May 23, 2006

Dear Colleagues,

I am delighted to invite you to participate in the creation of the Miller School of Medicine’s strategic plan.  We need to create together a reinvigorated system of accountability, as we define our expectations for what the Miller School will be doing over the next 10 years.  It is important that we provide an opportunity to measure success against a set of expectations – expectations that are consistent with the University’s goals.

We are now soliciting proposals from faculty, staff, students, divisions, departments and centers for new projects that will advance the School’s mission.

First, let me tell you why I am introducing this new mechanism to generate ideas that will make up our strategic plan.  It is critically important that we have a discipline to the process of prioritizing projects that consume any type of resource, so that we may move successfully to accomplish our goals.  We want to make sure projects contribute to our three fundamental missions, a concept we have communicated clearly to all our stakeholders.

Successful execution of a strategic plan requires many people to support, embrace and contribute to projects.  We have the opportunity to engage everybody on our faculty and staff in the development and execution of the plan.   This is not a top-down process, but calls upon the entire brain trust of our School.

Another goal of a strategic plan is communication:  This is a way to make other institutions – such as the federal government, the state and the county – aware of where we are going in such a way that we can claim the mountains we plan to climb.  A high priority is to make sure that our climbing prowess attracts the attention it deserves, and that the substance unfolds as we planned.

Finally, a strategic plan is the best defense against chaos.  The absence of strategy by definition leads to aimless movement that generates little vision, nor economy of scale, and disengagement of the group ensues.  By collectively defining our strategy, everyone will be engaged and will see where we are going.  All will actively contribute to moving us from where we are now to where we want to be.

Fundamental to our intention to involve everyone is this new mechanism to generate ideas.  I invite anyone to submit a “proposal to plan,” for any new project that requires resources, whether material or in-kind.  Each proposal should include the title of the plan; an executive summary; identification of the stakeholders; a brief description of the people, places, and programs involved; and a short business plan for the initiative.  The entire proposal must be less than two pages.

The attached form lists and explains the categories.  Please use this form for your project proposal and e-mail it, as a Word document, to my chief of staff, Richard Iacino, at riacino@miami.edu.  A leadership group of the School will evaluate each proposal and decide which ones to fund now, and which to hold for later consideration, based on the impact of the plan in accomplishing our goals.

To help guide the creation of these proposals, here are some areas we know will be central to our strategic plan:       

• We will be developing the clinical infrastructure to power Miami Medicine, the new overarching structure of our brand.  The branding initiative will be far reaching.
• Our University hospital, new affiliations with other hospitals, and a network of community clinics are in the works.
• Enhancing our relationship with Jackson Memorial Hospital remains a top priority, as well as bringing new programs, expanding existing programs, and recruiting new patients.
• We are working to strengthen our research infrastructure.
• Research partnerships are being pursued with critical players in the region:  Florida Atlantic University, Scripps and others.
• We will build a coherent organization around our educational mission.

That is just the broadest outline – I invite you to fill in the components consistent with our vision.  We highly value your creativity and the understanding of our opportunities that exists throughout our School.  I look forward to receiving your proposals for increasing our impact on our community, and the world.

Warm regards,

Pascal J. Goldschmidt
Senior Vice President for Medical Affairs and Dean