by no means a threat to the school's accreditation," but merely the second in a series of routine interim reports requested of Hiatt since the CEPH last visited the school.

The school's Faculty Council, chaired by Hiatt with Blout as vice-chairman, will meet with the general faculty on Feb. 8 to present their report to the faculty.

The faculty may then add their suggestions to the report, Blout said, before Hiatt sends a final report to Lee Stouffer, president of the CEPH