Feb. 16, 2010 at 10:30 a.m.
President Jay A. Gershen, D.D.S., Ph.D.

Good morning! It is a pleasure for me to be here addressing all of the NEOUCOM family. I first want to thank you for the welcoming spirit with which you have approached me over the past month. It has truly been a pleasure getting to know each of you and learning more about your contributions to the University.

As the sixth president of this outstanding University, I am very excited to share with you some information about where we are as an institution, the challenges and opportunities we are facing and the role each of us play in our future.

As you know, NEOUCOM is positioned to be an even stronger force in leading Ohio's education, research and innovation, and service missions. We have emerged as a health sciences university that is becoming a national leader in interprofessional education as well as in specific areas of research strength. We are also engaged in addressing the needs of medically underserved populations as well as serving our local communities.

The question is, what are the steps we need to take now to ensure we are prepared for growth going forward into the future? How do we build on our opportunities? How do we take control of our future and capitalize on our strengths?

When I first learned about NEOUCOM and became involved in the interview process, I was immediately intrigued by what had already been achieved and by the possibilities that remained. Collectively, significant strides have been made over the past few years – the amount of research dollars coming into the institution has doubled, faculty are completing ground-breaking research, there is a new College of Pharmacy, the medical school curriculum has been transformed, and a College of Graduate Studies has begun. All of this has happened while exhibiting kindness, compassion and respect for one another as team members and co-workers. That's why NEOUCOM is one of Ohio's Best Places to Work!

The question remains – what is next? How do we build upon all the achievements of the past and plan properly for the next phase of NEOUCOM's future? To start, most of you are aware that we have been working on an updated campus master plan. Our goal has been to take the best of what was already completed and develop a 20-year campus master plan that is affordable, makes room for expanded educational facilities, research space and amenities ... and is a physical facility we can all be proud of.

We will soon begin a strategic planning process to solidify our goals, strategies and action plans and that will build upon our current mission, vision, and values. This strategic planning process will include a review of our organizational structure. The splitting of the roles of president and dean of medicine provides us with the opportunity to look at roles, functions, and how we do our work. We want to ensure that we are structured in a way that allows us to capitalize on our strengths and take advantage of opportunities in the future. Ultimately, this process will help us set a course for the next five to ten years. I want to do this right, and I know you do, too. So we are going to come together on this process to help set the course for our immediate future. We will know where we are going and what each of us needs to do to help contribute to getting there.

One big challenge before us is the state's financial situation. As you are aware, the Governor and the legislature are very supportive of education and have worked hard to provide funding for higher education despite a failing economy. However, the state was able to maintain funding for higher education using federal stimulus funds. In the coming two fiscal years, the stimulus funds are going away, and state revenues are not recovering at a rate hoped for when the stimulus package was implemented. As a result, we need to prepare for an upcoming reduction in state funding. I think it's important for everyone to be aware of this and understand it. In fiscal year 2011 we are expecting a reduction in state funding that will account for close to 7% of our state subsidy and the year after the possibility of an additional $2.2 million reduction. We have to also expect that the line items are at risk; these line items currently support family practice, geriatrics, primary care medicine, area health education centers (AHEC) and clinical teaching.

The rules of state funding have changed, and the years of state subsidy representing 50% or more of our revenue are no more. We can't really control that, but we can control how we react to it. The goal is to rebalance our revenue streams in a way that is more sustainable in light of decreased state funding. I am not telling you any of this to cause alarm – but rather to help you to understand why it is more important than ever that we begin transforming NEOUCOM and finally realizing some of those possibilities. We have an opportunity here; by addressing these issues now and in the coming months, we are taking a proactive approach to shaping our future. By discussing this with you now, we want to invite you to work with us to develop solutions that will not only help us address how to position our budget but will also help us plan for future growth.

What can we do to immediately begin moving forward? First, let's talk about our opportunities. NEOUCOM has amazing partnerships with other higher education institutions, area health care providers, businesses, funders, legislators and businesses entities. Now is the time to revisit those relationships and look at ways to strengthen them as well as to broaden our partnership base. Let's really dig deep and investigate how we are working with each of these constituencies. Are there opportunities to enhance our relationships with our hospital partners that build win-win situations for both institutions? Are there additional public/private partnerships we should be pursuing? Additional ways to broaden our revenue streams? Ways to get people more engaged with our institution?

As a leader in health care education, we have an incredible opportunity to develop health care workforce models that can meet the changing needs of Northeast Ohio and its economy. We began doing that with the establishment of the College of Pharmacy and the offerings of the College of Graduate Studies – the Master of Public Health and master and Ph.D. degrees in integrated pharmaceutical sciences. We need to continue this to ensure we are preparing the right mix of physicians that are willing to meet those areas of shortage and are prepared to practice in the environment that is being created with new health care reform legislation. We need to prepare scientists to conduct cutting-edge research and use innovative approaches and ideas to further medicine, pharmacy, and other health sciences. We also need to continue and expand our research portfolio to ensure that we are arming our physicians and pharmacist with the information they need to treat their patients adequately.

We need to move forward and continue to actively work to develop and finalize a collaboration agreement with Cleveland State University. Over the next six weeks, we will be working closely with CSU and a third-party facilitator to identify the programs and plans that NEOUCOM and CSU together will implement. We are building a good relationship with CSU and they are interested in partnering with us in collaborative ways. We will work together to build relationships with government and the business community to tell the story of how this partnership will improve the health of Northeast Ohio and will bring jobs to our region.

As an institution, we are doing some amazing things. Transforming the medical school curriculum, building a new pharmacy curriculum, and developing an interprofessional education program has been no small task and is one that most Universities do not even attempt. Our students are learning to serve their patients better and our communities are benefitting from it. Our faculty is doing remarkable research. The work with skeletal biology, auditory neuroscience, cardiovascular research, health services research, Parkinson's medications, psychiatric care, and others are quite amazing, and the fact that we have our very own internationally-renown walking whale is definitely no small thing. We need to build on those items and do even more.

All of the wonderful things that are happening here need to be shared with the outside world. We need to communicate the value of the University and its contributions to the economic vitality of the state. We need to take the right steps to build awareness and increase our profile. It will not only help us to build partnerships, but help increase funding and make us even more competitive as students choose what school to begin their career.

And then there is the name. I know you were all waiting for me to address this. What is in a name? Everything. And while "NEOUCOM" has served us well for the past 36 years, we have outgrown it. We are no longer a college. And now we need a proper university name that can show who we are and that actually makes sense to people. We need a new name and brand position that can help us to enhance our visibility in the state and across the nation. As we take steps to develop that new name, you WILL be invited to participate in that process.

So who will NEOUCOM be? We may change in name and awareness, have new partners and establish new relationships, but we will still be dedicated to teaching, researching and serving. But with our new strategic plan and with new eyes, we will be moving toward positive transformation that can help to expand and enhance our educational offerings, increase our diversity, expand our community service mission and enhance awareness of who we are.

The world is changing and we are not standing still. This is the time for transformation – positive transformation that can impact our institution, our region, our students and our future. Thank you for being part of it.