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Deans’ Assistants Group (DAG)

The Deans’ Assistants Group (DAG) is comprised of members serving as administrative/executive assistants to deans in colleges of medicine, from more than 100 medical schools in the U.S. and Canada. DAG’s mission is to improve communication among all medical schools through in-person and virtual networking, and help deans’ offices to better achieve their goals.

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Guide to Deans’ Assistants Group

By staying up to date on issues facing medical schools nationally, facilitating regular communication with a wide range of constituents, faculty, and students, and performing countless other responsibilities essential to the operations of the medical school, deans’ assistants are critical in helping academic medicine prepare future generations of physicians.

The Deans’ Assistants Group (DAG) provides an invaluable national forum for professional development and networking for individuals in these dynamic roles. Through its wide range of activities, DAG provides an interactive learning environment for you to exchange ideas with colleagues regarding administrative, institutional, and national policy matters affecting medical education, research, and patient care. By enabling you to meet colleagues from medical schools nationwide, DAG both promotes personal professional growth and helps foster inter-institutional cooperation.

Medical schools today face unprecedented opportunities and challenges, and the daily world of the medical school dean is growing increasingly complex – the continuing development and engagement of DAG members is key to ensuring that the nation’s medical schools can fulfill their individual missions.

Ann Steinecke
Sr. Director, Academic Affairs Programs and Engagement

The Deans' Assistants Group committees offer numerous opportunities for members to collaborate and participate in group decisions and governance.

Established in 1993, DAG provides an invaluable national forum for professional development and networking through which members can exchange ideas with colleagues regarding administrative, institutional, and national policy matters affecting medical education.

Members of DAG serve as administrative/executive assistants to deans in colleges of medicine. DAG’s mission is:

  • To establish a national forum for the exchange of information and ideas among the deans’ offices of the schools of medicine.
  • To foster interrelationships and discuss programs, policies and procedures, organizational structure, and issues of common interest as determined by the participants.
     

DAG members serve vitally important roles in today’s academic medicine enterprise, from keeping deans up-to-date on common issues facing medical schools to facilitating communications with a variety of internal and external stakeholders. Members of DAG meet twice annually for networking and professional development, in the fall (in conjunction with the AAMC Annual Meeting) and spring. Between meetings, members share information about topics relevant to their daily work and dean’s office operations via an online listserv. 

The Deans’ Assistants Group is not a supported entity of the AAMC. Membership is open to anyone who provides day-to-day assistance to the deans of medical schools of the AAMC.

The meeting is being held at the Hilton Motif Seattle, November 2-4, 2023. The draft agenda is attached and below are details that will help as you prepare for the meeting:

Agenda Notes

  • Thursday, November 2
    • 12:00 PM – Board of Directors/Advisory Council Lunch Meeting – Elected Officers, Regional Representatives and Committee Chairs are expected to attend the Board & Committee meetings. Committee members and members at-large may attend at their own discretion.
    • 2:00 PM – Membership Committee meeting – Membership Committee members are expected to attend.
    • 2:30 PM – New Member Welcome and Orientation – New members or members who are attending their first in person meeting should attend. Also, Board of Directors, Advisory Council, and Membership Committee members are expected to attend.
    • 5:00 PM – Welcome Reception – All DAG members and a guest are welcome to attend the reception. Please indicate guest name during registration.
  • Round Tables – If you are interested in leading a round table Saturday morning, please email dagprogramplanning@gmail.com with your proposed topic.
  • Speakers – Please email us at dagprogramplanning@gmail.com if you are interested in speaking or have someone from your school you would like to speak. Topics can be on just about anything, but ideas include innovative programs your school is doing, professional development, and personal wellness.
  • All sessions will be held at the hotel except for the potential/optional group outing Friday evening.

Registration

  • Registration fee is $500.
  • Register for the meeting here.
  • Registration payment is separate from registration and can be made by check or credit card. You will receive an invoice from PayPal in a separate email.
  • Registration closes October 2, 2023. To register after October 2nd, send an email to dagprogramplanning@gmail.com.
  • The cancelation/refund policy is as follows:
    • 3 or more weeks prior to meeting = 100% refund (on or before October 11, 2023)
    • 1-2 weeks prior to meeting = 50% refund (October 12-25, 2023)
    • Less than 1 week prior to meeting = 0% refund (on or after October 26, 2023)
  • Direct registration payment and refund questions to dagprogramplanning@gmail.com and deansassistantstreasurer@gmail.com.

Hotel

  • The group room rate is $229/night. 
  • The last day to make a reservation at the group rate is October 2, 2023.
  • Reservations can be made here.
  • Room types are 2 queen beds or 1 queen bed. There is an upcharge for a king bed.
  • Check in is 4:00 PM; check out is 11:00 AM. 
    • If you arrive before the scheduled check in time, you may be accommodated as rooms become available provided you pay and early arrival fee:
      • $65 for 7-9 AM
      • $45 for 9 AM-1 PM
      • waived for 1-3 PM
    • Departures prior to your scheduled check out date will incur an early check out fee of $100. You can notify the hotel at check in if your check out date has changed.
  • If you make a reservation and then find you are no longer able to attend the meeting, please send an email to dagprogramplanning@gmail.com before canceling your reservation.
  • Direct hotel reservation questions to dagprogramplanning@gmail.com.

Important Information

  • Please email your headshot to dagprogramplanning@gmail.com for the meeting attendee roster.
  • Meeting materials will be shared electronically with meeting attendees about 1 week before the meeting.
  • Attendees must have a current DAG membership. Submit your 2023 membership application here.

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Assistants to COD members can log into the AAMC Online Designation Tool to update key institutional contacts and institutional representatives to AAMC’s 18 affinity groups, who are appointed by the dean.