State of the School follow up
To the Harvard Chan community,
I was honored to deliver the State of the School presentation and take your excellent questions yesterday afternoon.
The world of public health is facing stiff headwinds — of that, there is no doubt. But no matter how much the world changes around us, we will never back away from our core mission of improving health and promoting equity so all people can thrive.
To reach our full potential as a School, I believe we must find new ways of working together. In my presentation, I introduced a “AAA Vision” for Harvard Chan School.
As an institution, we must work to become more:
- Agile: Ready to collaborate across boundaries and silos; eager to seize new opportunities; embracing an entrepreneurial mindset.
- Accessible: Open to the world; committed to expanding access to both our education and our research findings.
- Accountable: Transparent and responsive to our community; dedicated to the highest standards of excellence; committed to our mission.
To move us in this direction, our working groups on finance, education, and research have taken a comprehensive look at several important questions. You can read summaries of their recommendations on the School Intranet.
While much remains open to discussion, there is general consensus on three big-picture goals:
- FINANCE: Develop a new financial model for allocating resources and responsibilities, with the aim of decentralizing decision-making, propelling new ideas forward more quickly, and creating a sense of shared stewardship so that we all work together toward the interrelated goals of expanding our impact and securing financial stability.
- EDUCATION: Expand access to a Harvard Chan School education. One urgent priority is securing more philanthropic grants to support student financial aid. We also aim to create new short courses, certificate programs, and other executive education offerings for lifelong learning, while we continue to innovate in our doctoral and master’s programs.
- RESEARCH: Maintain our position as a leading engine of public health science. To support this work, we are launching a national search for a Dean for Research, a new position here. The person in this leadership role will catalyze collaborations across disciplines and institutions and guide our engagement with funders who share our goals but have not traditionally sponsored public health research.
As I mentioned in my presentation, I see one of my most important roles as empowering all of you so that your work can thrive. The integrity, commitment, compassion, and brilliance of the Harvard Chan community is our biggest asset, and I am always looking for ways to help you rise to both the challenges and the opportunities facing our field today.
If you have suggestions, please share them through this form. (You can remain anonymous or share your name and email.) My team and I carefully read every submission.
Please remember as well that the senior leadership team is hosting informal, drop-in office hours on Wednesday mornings from 9-9:45 a.m. in Kresge 110. Different administrative leaders will be on hand each week. Everyone is welcome.
Thank you for all you do to improve health and advance equity at home and around the world. I’m truly honored to lead this community.
Best,
Andrea
Andrea Baccarelli, MD, PhD
Dean of the Faculty
