Dean's State of the School Address
Dean’s presentation provides opportunity for reflection and inspiration.
On Wednesday, January 12, University of Michigan School of Nursing Dean Kathleen Potempa presented a State of the School address to a room full of faculty and staff. Held in one of the larger Palmer Commons conference rooms, the venue was carefully chosen to – as the dean put it – “inspire discussion” about the very nature and character of the school. She explained that though the school and the university as a whole currently exist in a climate of budgetary uncertainty, she did not want to use the presentation to speculate about what the state budget might look like when it comes out. Instead, the dean’s goal was to frame the address as a conversation focusing on “who we are and where we’re going… so that when we do actually receive some budget numbers we can respond from a value proposition.”
To begin, Dean Potempa read the school’s vision, a short statement that conveys the school’s most fundamental aspirations. As the statement explains, the school seeks to “lead the nation and influence the world through the impact of our research, educational programs, and practice innovations on health.” Within this, the dean pointed to three operative words that for her serve as the basis of any reflection on the success of the school: lead, influence, and impact. From these, the question became is the school fulfilling its vision by first, pioneering new methods, approaches, and techniques in the field of nursing; second, creating large-scale ripples throughout the nation and the world; and finally, insuring that at the end of the day, individuals and organizations are better off because of what the school does?
Some of the responses to these important questions resounded throughout the dean’s address. For instance, the school is leading through developing and implementing a comprehensive education model that integrates practice, education, and research. In partnership with the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS), the School of Nursing has created a clinical education structure that affords undergraduate students inter-professional colleagues, training from an outcomes based approach to practice, and deep mentorship during their BSN education. Additionally, in a fusion of education and research innovation, the school is studying the use of Second Life to facilitate virtual case scenarios that teach students how to think critically about healthcare team issues such as ethics, patient safety, delegation, and conflict management.
Speaking specifically to the impact U-M School of Nursing researchers have had, the dean presented a list of tangible health care outcomes which have been improved through the faculty’s research. From nurse interventions that help decrease depression in military recruits to public health issues like HIV and unplanned pregnancy, the list is as diverse as it is long. Telling an anecdote, the dean chuckled that in the many places she’d presented this information before, this list resonates: “No one leaves saying, ‘But that’s so esoteric.’ They leave knowing that our research has real and important effects on patient care.”
After the presentation, a few members of the audience had questions for the dean about the information she had presented. However, this question and answer session quickly turned into an extemporaneous and impassioned discussion in which faculty members committed themselves to more frequent and introspective discussion about how they can as individuals and as a collective use the school’s resources to maximize the school’s impact. As the dean announced the close of the session, the room filled with conversation, one faculty member reaching out to another as colleagues inspired to work together to more fully fulfill the school’s vision. The discussion Dean Potempa was hoping for through her State of the School was realized and will continue in the halls, classrooms, and research space throughout the U-M School of Nursing.
