The OU College of Medicine dean’s assistant is now chair of the Deans’ Assistant Group of the Association of American Medical Schools.

Gayle Holmes, assistant to Executive Dean Dr. Dewayne Andrews, will take over as chair after serving a year as chair-elect.

The group is directed toward assistants of medical college deans to “improve communication … and enable the Deans to better achieve their goals,” according to the group’s mission statement. It also plans curriculum and projects for medical colleges.

“It is quite an opportunity to advance group membership and become a vehicle for change,” Holmes said.

Holmes said she hopes to bring in more members to the group besides just assistants to medical college deans.

“We have so many partnerships – with dentistry, allied health, and more,” Holmes said. “This could be an opportunity for other deans’ assistants.”

Responsibilities include chairing the group’s biannual meetings, deciding topics, choosing speakers and making other administrative decisions, she said.

She will also give a special presentation about a model she developed for assistants and for which she has gained national recognition, she said.

Her model focuses on bringing together the different departments of the college for a quarterly meeting, she said. Assistants to department chairs meet to network and communicate with one another.

The idea of bringing together the different departments has spread to other colleges thanks to Holmes. She first presented it in the fall of 2008, and it is now implemented in at least three other medical colleges, she said.

“Ms. Holmes has performed in an outstanding manner at the OU College of Medicine, and we are so pleased that she is being recognized with this position and honor,” Andrews said in a statement.

Holmes became a member of the group in 2004 when she started working for the dean, she said. Her term as chair will last a year. Next year she will serve as post-chair.

Holmes is an OU alumna, with a bachelor’s degree in psychology. She said she “bleeds crimson,” and has two children who have also graduated from OU.