NYUCD Faculty Lobby Capitol Hill for Deans' Advocacy Day
) From left: Associate Dean Spielman, Assistant Dean Cheryl M. Westphal, Dr. Eisenberg, and Dr. Peltz. |
Last April Dr. Andrew I. Spielman, Associate Dean for Academic Programs,
Clinical Associate Professor Cheryl M. Westphal, Assistant Dean
for Allied Health Programs, Dr. Elise S. Eisenberg, Director of
Dental Informatics, and Dr. Ivy Peltz, Clinical Assistant Professor
of General Dentistry and Management Science, joined Dean Alfano
and other deans and faculty from 22 dental schools to lobby Congress
for legislative support for dental education and research. Associate
Dean Spielman led the NYU delegation, which was the largest faculty
delegation of any school. The delegates focused their advocacy on
four messages: 1) oppose cuts in federal spending for Medicaid and
support efforts to create a bipartisan Medicaid Commission; 2) reauthorize
the HIV/AIDS Dental Reimbursement Program as part of the Ryan White
CARE Act; 3) support authorization of the Dental Health Improvement
Act; and preserve the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
Research (NIDCR) as an independent institute in a reorganized NIH. NYUCD's 2005 DC lobbyists came well equipped for their assignment. Three are already graduates of the prestigious ADEA Leadership Institute, an intensive, yearlong program designed to nurture carefully selected dental faculty to become future leaders in dental and higher education. Dr. Peltz is a 2005 graduate of the Leadership Institute and Assistant Dean Westphal and Dr. Eisenberg completed their training in 2001. Dr. Spielman is scheduled to enter the Institute in fall 2005. |
