Dear colleagues,
In March 2024, we began the exciting process of developing a new, long-range strategic plan for our School of Medicine.
As we go through this process, we remain humbled by our school’s long tradition of providing exceptional medical training and patient care. Throughout the major changes, upheavals and medical advances over the past 100 years, our commitment to academic excellence, state-of-the-art research, compassionate patient care, and community outreach has remained unchanged. The ongoing changes and competitiveness in science and technology and in health systems that define medicine today demand that we strategically plan for how we will continue to be excellent in all aspects of our mission. Our future growth and success must be guided by a data-informed strategic plan that meets the needs of stakeholders while also providing a clear and actionable roadmap forward.
Our planning process dovetails nicely with both the campus-wide strategic planning journey and the LSU System's recently developed strategic plan. We now have the opportunity to carefully define concrete and aspirational goals for the next five years, to chart the pathway toward achieving those goals and to ensure that we stay on course. Together, we will identify priorities, set measurable outcomes and clear targets, and include a process for annual reporting on our progress. We fully anticipate that themes such as diversity and inclusion, salary equity, faculty development, wellness, leadership development and community outreach will be integrated throughout the work. Our finalized plan will help us better engage with and support our stakeholders, respond to changing market dynamics, and adapt to seize new opportunities. The current level of competitiveness in the clinical and research environments demands this kind of clarity for our long-term growth and improvement.
No effective strategic plan can be done in a vacuum. We have partnered with Emergent Method, a national consulting firm founded by LSU graduates and headquartered in Baton Rouge, to support this effort in an objective way that leverages their significant expertise in both higher education and healthcare planning. Their team will be conducting interviews with numerous internal and external stakeholders throughout this process, including school leaders, faculty, staff, student leaders, alumni leaders, and hospital leaders. They are also working with our data analytics personnel to gather a tremendous amount of information about the school, and then benchmarking the school against comparable peer institutions to help set goals that will improve our programs and national ranking. Faculty, students, and alumni will have the chance to share additional feedback through anonymous surveys and listening sessions. Many of you were asked to assist even further by serving on an advisory committee or a working group. To all of you: thank you for your time, expertise, energy, and input into this process.
The final result of everyone’s ideas and input will be a strategic plan that invigorates our work by anticipating future trends and needs. We anticipate sharing this final plan with you before the end of the calendar year but will communicate updates as we progress through the planning process. We are excited to see what the future holds.
Sincerely,
Richard DiCarlo, MD, Interim Dean
