University of Tennessee Health Science Center has new five year plan approved by Board of Trustees
At a recent board meeting, the University of Tennessee System Board of Trustees unanimously approved the 2023-2028 strategic plan submitted by the University of Tennessee Health Science Center.
Following the impressive momentum of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, the University of Tennessee Board of Trustees recently announced that they have unanimously approved UTHSC’s new five year 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, which is due to set the center on an exciting path in the next few years.
The next five years at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center have been planned under the leadership of the center’s chancellor for Academic, Faculty, and Student Affairs, Cindy Russell, Ph.D. The planning process took over a year and a half and included the input of more than 700 community members, students, staff, and faculty members.
In an article posted on the science center’s website, Chancellor Peter Buckley, MD, was quoted from his address to the board, saying, “We are most grateful to our leader, Dr. Cindy Russell, and to so many colleagues for a remarkable job. Our strategic plan is a balance of inspiration, perspiration, aspirational activities, and foundational activities.”
The new vision for UTHSC was defined by the long term collaborative process and can be summed up by the terms Thriving Communities and Healthy Tennesseans.
The five year plan is based around five strategic pillars: Developing Talent, Advancing Health, Expanding Research, Educational Excellence, and Engaging Communities. The pillars are built out of a new version of the school’s mission statement and are focused on values that reflect the University of Tennessee System’s Be One UT Values, but centered around the center’s focus on the health sciences.
UTHSC’s new mission statement is a streamlined version of the school’s previous mission statement, but still retains its long standing outreach, research, clinical, and academic focuses. The new mission statement is “Transforming lives through collaborative and inclusive education, research/scholarship, clinical care, and public service.”
The center’s new stated values are in alignment with the UT System’s Be One UT Values, which are Transparent and Trusted, United and Connected, Excel in All We Do, Nimble and Innovative, Optimistic and Visionary, Embrace Diversity, and Bold and Impactful. The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s values are Caring and Professional, Science Driven, and Health Focused.
The new strategic plan outlines UTHSC’s commitment to the goals of creating an environment of success for all, expanding quality care across Tennessee, growing research, innovation, and entrepreneurship, promoting quality interprofessional education, and strengthening partnerships to engage with communities.
Every one of the plan’s strategic pillars is built upon the five foundational priority areas that apply across the whole plan. These are philanthropy, diversity, equity, and inclusion, data and data governance, communications, work environment, and campus culture.
UTHSC has also set performance indicators in place so that it can measure visible progress. The strategic plan will also allow for a point of reference and instructional support when it comes to future strategic planning at the individual colleges that make up the whole of UTHSC.
According to Chancellor Buckley, the plan “is building a solid foundation into an exciting future.”
When the Board of Trustees arrived at UTHSC, they learned about the university’s new developments, including the addition of a new roster of leaders such as Reginald Frye, PharmD, PhD, dean of the College of Pharmacy; Brigitte Grant, MBA, vice chancellor for Advancement; and Paul Wesolowski, MBA, vice chancellor for Strategic Partnerships. The members were also reminded of the center’s history of great leaders who have recently retired such as Tony Ferrara, CPA, MAS, senior vice chancellor for Finance and chief financial officer, who leaves the university in August after 18 years and Ken Brown, JD, MPA, PhD, former executive vice chancellor and chief operations officer who retired in March after 25 years.
The board also had the chance to visit the newly completed $45 million Delta Dental of Tennessee Building that opened back in April thanks to the support from Delta Dental of Tennessee, especially its Chief Executive Officer Philip Wenk, DDS, who is a graduate from the University of Tennessee Knoxville. He is also the immediate past chair of the UT Foundation Board of Directors, an alumnus of the College of Dentistry, and the chair of the UTHSC Advisory Board. At a recent dinner, the president and chief executive officer of the Greater Memphis Chamber, Ted Townsend, talked about the impact of UTHSC on health care in the region, and its role as one of the major contributors of Memphis’ economy. He noted that as UTHSC grows and is a welcoming presence in, and vital partner of, the Memphis community.
The president of the University of Tennessee System, Randy Boyd, talked about the presence of UTHSC in Memphis and the state of Tennessee at large, noting the UTHSC slogan, saying, “Memphis is our Home, Tennessee is our Campus.”
UTHSC has strong partnerships with teaching hospitals across the state in Jackson, Chattanooga, Nashville, Knoxville, and Memphis. The school is the largest educator of healthcare professionals in Tennessee and has more than 880 clinical and educational training sites across the state.
The vital partnerships and leadership of Reginald Coopwood, MD, president and CEO of Regional One Health, and Michael Ugwueke, MPH, DHA, FACHE, president and CEO of Methodist Le Bonheur Healthcare, were also recognized during the board’s visit.
Also during the visit, senior associate dean for Community Health Engagement in the College of Medicine and director of the Center for Youth Advocacy and Well Being at UTHSC Altha Stewart, MD gave members of the Board’s Education, Research, and Service Committee an account of the work being done by the school.
The recent board meeting began with an invocation by Charlie Caswell, a pastor at Impact Baptist Church, and the Shelby County Commissioner. Along with the normal items covered by the meeting, the board also ratified a new joint nursing program with UT Southern, multi-year contracts for faculty, and a 1.5% increase in tuition for UTHSC students.
UTHSC was thanked for hosting the gathering by President John Compton, who also praised the school for its achievements since Chancellor Buckley took over leadership in February of 2022, saying, “It is impressive what you have done to pull your team together. Your leadership here will have a lasting impact.”
More information about the University of Tennessee Health Science Center can be found at the school’s website.